Earlier today I was working on the neverending chess quiz on here, reading "chess rules of thumb", and talking to a friend on the phone. A question came up about a chap that studied 6 hours a day, 300 days a year. Now I didnt really think twice about it because I understand the amount of time and energy that goes into becoming a chess great, but my friend immediately said "why would anyone waste that much time and energy studying a game that doesnt matter?" I first stated that chess is a game of fun, he then reitterated that with no prospects of substantial monitary gain or fame what was the point of putting in the work to become a NM, GM etc etc....
Im posting ths because I honestly didnt know how to answer the question, and I guess I'd really like to know. I mean I understand I play the game because I love it, but what really is the point of putting in the time and effort it requires to become a NM GM etc etc...
Any opinion you have on the point will be considered and appreciated, thank you
~~Chewy
This sums it up for me:
http://www.gregnog.com/frogandscorpion.htm
Thank you so much likeforests..... I think I understand more fully now.....
That seems a logical arguement freeze, I must say I do agree
There are many ways of gaining happiness which are
1) Having a goal. This can be by achieving elo of 1800+ or having a NM etc.
To tell you truthfully it is not the achievement of the goal per se that gives long term happiness but the journey that comes with it. If you enjoy studying and playing chess than your journey will give you great joy. The goal achievement only gives one short-term happiness.
2) Giving and doing something for the disadvantage. This belongs to another thread and topic.
Having written all these, a chess player needs to have a balance in their life. Chess shouldn't be all their life. They should seek another hobby. Studying 6 hrs for 365 days per year might be too obsessive.
I would like to add that in life there are many competing goals. For myself I want to be a good husband, father and being good at my job besides being good at chess. Thus, I need to balance all these competing goals.
Of the gregnog cartoon? That scorpions are jerks, as it clearly states
If you enjoy the game and want to improve and feel studying will help you achieve that the point is that it makes you happy. If you are unhappy with having to devote so much time to chess, and you don't even like the game, then I would ask "What's the point?".
Life doesn't need to be all about monetary gain it's about pursuit of happiness which only you can place a value on. Some people want to create business empires, some people want to encourage people to use less plastic bags, some people want to save animals, and some just want to better chess players.
Then you look at it from another angle. Perhaps the goal you are after is worth the initial 'pain'? My girlfriend for instance hates University, but the fact that after she is finished she will be able to work as a teacher which is her dream is worth it. I play chess for fun, I read books now and then because I enjoy it and I enjoy the rewards, which are being able to play slightly better. If I ever got to a point where I no longer enjoyed it, I'd stop, my chess goals are a low priority and not worth being depressed over.
Perhaps if the studying became 'not fun', the result would make the person in question happy enough to make the study worth it.
It's all about the individual, and what he values. You and I may think 6 hours a day is too much. But we are not him, he has his own values and his own goals which he pursues. He may think some of the things we pursue are pointless. I study economics and philosophy for fun, perhaps he and even yourself believe that is pointless!
The pursuit of excellence is its own reward, motivated in part by the rush of seeing your own capacity for improvement manifested, and by the possibility of grasping your full potential.
I'm sure there are plenty of triathlon junkies (none of whom are significantly more famous or rich for their efforts) who will freely admit there were moments during the final marathon that weren't exactly 'fun'---but none of that diminishes the personal value of their experience. The rewards of pushing your limits (in any field of endeavour) pay out wages of personal fulfilment, pride in your achievement, and an evolution of your self-confidence, discipline and resolve. "It builds character."
Also, chicks dig high ratings.
Haha if only that were the case
Certainly you have heard of Philidor? Or Ruy Lopez? I believe he lived in the 1500's. But his fame lives beyond him, and even examples of his play which was his art. Like Michaelangelo or Leonardo DaVinci, something that he created has immortalized his name.
On the otherhand, Who is the richest man you know from before 1600 ??
But it is not a choice between Chess or money either. Someone seems to have misinformed you in that regard since there are a number of top Chess players who have become millionaires. From what I have read, Kasparov and Topalov are two examples. A FIDE Master friend of mine has said to me, "If you are in it for the money, you should play Golf instead". While it is true that Golf pays more, when is the last time you sat down to watch an Immortal Game of Golf ??
}8-)
Well, I think you answer the question yourself. You play it because you love it. Because it's fun. Don't underestimate that factor--to me it's the only part of the equation that matters. Why did Alekhine get such a kick out of it?--analyzing games all the time and so forth? Because he loved it. It's nothing any non-player is going to get--any more than I can understand why people devote hours to tying fishing flies or reenacting the Civil War or all the wacky things they do. And I don't mean to impugn any of these activities--my point is it's all part of Life's Rich Pageant.
(And parenthetically, is your friend somewhere around 16 or so? I seem to recall a lot of other teenagers when I was a teenager trying to reduce everything to a question of money, as though that was the one great Answer to All Things. Oh well--I guess we all have to have our founts of wisdom.)
I like that game because I feel as if I deal with hard pieces that I can shape or mould as I like and making them cope togrther to get out a beautiful heroic piece of verse that is why you feel while playing that when the pieces are not under your control you do not feel satisfied,not only the power of your opponent. I love chess because I feel that the abstract pieces are lively.
I experienced something that I would like you to know is that on one of the games I felt as if I was riding the horse on a battle field and that every piece around me was as live as I am, and I was trying to encourage them to have selfconfidence, courage and power.
Thus, I think that any one who likes to study chess is like an artist caring only for self satisfaction, not fame or money etc. etc.
I hope you get my point.
Chess is not always to do with chess. What do i mean? well, when you play OTB you get to meet new people and travel to some wonderful places. There is a social side to chess that should not be forgotten. Even people who spend lots of time studying chess have to come out and play.
I agree with NM tonydal about fishing and larping etc
This is very true. One of the reasons I play chess is because I meet new people and travel to places that I would likely never see in my life, if not for chess. I meet people from all walks of life and every social class and sometimes I am fortunate enough to make new friends from some of these. In my youth I was into various things, hunting, fishing, archery , martial arts and I was just as fanatical about those, always trying to improve in all of them. This is just how some people are. What does the friend that asked this question do? Perhaps he spends hours doing something equally difficult to explain?
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