Why Do We Play?

It's an important question I think that shapes all of our development. Not only our rate of improvement but how far we ever get. Are we playing for fun? Are we playing to kill time? Are we playing to become Grand Masters? I asked myself this question today.

For me, it's to be the very best that I can possibly be. Games are fun always, but improving is hard work. Spending hours doing tactical problems can be frustrating when you don't see immediate results. Having those days where you see the board extremely well are rewarding, but then the next day you can't see anything at all. Downloading all the game PNG's from the book you're working through so that you can follow allow with the material is so time consuming. Then you grasp one small little concept or some new idea pops into your brain and all that effort feels so worth it.

So I decided I play because every game is a new challenge. A challenge of mental capacity and stamina. Every win is a reward for the work and every loss is something to learn from. Yet at the same time I try and remember it's a game and no matter what games are supposed to be...ENJOYABLE.