how much you hate to lose


Don’t suppress it — feel the hate of losing fully.
Watch it — notice how your mind starts attacking you or others.
Name it — “This is my ego flaring up. It wants to be the best.”
Let it go — don’t follow the thought spiral. Come back to the next move.
Arpad Elo once said something to the effect that players who cannot stand losing are better off giving up chess. They will never play enough to learn to be a good player.

Losing doesn't bother me (most of the time).
I've been playing chess - occasionally in rated tournaments - since before Bobby Fischer won the title in 1972. I must have lost THOUSANDS of games in that time.

If it’s a singular loss it usually doesn’t matter to me much unless I get knocked down from an Elo milestone like from 801 to 782. Or if it’s part of a larger loss streak. But otherwise I’m not very mad at all