Account is only a month old ... Complaining about there being things they can pay for ... Stating chess is on the decline ... It is like he read a troll 101 post and regurgitated it.
Yep, it certainly is on life support. Not like there are millions of people who play the game every day or anything. Shogi and Go are almost dead as well. Nevermind Draughts and Monopoly ...
The problem with your graph is that you did not include any facts to back up what the graph shows.
The other problem is that this graph actually shows an upward trend for the past 5 years.
The other problem is that this graph actually shows an upward trend for the past 5 years.
Issue though: 18>5
Is it worth explaining why cherrypicking smaller samples from larger data is erroneous?
Your graph still proves nothing.
It does however. The trend for Chess queries is down. This is indicative of its popularity. Just because data does not allign with what you believe doesn't mean it proves nothing. If you have an issue with the data, take it up with Google I guess.
HappyworldDaddy, why did you kill Shinzo Abe? WHY, SAM? HOW DO YOU ALWAYS GET AWAY WITH IT?
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It does however. The trend for Chess queries is down. This is indicative of its popularity. Just because data does not allign with what you believe doesn't mean it proves nothing. If you have an issue with the data, take it up with Google I guess.
Yes the trend is downward, but the data was for the UK only - and giving chess.com heavy american bias probably doesn't mean much.
That said, there is no doubt that the subscription spend does seem to roll upwards rather than downwards. The paywalls do seem to be very frequent and mean to beginners, although I have no experience of the Kids stuff.
I also find it annoying people can include pics like above in posts on these forums!
The other problem is that this graph actually shows an upward trend for the past 5 years.
Issue though: 18>5
Is it worth explaining why cherrypicking smaller samples from larger data is erroneous?
Your graph still proves nothing. As you said this is just your opinion.
If the stock market was going down for 13 years, then hit bottom and has been going up for the next 5 years..... I'm a buyer!
Just use Lichess. You can analyze for free
Just use Lichess. You can analyze for free
I use chessbase to analyze.
I'm about 1600. Is it worth it for me to invest in Chessbase or should I just use Lichess? I know that Chessbase is better but don't see how it will help me over Lichess
Just use Lichess. You can analyze for free
I use chessbase to analyze.
I'm about 1600. Is it worth it for me to invest in Chessbase or should I just use Lichess? I know that Chessbase is better but don't see how it will help me over Lichess
Its going to depend. If you just play online then i would say its not a good investment. if you play OTB and serious about improving? Then i would say yes, take the plunge.
I have used ChessBase to hold and analyze my games for several years and agree with this 100%.
Like the above posters said its not worth it unless you compete OTB at a high level. MIght as well also get a coach at that point would probably be a better investment lol.
ChessBase 16 with the newest Mega Database will run someone about $500 US. That is a one time purchase and you are basically good for life. Depending on the coach you hire, they can run anywhere from $30/hour (for some European IMs) to well over $100/hour (for many US IMs/GMs). So, the same amount of money would get you about 5-15 hours of lessons. While I do think that hiring a coach is the most efficient way for many players to improve, it certainly is not the cheapest option and is definitely not a substitute for good database software (and vice versa).
@HappyWorldDaddy I appreciate your agreement and while I would def say this site did seem to push me away at first, I'm honestly willing to admit I'm wrong and say that it doesn't suck that much judged solely on this thread. Whether it's stubborness or just impatience, I am finally starting to understand better that I am clearly not taking enough time for my moves.
Granted I think especially just starting out on this site you'll get that vibe especially looking in the forums, as this thread progressed even some of the people in this very thread who i thought were demonizing me or accusing me of trolling have actually been rather helpful in my games and I've even got a few personal messages from some people following this thread who have actually been very pleasant and helpful through guidance, analysis, and just giving general advice and stuff to look into. Special thanks to you guys for introducing me to Gotham which I've been watching before even considering another game again and I can already notice things a little better now.
Maybe it's not the site itself but how the site goes about working with beginners as someone like me who was just failing from the start had no idea where to look and when trying to follow the default advice the game gives am met with a paywall. Then going into the forums you see the same things I complained about in the initial post. That's where a lot of my frustrations lie and It really took a kick in the butt and some more in depth guidance to help me see what exactly i'm blundering. If coaches weren't so expensive I probably would've benefited from getting one from the start, but even then I've received a lot of free help from people on this site who are more than accomodating so my final verdict of "nobody is willing to help unless you subscribe to their youtube channel or pay them" is moot.
I feel like it might just be a community thing, not knocking it as a whole, but there should be a way to ask someone for some guidance without getting met with just "stop blundering" or paying an arm or a leg. Some of us are clearly slow learners who just wanna get better.
But for your last comment I have to disagree about chess being on the decline. Contrary to my garbage W/L/D score, I have been playing chess on and off casually a few years with friends. I'm not a complete newbie to this and I have def seen chess in general explode over the years, and yeah like all trends they tend to baseline after a while, it's far from a decline. That's like saying Minecraft is on the decline because they had a few bad updates or pissed off the community recently. Even if they released a completely garbage update next year or made some drastic blunder (pun intended), Minecraft isn't going anywhere, and Minecraft is a lot newer and has a lot less market value than Chess.
Like the above posters said its not worth it unless you compete OTB at a high level. MIght as well also get a coach at that point would probably be a better investment lol.
ChessBase 16 with the newest Mega Database will run someone about $500 US. That is a one time purchase and you are basically good for life. Depending on the coach you hire, they can run anywhere from $30/hour (for some European IMs) to well over $100/hour (for many US IMs/GMs). So, the same amount of money would get you about 5-15 hours of lessons. While I do think that hiring a coach is the most efficient way for many players to improve, it certainly is not the cheapest option and is definitely not a substitute for good database software (and vice versa).
so he can get 16 or 17 hours of coaching lessons and free lichess computer analysis for life. Or chessbase. And mind you this is if he actually competes seriously or its not even worth it imo. I'd still go with the coaching lessons.
The point is they serve very different purposes. LiChess Studies are okay, but there are a lot of things you can do in ChessBase that Studies do not even touch. A player looking to improve would ideally buy both the software and the lessons; however, if they only had $500 and had to choose, it would depend on what their needs are.
If it's been increasing for the past 5 years, it's not that important what happened before that.
GM's and chess engines can evaluate a position better than anyone else, but if you learn from a GM, and have them mentor you, you will become a GM. There is no limitation to learning unless you have a learning disability, or a brain injury of some kind.
... or lack time, money or motivation to get GM, or even any regular coach, and improve your game. And motivation is the key, if you got it or at least some need to learn chess without quitting, then you will find both time and money.
There is literally no GM's who weren't naturally gifted and starting chess as teens. Stop giving people ridiculous false expectations. This guy should just be having fun and not burning himself out chasing rabbits. The average rating is aonly 800-900. Most people are lucky to get that after playing for years.
This was an answer to the simplification that "anybody who isn't dumb can become X in chess" where people forget that theoretical possibilities are rarely practical to achieve. I personally doubt anybody could achieve a title but 1800-2000 on chess.com is possible IF:
And OP seems to actually follow some advices, he plays slower and start to watch some lessons. Last recommendation would be to spend more time in the "for beginners" forum instead of here, they are friendlier there.
#186
"You are motivated to learn and to keep learning for 2 - 5 years" 1 year is enough for 2000
"You have time and money to spend 1 hour on weekday and 2-4 on weekend on chess"
++ Yes 1 h/day is a minimum
"You find a coach and study buddies and follow the good advices on how to get better as well as improve on your feedback instead of just continue doing same thing"
++ The coach is not necessary, but following free advice is good enough
"You learn how to use resources correctly because you are not down with a chess book in less than a couple of months and one 1-hour video should take you at least a week to work through in the beginning"
++Good book > mediocre coach, but nothing is as good as play and analysis of lost games
Like the above posters said its not worth it unless you compete OTB at a high level. MIght as well also get a coach at that point would probably be a better investment lol.
ChessBase 16 with the newest Mega Database will run someone about $500 US. That is a one time purchase and you are basically good for life. Depending on the coach you hire, they can run anywhere from $30/hour (for some European IMs) to well over $100/hour (for many US IMs/GMs). So, the same amount of money would get you about 5-15 hours of lessons. While I do think that hiring a coach is the most efficient way for many players to improve, it certainly is not the cheapest option and is definitely not a substitute for good database software (and vice versa).
Ouch! If your in the region of 1600 you'd be better off getting a chess buddy. Just getting a second opinion of your gameplay and swapping ideas can be very rewarding as it is not easy to be objective. Also, sometimes helps for someone to tell you what you already know.
Personally for this sort of money I would purchase a dedicated chess computer - at least then I would have a cool toy to play with! 
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I feel like it might just be a community thing, not knocking it as a whole, but there should be a way to ask someone for some guidance without getting met with just "stop blundering" or paying an arm or a leg. Some of us are clearly slow learners who just wanna get better.
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Well it certainly would help if chess.com had a separate forum section for players to just post requests for feedback on their games. You could even limit it to below a certain rating.
As I said in another post, just getting a second objective opinion can be very valuable, as many of the things wrong with players' gameplay are not necessarily directly linked to chess but caused by simple failures between the ears that peeps are liable to be blind too.
For example, in my younger days I put most efforts into learning openings, and true my OTB rating did in fact slowly improve up to 1500+. Now I am much older and life-wise I realise that this was an inefficient way to go about improvement. Sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees. Wisdom is a very underrated attribute in the modern world.
Heaven forbid a company for charging money for the services it provides. *Greta Voice* How dare they!