Burnout or lack of interest

Not sure how to write this so apologies for the low quality post

I've been playing since November 2020, when I made an account on cc for the first time. just wanted to play some casual games during the pandemic like a lot of beginners did. I ended up with this determination to improve after I immediately plunged 400 points in a day when I first started. I basically just watched youtube videos as my sole educational resource until I hit 1600, but by then I had already reached around 7,000 games total, so I reckon just the sheer amount of games I played was the reason for the bulk of my improvement

Recently i've been playing a lot of unrated. It just feels better to me to not have the stress of my rapid rating being determined by the result of a rated game. I realized that I missed being a beginner quite a bit (Even if I am still one). When I was lower rated, both me and my opponents would probably make at least 5 blunders a game, miss a couple wins and make numerous mistakes, but it was fun just navigating completely unknown positions and knowing that you still have winning chances because your opponent is just as trash as you. When I play people at my rating now, I feel as if even one mistake can just completely destroy any hope of winning (as it should be as well). I don't know if I'm just overdoing it or if Chess just isn't for me, but I just don't have much fun playing against good players anymore. Every game feels like a grind (if I don't blunder like I often do). Even after taking a weeklong break, coming back and playing a bunch of games, I still don't really see any aspect of chess that I really enjoy anymore. and tbf I quit playing sports for the same reason. I wasn't bad ( I was actually really good at Football/Soccer), but just didn't get any enjoyment out of it once everyone started taking sports extremely seriously and became super competitive. 

I guess my question is this: Am I burnt out, or does it seem like I just don't like chess anymore?

I'm aware of how dumb this post is/sounds but I don't feel like rewriting anything

everyone needs a break i started playing chess at 9 and left it for like 4 yrs cause of frustration 

I’ve gone through this a lot and usually it’s just burnout. Granted you also just might not enjoy the game anymore to. I’d recommend you stop playing for a whole month and then come back to. At that point if you don’t enjoy the game you’ll know it’s not burnout

It's okay to walk away from something, and see if you may or may not want to come back. It's normal to get into something then to lose interest. It's the cycle of life.

Same thing happened to Fortnite, everyone is a crazy sweat now

Wow... even though you are rated 1000 over me, I know the feeling. Tbh, I can't play more than a game a day. Even after doing 10 puzzles I get "tired" of chess for the day. But I hope you don't leave cc (because then both of B&M's owners would close )

To answer your question, you’re probably feeling both

every game gets like this once u become extremely good at it

it's not burnout or anything, it's that u just don't like competitive play

Find something else you are interested in. You might be taking a break from chess but partially be thinking about it. Find a hobby. Learn a language. Learn about sports. Learn about different countries. Do something that can draw you attention to it from chess. Then you can come back to chess. Or just take a month away from chess or smth.

Same 

Definitely burnt out. Take a few years break once your daily games are completed and come back.

Agreed.

This isn't a stupid post, by the way, @dababysburner.

@dababysburntout

I've gone through this as well. I just took a break for a day or two and came back.

It doesn't sound dumb at all @DaBabysBurner - in fact, I think this is one of the more quality threads in the forums here

In competitive environments like sports or chess (chess isn't a sport in my opinion people - yeah we can fight it out in one of those lesser quality threads...anyway...), there is a certain point where one questions how much they really "want it." By this I mean, the desire to improve contrasted to the effort and work invested to get there. Recognizing this point is a good thing! It means you are introspective @DaBabysBurner

Typically, I would suggest taking a break from chess for a bit and coming back; everyone needs a refresher from time to time. It sounds like you already did this though, so now I'd say, this just means that you've taken chess really far and now you have less motivation to improve (not necessarily a bad thing; there are lots more to life than a board game...even if chess is a really "important" one ).

If this is how you feel, then don't put as much effort into improving. Okay, I know this might sound like giving up on chess, but it isn't. It just means that you can find other ways to enjoy the game of chess - not just playing rated games. 

You can analyze grandmaster games, watch chess videos, solve chess puzzles; maybe even enjoy some chess streams. For most, chess is a hobby. It should be fun If it isn't fun for you (or you don't get enough enjoyment out of it right now), then that is okay, perhaps later you might. Another hobby of mine is art, but that doesn't mean I want to draw and paint all day (although some days I do). There is a balance with hobbies based on what you want to do and perhaps chess is just a bit burnt out for the time being, but this doesn't mean you aren't a chess player. On the contrary, you will always be a chess player to me @DaBabysBurner and one of my chess.com friends

p.s. 1700+ Rapid on chess.com is much higher than most people EVER take their chess; this is a big accomplishment! Celebrate it and enjoy it Sometimes it is tough to see improvement when you are constantly playing players at your current level or even tougher. 

Feel free to message me if you ever want to chat or something; we don't have to play chess all the time

I've felt the same way recently. I think part of the problem is it's hard to learn stuff past a certain point, and learning stuff was always part of the beauty of chess for me. But I also find that taking a long break (and I mean weeks if not months, and even over a year sometimes) and coming back to something helps a lot. For some reason, it's easier to make sense of things/see things in a new way.

True. Also searching for new ways of learning and new concepts helps reinvigorate that desire to learn too. Solving a ton of tactics? Try learning positional motifs from pawn structures. Doing a ton of endgames? Try learning some opening theory. Looking from the lens of looking for weak squares and holes? Investigate sparkling attacks and King hunts. 

You get the idea

There are sooo many elements to chess, so as long as you are learning a new-something, then theoretically there should be improvement

I've been playing for 5 years and I never won a single match in my chess club until I was leaving. I was completely burned out then so I sorta took a year break before opening this chess.com account to train more. All it took was a break so I think you have to take a break as well as be determined to stick with it. You said you left football with the same reason. I think you just need to be patient and focused.

I guess I feel the same?? 

No need to apologize, this isn't low quality or dumb post. I have no idea wheter you are burnout or don't like chess anymore and that's something you will have to figure out on your own. But what I do know is that we have three things in common. Both of us started playing chess near the end of 2020, quit playing soccer even though we were good at it and currently we are both on a plateau right now. If you don't enjoy playing chess you can always decide to not play it anymore. Playing against opponent similar rating as yours always means there are equal chances on both sides, doesn't matter if your rating is 400, 700, 1200, 1700, 2400. You both have somewhat even knowledge and that's why you should believe more in yourself. If you played 7000 games so far it is 20+ games played per day and it is completely normal to stop improving at some point. It doesn't mean you can't get better, you just need some more time. If I were you I wouldn't quit chess.