Burnout or lack of interest

okay fellow co-owner of B&M

Though the bar on this forum is not very high, this is definitely a high quality post. You clearly explain you situation, give context and make a solid argument.  I believe this also leads to high quality responses. At least, for a while.

As others already mentioned, taking a break is fine. The rating you have achieved in a (relatively) short time is higher than most will ever get, yet I can understand that with that much games played it can become a total grind.  I hope that even though you are currently not enjoying chess, you can still feel proud of you accomplishments. 

Part of the problem is that there is always a new target. Many people on this site dream of reaching a 1000 rating, those that have that rating strive for 1200. I'm currently working hard to reach 1500 while 1500 rated player go for 1700 tot 1800. Then there is 2000, then 2200 then maybe a title, etc. Wang Hao retired with a rating of well over 2700, (allegedly) due to burn out. Eventually, you will reach the point where you can't really improves in terms of rating, every player will get there sooner or later.

Elaborating a bit on @KeSetoKaiba, there are other ways to enjoy chess.  For Levy (GothamChess) coaching streaming and entertaining is way more fun. He is currently back to playing high level chess, but he is also explicit about how he feels about it.  And by the looks of it, it is a grind.  While explaining concepts, never looks tiring on him. Maybe coaching is a nice distraction from the grind. Another name that comes to mind is Eric Rosen, who deliberately chose to master gambits and tricky openings as his goal. To him, winning is great, knowing  one more tricky line than your opponent is better. I highly recommend the collaboration between him and Aman. 

Or maybe deep dive into the inner workings of chess engines for a while. Or maybe chess variants.

Anyway, hope you will find joy in chess again.

If I had to work harder to keep up with a stronger opponent, no matter the result, that would have been an ideal game for me. I would have some idea of where I stand and what I lack in order to overcome the other player. I would then go to work on that which I think I lacked and then play another game to see how I am now. I may uncover other things that I lack this time around but that's how it is.

I am interested to see if I  can grasp the essence of the positions I play in a reasonable amount of time and come up with a correct plan. I know that when I manage to do this more often and more consistently I should get stronger. If my rating doesn't reflect that yet, in the long run it should. Besides, if I am underrated it doesn't mean I also have to underperform.

Cough cough get random people like him to play you 😉

If you only began playing in November 2020, for God's sake you are barely at the beginning of your journey. Take a break if you feel burned out, but there are many ways to enjoy "the other beautiful game," as I like to call chess.  Do some reading about the history of chess. Learn about some of the great players of the past and decide which one you may want to follow more deeply.

I just don't understand why almost everyone on this website is obsessed with improving overnight. It's as if everybody feels they are in a race of some kind. Relax! Let the game reveal itself to you. 

Pick a player, any great player from the past, and just play out his or her games and try to see what their thought process was. 

For the overwhelming majority of us, chess is not a job. It's a beautiful art form. It's a pleasant way to pass the time. It's a way to transport yourself back in time. It's a wonderful distraction from the pressures and horrors of real life. 

7к games in one year... it's about 20 games a day... roughly...  Is it not too much?

@dasburner I know what you mean bud. Taking a break is the best idea because after a while you will either not miss it (in which case leave it longer) or you will start itching to play again. Same thing happened with me and golf. My issue at times is a fear of playing online rated games for fear of losing. It's an irrational fear of course but it proves it's all in our heads. Try to rediscover the reason you picked up the game in the first place.

Sounds like me. I have played chess for a year and have now 7 789 games. I manage to get to 1500 in Blitz and Rapid so I am very happy with that. But now im gonna finish all the daily games I have left so im not forced to play everyday anymore. Then i can delete my chess apps from my phone. Im not gonna quit chess, I just plan to play less or more take bigger breaks between the gaming sessions. 

I feel like if you have chess apps on phone your more likley to get addicted since its so easy to reach for the phone to play just one game no matter where you are. 

Perhaps it is neither dislike of the game nor burnout. 

Instead, it sounds like you do not care for competition, pressure, something along those lines that come with trying to win for a team or even for yourself.  

It sounds like you enjoy unrated, casual play?  If so, its neither burnout nor dislike of chess!  Play casually then.  IMHO if you are not winning money at the game, you ARE playing casually and study or not is on you, caring about winning or losing is on you, etc.   

It is the nature of any game of skill that as you get better, you face better opponents or higher stakes or whatever.   You can't really go back, unlearning what you know.