Is it ever worth just deciding that chess is not for you??

Ever since I was a kid I consistently got whipped by everybody at Chess. I could even be fairly easily beaten by people who have never really played before. I just didn't get it.

I am now 43, discovered Chess.com and the tutorials and thought I would try to improve. And I have improved. To a point. I managed to beat all the bots up to Laura and then took 3 months to get past her, then get walloped by every one afterwards.

I have done the lessons, absorbed what I can but I just am not improving any further.

So my question is, should I just accept the fact that this as good as I will ever be? Perhaps I should start again with the lessons cause I missed something fundamental? Is this part of the learning curve that everybody goes through?

I am ready to give up again if I am honest and just accept that chess is not something I will ever be good at.

Thoughts?

So maybe PLAYING chess isn't for you. That's OK. Why not just enjoy reading about the game; playing over great master games (here or on other sites); watching some of the thousands of hours of chess videos on YouTube; sitting with a chess board, a book, and your favorite beverage and playing over some games with master analysis, etc.? You can tune in to chess.tv here on chess.com and have a great time listening to the streamers. 

I've said much of this same thing in another post I made a while ago, but it bears repeating. Constant striving to get better and better at something you don't seem to be good at can be frustrating and depressing and ultimately lead to you just giving up. I play the piano very poorly, but I love listening to great pianists. I don't paint, but I can spend hours looking through art books. And I have always been mediocre at chess, but I've derived much pleasure from the thousands of hours I've spent with it--not playing.

Chess is a life time hobby for many. You almost never hear anyone spending that much time on Monopoly. Why is that? It's because you don't get better overnight. It takes real time and effort to become better. Just like you can't be a good football player (for US people: the game you really do play with your feet) if you don't practice your passing all the time. Same with chess. So it all comes down to how you train and try and get better. And how often you train. At the same time, the rate of improvement can be different for everyone. Sure, not everyone will end up being a grandmaster no matter how hard they try, but getting better at the lower levels is definitely possible. The question you should therefore rather be asking is whether you want to be spending that time on getting better or not. Do you want to do tactics 4-5x a week for 15-30 mins? Do you at some point want to sit down and work through a strategy book? Do you maybe want to get a personal trainer for an hour in a week to help you if you do really feel stuck? 

Chess can be rewarding, but chess can also drive you insane. You're always going to lose, you're always going to be making mistakes, but there will also be those few moments where you're proud of how you've played.

Yeah I fully agree with the above. You have to think about what outcome you want. I have a couple of other hobbies that I enjoy (actually I enjoy them much more than chess) but I’m pretty hopeless at them.

However I’m not going to invest time in systematically getting better at them as there’s really not much upside for me personally and would turn something i currently enjoy into a chore.

But if you really want to commit to improving at chess, you can certainly do so.

I was stuck for several years at a 1000 rating on chess.com, but then i took a 6 month break, and when i came back, tons of puzzles and played a lot. I subsequently gained 250 points in a month. I would suggest taking a break and not burning yourself out, and when you come back, play 2-3 hours a day, and do about 25 puzzles a day. Also, a big part of gaining rating for me was building up a bit of an opening reportoire. Find an opening or 2 for white and for black. At your rating, play the fried liver. You will win a lot of games with it, and also try the englund gambit. All in all, take a break, when you come back, play, do puzzles, and build up an opening reportoire.

even if you cant get better,if you enjoy the game, keep playing and dont get discouraged. I know there is practically no chance for me of becoming a high level player, but i still love, enjoy, and play the game.

I think that too many people seem to forget that chess is just a game. I think that too many people forget that this should just be fun. If you care more about wins/loses and ratings, then yes get out of chess. If you enjoy discovering patterns, tactics, analyzing positions and the beauty of chess, then your chess journey will be more pleasant. One thing that really helped me enjoy chess more is cutting out all blitz. I never do any rapid unless it is at least 30 minutes with an increment, but truthfully, most of my games are 3 days per move daily chess. I spend as much time doing tactics and enjoying old master games as I do playing. I obviously love winning more than losing, but even in defeat, I can admire the winning combinations my opponent unleashed on me.

I recommend to play untrained people in your hometown. I did, and I beat at least 8 out of 10. Thanks to the excellent training I got here.

Thank you all for your responses.

Thank you all for your responses. I do very much think of chess as "just a game", but it is a game that I put a lot of effort into but don't really improve. I guess from reading above that perhaps I am just not practising properly. I'll start to target my practice sessions better and see where I can get to. Thank you ask for taking the time to respond to me.

Your page tells me that you have only played 1 game (back in May) and you haven't played any puzzles since mid-June. Do you play only offline?

Never quit, never give up. The only way to lose is to not continue.

Every game is a new game (well, obviously) but that means that even if you lose a game there is that next one out there where you will play well.  For a person playing chess (or golf, or tennis, or bridge, or go) as a hobby there are those wondrous games that will remain in your memory.  Treasure them and don't get discouraged by losses.

@magipi I took a bit of time off in June due to frustration.

If you're worried that chess isn't for you, then it is. Otherwise you'd just walk away from it. Also, don't discount the power of repetition. The more you play, and the more puzzles you work on, the easier it will be to recognize patterns. If two people live in a country where they don't know the language, the person who's been there the longest will have the greater facility. It's not so much a question of talent as it is of perseverance.

If you got stuck at 1200 would you be happen then?

What about 1600, 2000, 2500?

Everyone stops improving eventually, but they don't quit. Why? Because it's a fun game.

If it's not fun for you, then sure, quitting isn't only an option, it's very reasonable.

Having said that, you can almost certainly improve from where you are currently. Doing the chess.com lessons was a good start. If you continue with systematic work like that then you'll see improvement. For example Seirawan's Winning Chess series of books.