Thank you for all your feedback

I regret making this forum post but thank you for all the positivity, I regret it because I don't want to be seen as someone depressed this post just went over how I am getting angry and frustrated at chess and how it is effecting my relationships in real life.

Not going to lie it is nice to hear others struggles because it kinda just shows that chess is a game that not just I struggle with. I say I have a social life, I go to school and chat with my friends and have fun but lately I found my obsession with chess to be prioritized over those friends. At times all I want to do is sit at the chessboard but it's gotten to a point where all I think about is chess I feel so empty whenever I am not doing something chess or even when I am doing something chess I just end up feeling just as empty say as when I lose due to a lack of knowledge and stupid mistakes. I ain't depressed or anything of that stuff my life just feels like mega boring nothing interests me other thaj chess but lately chess has been just making feel like I am losing grip of what reality and what actually matters.

Give the right weight to things. If you're still in school, your priorities are different. Study, sport, friends first of all. Keep playing chess, enjoy it, but don't obsess over it. As long as you don't reach a very high level (master or so), chess is just a ( wonderful ) game. Keep playing : if you improve as you would like, great ; otherwise, it's not the end of the world if you don't reach 1500 in 4 months or 1700 in a year. Relax, and maybe it'll get better. Best wishes for everything.

Forget about Elo/rating, comparison is the theif of joy. If you play chess to enjoy the game and the competition, then focus on the method of selecting the best move; nothing else. A win is a win, a lose is a well fought battle of wits you were just short on. A draw is the other outcome. Play for the game not clout points.

I don't feel like I need therapy (probably something someone who says therapy would say) I am feeling better now I don't feel empty I had a time today where I did some self reflection and I realized no matter what that I love chess and will continue to be the very best chess player I can be.

Remember to take care of yourself. It's important. Take a break, recharge, and come back to playing chess when you feel ready and passionate again or try something new.

@Verkaley

I use Google Translate speech synthesis so that the computer would read aloud what you wrote.

I've read hundreds of books (about 200), but even I cannot read what you wrote. Too long, too unfocused.

Your post seems genuine. It rambles like a real person.

You need something to focus your mind.

Forget chess. Seriously.

Take up a martial art. Tae kwon do or something. It teaches you to focus your mind. To be in control of your mind and your body.

That is what you need.

Chess will not give you anything, unless you have the discipline within yourself already. It's like wielding a nunchuck. You will only whack yourself.

I play tennis. I played ping-pong.

Never played Pickleball. It looks like a Frankenstein combination of tennis and ping-pong. It is bad. The posture is bad.

You cannot even focus your thoughts.

You cannot even speak a coherent sentence.

You contradict yourself in the first sentence.

You "hear people already being 1500 in 3 months".

Where did you hear it?

Trick question.

Even if you hear it, you also must have heard, "People being 1500 in X months". X being any number of months or years or decades.

You heard all the ranges. You zero in on 3 months. Why?

You are sad when you compare yourself to others, but you don't compare your progress to others. 

You are not making any sense.

Go take Tae Kwon Do.

To focus you mind and your body. To control your self.

When you do something, it is done. It is either done or not done. It cannot be 2 things. It can only be 1 thing.

Unlike your mind, you can think and say 2 different things at 1 time, in reality you cannot.

The reality of doing something will focus your mind.

It is no laughing matter. Lol = laugh out loud.

Chess originated in India.

Gambling originated in China.

We are all aware of gambling addiction.

It can happen in chess too.

@breezehappysquirrel

You have to know why people are "vexed".

You are like a car, with a gas and a brake pedal.

If a car has worn brakes, something wrong with the brakes, something wrong with the brake fluids (I'm not a car mechanic, I don't know); I do know about bicycle brakes, when they are worn, you are in trouble. If you cannot stop a bicycle as it goes downhill through a red light, you're dead.

Some people do not have the brakes on their emotions. They are like a car running without brakes. And they cannot stop themselves. And they will crash.

That is why. You must know why.

williamsern wrote: aureaborea wrote:

Remember to take care of yourself. It's important. Take a break, recharge, and come back to playing chess when you feel ready and passionate again or try something new.

Absolutely, been there! I took a break, tried different games, like blackjack, found that spark similar to chess. It's all about finding what clicks for you.

I gave online casino games a try, and it surprisingly helped me get back in the zone. Maybe worth checking out https://bhaggo.com/casino/ when you need a breather!

Okay thanks for all who responded. Now to @long_quach yes I am most likely just rambling and sorry if my sentences didn't make sense and about doing martial arts I go to the gym and I tryna eat healthy. However even though I go to the gym I still get upset at myself because of chess, I know it is just a game though the stupidity of my thought process upsets me also to respond to @solmyr12345 I am Christian though I only look to God when I need him which is wrong though I acknowledge that it's the only time I ever pray I will do better on connecting with God, because I plan to do it and barely have. Also @long_quach is your translator working because my sentence is totally readable and I assume others with a functional brain english reading brain can understand or atleast understand half of what I am saying, I also didn't care as much about grammar and punctuation, Also I am saying this about your translator because I never said I am sad when I compare my progress to others I was just mentioning that 1500 in 3 months is the same amount of time I was playing and I am 1200.

I also am feeling fine I was playing chess yesterday quite happily just some days when I play bad I get pretty upset mostly just extremely sluggish as if I got no sleep, I will also no longer make a post ever like this as I don't want to be seen as that person with issues I really don't think I have ever vented online before and although I got some nice feedback it seems more like a self issue type of thing. Also I am feeling happiness in chess again or at least I did yesterday I guess some parts of the chess journey are just worse than the others

For only playing for 3 months your rating is quite good. But don’t worry about that. Chess improvement is a journey and lifelong endeavor. Slumps will happen, and it seems like everyone is cheating or it is impossible to win. Your rating may plateau for many months or even years. But the key is to not worry about the rating but rather enjoy the improvement as it comes. Continue doing what you are doing, it will click one day. And when it does all the negativity you are experiencing now will make it that much more special.

but in the meantime you should probably take a short break from chess and ease up a bit. The rating range you are in is incredibly frustrating to break out of. If you do too much you can actually become burnt out and your chess will suffer. You are training your mind. Imagine if you tried training for a marathon without running a 5k first? Your body would break down quickly. You need to build up that mental stamina before you spend multiple hours a day 7 days a weeks cramming chess. The improvement will come, it’s not a rush.

good luck

I didn't read all your post. If you want me to, I will do so. However, I didn't read it all because I could tell from the first two sentences that it is not chess that's making you feel like that. It's coming from somewhere else.

If you're relying on being able to play chess well, to combat feelings of inadequacy which strike many people at some point in their lives, then you're relying on something that you have less control over WHEN you're feeling inadequate. Instead, concentrate more on getting physically fit. Much more important and many people make the mistake of ignoring it. They end up being unhealthier than they should be and not living as long as they should.

this is spot on 👍

Thanks very much. For instance, I used to go out and kick a football against the low wall in front of our house for two hours. I got very good at it and it helped me develop good footballing skills and very fast reaction times.

First off don't be scared to lose, it will happen you just gotta learn from it, when I first joined I only really played mittens like hundreds of times I think that gave me a good foundation to go and play other human players, at the end of the day it's just a game which should be fun even when you lose. Plenty of chess players have become of obsessed it's nothing new, don't put to much pressure on yourself but at the same time keep those goals within reach, hope you can keep playing and get to where you wanna be.