Chess is not fun

I don't like Tic Tac Toe. It's a forced win for the first player so I always lose when I'm second and always win if I'm first. At my skill level, whoever goes first win.

As the skill level increases so does the challenge.
So do you like a challenge?

I think higher rated players do in general take the game more seriously.

Doesn't necessarily mean its less fun though. Depends how you define fun I suppose.

I find that I enjoy the games the most where me and my opponent are of about equal skill level. Doesn't even really matter how good I am. If I'm getting crushed I learn a lot but I don't have fun. If I am crushing my opponent I hope he/she is learning a lot, but neither of us is probably having a lot of fun.

The tense games are fun for me, simple as that.

Vladimir Kramnik looked very happy not to have to play competitively at the Tata Steel Tournament at Wijk An Zee this year. He said "It's a very nice feeling to be here and not to play... This is the best possible variation <chuckle>".

http://www.chessdom.com/vladimir-kramnik-visiting-tata-steel-tournament/

I have some sympathy for the OP's feelings. I played chess on and off since at least 35 years with loooong pauses in between. I always seem to come back to chess because it's so fascinating. Then, after a while, I begin to realize why I had stopped the last time around - because it started to feel like taxing work. My job already demands a high level of thinking/concentration and thus chess is somehow not what in German is called an "Ausgleich" - for this I should rather do physical sports.

Anyway, this time I try to learn from my past experience and hope the key is to simply not overdo it, e.g. I try to keep the number of simultaneous games here to about 5-6 and do try to keep myself from digging through all the "relevant" chess literature as if life itself depended on me knowing how to win all types of theoretically won endgames or mastering the latest novelties in the KID. 

Play with 50 kg pieces? ^^

As I take "the game" more seriously it has less of a thrill, but a much higher sense of acomplisment.  Therefore, at higher levels it is more fulfulling. 

If I got me ones with Iridium fill I could even keep them rather small! ;)

Maybe I am sadistic, but I think it's most fun when there's a very large gap in skill level between the players

i'd like to play you madhacker....i'm a 850 rating....

Ha, I always suspected that sadism is what motivates those bullet experts!

OP, There is some warrant to your post!  When you as a player or any other player should max out their chess playing level, (not to say that you will not be able to improve in the future) but for the time being.  It will seem that you just cannot find those powerful moves that came to you so readily. I am experiencing that right now. My opponents are not only good but a little better them me and I am fighting mixed emotions. . Have I lost something? Or you are just so good, and not so..   Well to end my point you as an individual must deal with it in a positive way, or you will just lose interest in the game? GL

I agree and agree with GhostNight too

Chess is only fun when you win.

Thanks PatzerLars/guesso, when I was living in Germany, I joined a German chess club, it was not that large and most were older players, and every one I played could beat me   Not sure of the spelling that was Baumholder, (thats where the Germans trained there armored divisions). They were so kind, because they did not mind playing against me, knowing I was easy! lolo But when I came back home  playing against my old friends I beat them all! lolo Those are great memories I will always have.

the way i was taught chess and fun were never used in the same sentence.

I disagree, I think the more I've played, the more fun it is. Playing more online has got me almost a bit addicted sometimes.

It's no fun when you start out and lose a lot... but once you get a little better and know how to play, it gets really fun.

I remember when I was very very new to chess... I would get excited if I could even manage to get near my opponent's king and figure out the sequence to checkmate... Now when I play, that is a common occurance, I'm not saying I'm a master... but I'm good enough to get wins by checkmate sometime... and that's when it gets fun, when you become a bit more intermediate and start to understand it.

The only time it's not any fun is when dealing with shitty attitude players (impatient players, rude players, etc...) but a nice 30 - 60 minute game with a patient opponent is very fun. It's a thinking game... and it's definitely not for the impatient.

For even more fun I like to put on some music while playing chess... anything from classical to heavy metal (depending on my mood).

I suppose ''fun'' is subjective though... I'm a bit of a solitary individual and a thinker... so I've always found things such as reading, drawing, and other solitary or thinking activities which might seem ''boring'' to most, as fun for me personally.

Play more, before you knock it, is all I'm trying to say... and if you don't like it, that's fine too... to each their own.

Chess isn't supposed to be fun.  It is supposed to be anguish you can't resist!!

Chess is not fun for me. So I don't play, I teach and that I like.

I come here looking for interesting things about chess. 

The older I get do I loose my skill level? Then my fun level will increase? Well how old do I have to be? I'm Going to be 75 in December. Will It be fun then?