Hard to stay interested in chess when Im so bad.

I find it hard to stay interested or should I say focused on chess when I realize how bad I am. I get excited about playing only to hop on one day and just see how badly Im playing and then I lose all interest. I tend to get less demotivated the longer the time control but especially playing blitz it just makes me hate myself. Anybody else have this problem?

no but i am way higher rated then U

you're not alone. Everyone gets discouraged at some point. I had to overcome this more times than not. My trick was when I got so discouraged I took about a 6 month hiatus away from chess. I always seem to come back. Not recommending you stop playing for 6 months, but it may be necessary to take a little break from it. I tend to play only a few games each day. I only play when I feel up to par for the day. When I get in a bad streak, I take a break for a few hours, or even a day.

You feel sh*t like the rest of us because you want the GM title. That's the sign your game so that's perfectly natural.

I was watching some Karpov games last night and I was telling the TV to f*ck off because of the moves he was playing. That definately makes me feel like I know nothing about chess.

If you aren't the reigning world chess champion, you're in the same boat of losers like the rest of us. If you ain't first, you're last.

you have a higher bullet rating than me, and I have an 1800 blitz rating. So maybe apply your bullet strategy to blitz!

I'm feeling the same, for about 5-6 months last year I thought I worked very hard (see http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/not-improving if you're interested in the full story).

At the moment I'm about to go into the 7th day of a big tournament (u2100, my rating is around 1450 but it's overrated) with a score of 2/6 (effectively 1/5 as I played the easiest player in the field which is the equivalent of a bye). All the people I know, including my friends and foes, are on higher scores.

I've got another 5 day tournament later this month, although not as big, and I'm really stressing over how to improve.

I get different people telling me to 1) relax or 2) work hard. I've been relaxing for all the tournament after getting sick of my stupid score, and I don't know where to work hard...

I think it will be too hard for me to achieve the GM title as it will be too much work for me (I am a student).

My only tip is that if you can find a chess club near you, start playing there if the people there accept you and are happy to play against you. (Unfortunately, I have a hater group comprised of people who are happy to b**ch and spread rumours about me amongst themselves. I am under 18, and a lot of the clubs around my area tend to look down upon juniors. There's only one club that's friendly towards most juniors, and unfortunately the juniors there are part of the hater group.)

I feel bad that I can't give you many tips, but I'm only posting here to tell you that you're not alone.

Come on, that's a bit naieve don't you think?

Wouldn't you feel proud to be in, at least, the top 100 in the world?

Dude, I had similar thoughts when I first started playing here.. Like you I was playing mainly blitz. In fact, you're doing better than I was.. Playing all of that blitz was fun/exciting but if you want to improve your chess, then stop playing blitz. For the past year I've only played a handful of blitz games and have instead been playing daily chess - only 1 game at a time, and I even do some studying now and then. My chess understanding is way, way better now compared to a year ago. Playing blitz when you're bad just reinforces bad habits, and you don't learn anything - it's 'hope chess'. Play long games, analyze the heck out of them, and calculate as deep as you can. Read "My System" ... You'll get better.

You are just a starting out player, so playing bad should be expected. Make improving your game as motivation. Play more games at longer time control. Do you even study chess?

GM Seirawan, when he is just a beginner, lost 100 straight games. But losing 100 straight games did not weaken his spirit. Seirawan got motivation from losing and playing badly as he improve his game. He study chess. The rest is history.

Yeah I do love Seirawan, he's such a great guy. I think one line from Karpov, though I could be wrong, is to lose 3000 games against a superior opponent for significant improvement. Something along those lines.

When I started to notice my rating was increasing I would instantly decline an opponent who I considered lesser than me. Now I don't care anymore. I will play anyone and I always will.

i dunno.  i hear seirawan has a real mean streak behind closed doors.  some say he's a booze hound and falanderer

We all get discouraged, and we all go through discouraging massive losing streaks, but I find a good way to break out of that negative mindset is to take a break (really important!) and when you come back, go into the game even if it's a 3min blitz game, and look forward to your opponent playing the strongest game possible so you can learn from your mistakes.

 

THen actually follow through after your loss and ANALZYE that game, with the help of a cpu to point out your errors. This seems to bounce me back onto the forward motion again rather than losing again and again (often from repeating the same errors over and over again.)

My arse. He's a lover not a fighter.

Boozehound, and what!? We're all boozehounds, nothing beats a good drink!

Hello ProfessorProjection:

Having a computer analyze your games isn't going to do much if you don't understand the fundamentals.   If you're willing to put in the time and truly study by purchasing a few e-books or standard books beginning with those dedicated to tactics -- lots and lots of tactics -- then you will inevitably improve.

Understanding endgames and how the various pieces coordinate together to limit the mobility and options of the opponent is also very important.  Tarrasch, the Praeceptor Germaniae or Teacher of Germany, began his instruction manual, The Game of Chess, with the endgame.

Anyway, here are a few book recommendations with links (Note: some of the old classics are in Descriptive Notation, but it's not hard to learn)

Tactics
The Art of Checkmate
Learn Chess Tactics
Improve Your Chess Tactics: 700 Practical Lessons & Exercises

Endgame
Chess Endings: Essential Knowledge
Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner To Master

Strategy (basic to more complex)
Logical Chess: Move by Move
The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played
50 Essential Chess Lessons
Modern Chess Strategy (the one by Luděk Pachman, though I like Edward Lasker's too but it's older and not as advanced)

Opening
Discovering Chess Openings
Understanding the Chess Openings

I hope this gives you a start to becoming a better player.

Damn, that is a lot of books. I have...three.

I have 36 chess books...

Not really, AJM1988, I have over 1,100 books, all in Very Good to As New condition.  That may sound like a lot but that's low compared to some collectors such as Jeremy Silman and Andy Ansel, to name just two.  If you want to see a phenomenal collection, one of the best aesthetically, get a hold of the limited edition book titled "A Few Old Friends;" unfortunately, it's very expensive.  David Delucia's collection of first editions dating back 500 years or more is photographed in full color (see http://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2014/03/delucias-chess-library.html).  Other chess ephemera is photographed too.  You might call it intellectual porn for the chess fanatic.

Of course, just because someone is a collector of chess books doesn't make him a good player; they have to be read and understood.  In other words, don't ask me how many book I've read of the 1,100.  Quite a few, but not as many as I'd like given the demands on my time.

With chess you never stop learning, and the game can be appreciated at any level, though it gets more interesting the better you become.  It's like the Indian proverb, "Chess is a sea in which a gnat may drink and an elephant may bathe."

Again...damn. I only consider buying a new book until I'm close to memorising the previous.

I have three that I read over and over and over and over and over...

Just persevere! The chess.com community has faith in you.