GMs tend to get their kicks out of chess. they look at games with a certain opening, come up with ideas, try them, then go back and try others.
it's like asking how a painter or a scientist gets their kicks.
Have any GMs here have had a near-life experience?
Sort:
Ugh. I started to write it as "How many GMs here have had a near-life experience?" Then I changed it to "Have any GMs here..." and forgot to edit out the have and now I can't edit the title to correct it. Oh well. Blunder in blitz
StrengthInPawns wrote:
This is a stupid question. Chess is a career for these people. Why would you think they don't get enjoyment out of life.. as compared to say the enjoyment you get out of life, despite flipping burgers all day long?
They happen to have a career doing something they love. They also have a life outside the career, as everyone does.
To me this is the type of question someone asks when they have a mind capable of, at best, shallowthink.
Oh, you know what, I'm not even going to argue with you. It was a dumb post. And I wasn't really serious anyway. I'm sure it's just a job at that level, for most. And while they still take some joy and pride in it, and work hard with it, there must be other things and dreams.
I just thought "near-life" was funny, since I just saw something about near-death, and to me, studying as hard as I'd have to, to be a GM would feel like constant near-death :-) So then near-life would be the rarity. Since I was thinking about chess, I worked it in. I even botched the title.
again, i don't understand how getting kicks out of chess is different from getting kicks out of any other useful thing.
pdve wrote:
again, i don't understand how getting kicks out of chess is different from getting kicks out of any other useful thing.
As a person with a profession and a few hobbies, I understand what you mean. But I can tell you this, my day job is not where I get all my kicks after decades of doing it. But I am good at it, I work at it, I study it, and I take pride in it, and some joy here and there.
@reflectivist
It actually was a pretty clever idea for a thread, even if you did slightly botch the title. Slightly disrespectful perhaps, but still funny. I give you an 8.5 (out of 10) on the trollmeter.
reflectivist wrote:
Oh well. Blunder in blitz
With all the incredibly long hours and hard work and concentration required to be a GM, do you guys have any fun? How do you get your kicks, besides chess? What's the best part of your level of mastry, and what's the worst?