He is the best in the world at something, and lives comfortably. He enjoys chess, travels around the world, and once he retires he can easily make a living out of teaching patzers, writing a book or coaching. That is what I call acomplishment. Nobody plays chess if he/she doesnt feel it serves a purpose.
Is chess a waste of time?
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Jan 21, 2016
0
#3
Yeah, I don't think Magnus is going to consider his time playing chess squandered.
He has traveled the world, made a living, won top honors in the game and still has years ahead of him to do more and even things outside of chess if he is so inclined.
Jan 21, 2016
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#5
I don't understand why people that think chess is a waste of time even play at all.
lolurspammed wrote:
I don't understand why people that think chess is a waste of time even play at all.
I am just here to educate people and to encourage them to do something with their life.
nacional100 wrote:
He is the best in the world at something, and lives comfortably. He enjoys chess, travels around the world, and once he retires he can easily make a living out of teaching patzers, writing a book or coaching. That is what I call acomplishment. Nobody plays chess if he/she doesnt feel it serves a purpose.
I just used magnus as an example.
Jan 21, 2016
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#8
That's like saying a writer has wasted their life pushing buttons on a keyboard.. or a world class soccer player, "kicking a ball"..
blastforme wrote:
That's like saying a writer has wasted their life pushing buttons on a keyboard.. or a world class soccer player, "kicking a ball"..
no, a writer is not wasting his life pressing buttons because there is more to writing than pushing buttons, also soccer players are not wasting their life kicking balls, because they get paid a ton(chess players dont get paid ($100+ at max))
And like I said, I used magnus as an example, this article is not necessarily about him.
Remember guys, any 10 year old can post here.
Jan 21, 2016
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#11
There's more to chess than pushing wood, and certainly there are opportunities in the chess world to do productive things. I'm sure that Magnus and many other professional chess players feel rewarded enough to keep at it, even if not financially.
What's not a waste of a life? Everyone and everything dies. Eventually the last proton will decay. All dharmas end.
Jan 21, 2016
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#13
Chess is more than moving wood on top of wood. I think it's art. Maybe you think it'snot, but that's your problem, not mine.
Jan 21, 2016
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#14
His previous forum was "My 10-year old brother came up with this opening". That means he's between 7-12.
Shouldn't chess.com nominate someone to be a resident mufti or an imam to answer such questions? I vote for Danny Rensch.
The skills and concentration you develop in chess are arguably more relevant to functioning in a modern society than many popular sports like basketball or tennis. Of course, take it to an extreme, and it becomes worse for you.
To say something is a waste of time implies there are more important things to do. But nothing is "important" in the sense of purpose.
Would making technology that makes people's lives even easier and makes them even weaker and lazier be a good use of time?
Would saving people's lives by being a doctor have some grand meaning, when they'll just die soon anyway? The entire human race will die some day, and nothing will have meant anything when that happens.
No, the only thing that makes sense is to satisfy your own selfish interests and passions. If someone enjoys the game, it is meaningful. If they get rich and famous off it and live an amazing life, that's also something I'd consider worthwhile.
Jan 21, 2016
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#18
Is life a waste of time? You can reduce almost any activity to surface level qualities. You can say guitar playing is nothing but plucking 5 strings. Advanced mathematics nothing but a 0 sum game of logic ultimately. Electronics nothing but channeling electrons in particular patterns, and software development nothing but arranging bits in a particular order. Sure, chess doesn't really have practical applications much beyond itself, but what art really does? Chess is not just the raw movement of the pieces, but all the community, thought, competition, history, travel, and fun that comes along with it. Worrying about what other people think though is probably a waste of time.
Jan 21, 2016
0
#19
Nobody does anything useful in life really. You're born, you do stuff, then you die and for the most part what you did while you lived is irrelevant afterwards! So chess is no more a waste of time than doing anything else.
Are chess players wasting their life? I am not talking about someone who plays chess for fun.
guy:"hey magnus how old are you?"
magnus: "78"
guy: "what have you been doin for the past 77 years of your life?"
magnus: "I have been moving nicely carved wood on top of a wood board"
guy: "really"
magnus: "yea, moving wood on top of wood was what I have been doing all my life"
guy: "wow"
magnus: "yea, my life has been a complete waste"
guy: "do you still move wood"
magnus: "no, now computers have solved the game so noone caress about it anymore"
guy: "I am sorry that your life was a complete squander"
magnus: ":("
guy: *walks away