Is chess less fun when you gets good?

it is fun for me to play people within about 300-500 rating points of my rating. in non-tournament situations, it is fun no matter what the rating is, as long as im playing a chess variant (bughouse)`

The 80/20 rule applies.  Up to about expert level you can put in 20% of the time and get 80% of the results.  That's fun.  Once you start having to study and do large amounts of preparation to get better and achieve results (and not for fun, but to the point of drudgery), you should either become a professional, or realize that you are spending a ton of time on a hobby you no longer enjoy ;)...

Compare this to, say, being a sketch artist.  If you sketch for fun, great.  If you want to become a graphic artist and make a living at it, great.  If you want just draw the same basic stuff in a neverending cycle to slightly improve your ability, but you have no intention of ever making it your livelyhood...then perhaps you're lost your way and are wasting your time.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman#What_Do_You_Care_What_Other_People_Think.3F_.281988.29

This is a quote by Richard Feynman:

" I have a friend who's an artist, and he sometimes takes a view which I don't agree with. He'll hold up a flower and say, "Look how beautiful it is," and I'll agree. But then he'll say, "I, as an artist, can see how beautiful a flower is. But you, as a scientist, take it all apart and it becomes dull." I think he's kind of nutty. ... There are all kinds of interesting questions that come from a knowledge of science, which only adds to the excitement and mystery and awe of a flower. It only adds. I don't understand how it subtracts."

The same things applies to chess. How can chess be less fun the more you know about it ? That makes no sense what so ever, the OP is nutty. 

That Feynman quote is gold, I heard it in a documentary on Feynman. I can relate to the frustration when you're used to weak opposition and all of a sudden people are playing solidly. However, I think you overcome that feeling once you play better. I remember Kingscrusher on Youtube once played an interesting game against a lower rated opponent and when his opponent made a tactical inaccuracy (a subtle one, I didn't see it immediately), he instantly went:"Oh come on! Such a waste to finish the game like this" and almost angrily played the combination that won. I think that emphasizes justus_jep's point: Once you recognise more subtleties about chess (or a flower for that matter) you don't want to waste your time on obvious stuff, such as obvious tactical blunders. So, for the OP that probably means he has to keep on trucking until he sees more subtleties. But don't worry, so do all of us mortals. 

Speaking for myself...Yes.  Then i decided that i missed the "fun" aspect of the game.  Sure i still study, but i dont take the game anywhere near as serious as i did.  I enjoy it more than ever now.

This is the same principle as Paul McCartney avoiding Music Theory during his career; sometimes the enjoyment and even the quality of a creative endeavor is ruined by knowing too much about the mechanical underpinnings of the subject.  You can cease to hear real music, and instead hear key changes, diminished 7th notes, arpeggiated chords, etc.  It becomes a series of dissected elements rather than a whole.

Consider two super-GMs playing a Sicilian; the game is completely dry and worthless until the game breaks out of known lines.  In a Sicilian that's up to 30-35 moves, leaving under half the game with any possibility of learning or discovery at all.

If you want to reduce it to a simpler example, take Tic-Tac-Toe.  It's only fun when you're a kid until you finally realize that you can tie every single game.  After that, the game is boring and useless. Well, unless you are one of those "burning ants with a magnifying glass" types that will still take joy for years in beating other kids in a game that is "solved" for you ;).

Well, that's definitely one reason.

The other is that it becomes all work and little play.

Unless, of course, you're like Carlsen and you've made it to the top (already done all the hard work)... so you can spare some time to play soccer and go swimming with your friends or whatever.

If your goal is to become "the best," you will really only be satisfied when you reach the #1 spot (and perhaps not even then). So it will just be all work and drudgery, a means to an end that will probably never come.

To be honest...

I loved chess a lot more, studied harder and gave the game more time when I was learning.

I still love the game, but the passion and single minded dedication is gone.

Not sure if others are the same.

I would expect something you are good at to be more fun than something you are not good at.  As far as fear or pressure it depends on the individual. Though I know it's irrational I get nervous sometimes playing and I suck at chess.  If I get too bent out of shape I go play TT for a while.  

The stronger you become you see more in a position, the deeper you can go in a position. Seeing more than my opponent bring me satisfaction. For me reaching otb expert level has been one my joyest moment in chess; I will say getting stronger has increase mine enjoyment in chess. 

About what level/rating do you think the passion and dedication was no longer there?

I don't think its related to chess level. I think it was leaving home at 18 and letting life get in the way (work, girls, being "cool").

I simply didnt have time to sit at my kitchen table with chess books and the computer anymore and lost passion as a result.

Often now I wish I'd rejected all that B.S, got a good coach and focussed to see if I could get any good, but thats life.

I think a lot of 2100-2200 players are in the same boat.

For me the chess is more interesting when is more dificult. But everyone likes to win.

Some of the most sensible posts IMO.  +1

I will say though more people may be "in the boat" than you think.  As you said in the beginning it's probably not be related to chess level. 

Heard some IMs talking about how they wished they had taken chess seriously for longer and if they had made different choices maybe they could have been GM.  But as IMs there were "no good."

I think all anyone wants (who has passion for something like chess) is to see how far they can go (or could have gone).  What were their personal limits.  A sort of self discovery, and sense of accomplishment.

Boris Spassky had the best quote:

"I wish i could forget everything i know about chess, and start over."

I often feel the same way...

shell_knight maybe you say the true but all the people have 30 minutes frees in a day and maybe you just have to keep learning in order to regain the passion for chess

You're assuming that learning chess is a linear function...it's not.  You can only go so far on 30 minutes a day before improvement is impossible.  In fact, at the master+ levels 30 minutes a day would have you going backwards in rating immediately ;)...it takes longer than that just to keep up with the latest opening prep wrinkles that you have to be aware of, never mind actual improvement in your own chess skill.

btickler you have all the true is impossible learn a thing in 30 minutes, minime 2 hours

For me I had the most fun I've ever had at a chess tournament (my first) recently. I've been playing online for 4 years now, and finally decided to participate in an Open tournament. I had a great tournament scoring 2.5/5 against an average opponent rating of 1927 and learned so very much from my quick loss to an IM (check out my blog for the games).

I think new experiences are extremely important in chess, and learning new things and incorporating them successfully into future games brings about a whole new level of satisfaction.

Once I achieve master (dat long term goal), I hope the passion is still there. I have a feeling what happened to Brenden won't happen to me as I've been balancing my chess study with life for many years now. I was already 18 years old when I learned, so I feel like I'd already lived quite a long young-adulthood without the distraction of chess and therefore was more able to cope with it.

I do wish I learned chess and practiced as a kid/teenager though. The pure joy I see on the faces of kids who play (even if they're rubbish) makes me regret my childhood (in terms of not playing). Imagine where I could be now if I played when I was younger :P 

Being good, becoming good, and even getting good is fun.

But when you gets good? That's just terrible.