Michael,
Instead of opening study, maybe consider studying concepts/ideas instead? I find the ChessExplained videos (he's a German IM who comments on his games) on YouTube are good for picking up ideas.
Also, you might simply need a break. It's okay to take breaks from hobbies. Sometimes you'll find you come back to it later with a fresh perspective and renewed appreciation.
Just my thoughts.
-Aaron
Your just burnt out. Happens to all of us. I got burnt out playing drums for 20 yrs. Step back for a few years. There's more to life than chess. Come back to it when your hearts in it. Remember to tip your waitress on the way out.
Hi everyone who replied, and thank you for the kind advice. I think it's all good advice. Taken as a whole, maybe it really is time to take a step back from it for a while and then return with a different approach, looking at endgames. I really do have far too much going on in my life right now to play intelligent chess consistently.
Thanks again to everyone who so kindly replied. May God bless you for your kindness.
I've played chess most of my life. Most of it was casual games. I got more serious when I read My System and then more serious again, when I joined a major chess club. Over the years I have played in seven chess clubs and for two clubs in intra-club tournaments. I have played in simuls against grandmasters and there was a time when I hugely enjoyed chess. Now I find that I don't have the time to study the openings and positional play well enough to improve. I am holding fairly steady at about 1500 in tactics - a couple of years ago I was playing 1800 in tactics, 1882 in 15 minute games and 1962 in 2/12 - and I play poorly in games because frankly, I don't know what I'm doing unless I am attacking or defending. I don't seem to have a sense of the board, a gut feel, like I used to.
I know my chess would improve if I did what I did before when my play plateaued, which was to pick an opening I liked and really study it, and play it often enough to get good at it. But I have a huge amount going on in my life right now, I have other studies that I am trying to do and not getting nearly enough time for, and I feel like just packing it in on the game. It gets pretty sickening losing game after game and really it's not like I deserve to win. I am not playing well.
Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas you would care to share?
Thank you very much.
- Michael