Starting to not enjoy chess anymore now that I am nearly two months deep... but feel too invested

Well... about around January, this girl in my class introduced me again to playing Chess. I heard and watched videos of Magnus Carlsen and other great GMs such as Kasparov and Fischer, and any other greats you could possibly name when I was younger, but never seriously started playing the game until now. Long story short we went to a draw and that was when it all began...

Fast forward going onto April 19th of 2025, I begin my Chess.com account along with Lichess and I begin playing. I learn a few tactics and about 2 weeks in, I had a period where I just was able to beat anybody in my neighborhood you put in front of me, I went from beating my neighbor, to that same neighbors brother (first game too and he is like 400-500 ELO), to my dad (twice in a row one time! He is 400-450 ELO) to my neighbor who was in a chess club for two years and even another friend of mine who I proceeded to checkmate 7 times in a row, keep in mind it was her first time playing and I tried to tell her the moves to win, however she just didn't pick it up.

Up to now, I have been tilting like crazy since then and it was better the 3rd and 4th week but now it just seems like all of the games, I have been playing the past two weeks I am absolute garbage, or I don't find where my opponent can put me in check or checkmate or something stupid like that. I asked my dad and my neighbor for what they think could be it and they both agree and think that I try and save my pieces way too much than before! I am not sure and haven't analyzed my games yet, but I would LOVE some advice on what I should do and how to think moving forward. I feel like I want to quit but feel too invested now that I know so much information. It was one of my main goals too to beat most (if not all) my friends which I proceeded to do as a 100 ELO, even if it wasn't consistently! now it just feels empty and not sure where I should go now... Advice would be more than appreciated!!!

P.S - By the way, feel free to analyze my games and give me tips and advice for what I could do better in future matches, for I do not really understand where I have been going wrong and don't really have anybody to coach me or tell me where I am messing up, nor do I really have time anymore to study my games! Thanks!

- Rock

You care more now. You’ve tasted the joy of winning, so losses hurt. This leads to overthinking, fear of losing material (which your dad and neighbor picked up on), and a mental tightness that kills creativity.

Honestly, when you put it this way and now when I think about it, that is very true... I tried sacrificing more pieces and being riskier a few games ago and I have found it has gotten me farther in terms of my plans of attack!

Ok, you said that your goal is to win against people in your environment. You said you have done that, do you have further goals?

Are you not enjoying simply because of the losses, or you feel you do not enjoy chess in general?
For instance, if you do not enjoy chess in general, the answer is simple - stop playing it. It is a hobby after all, and if you do not like it that much, you may be happier doing something else.

If it is just the losses, and you like playing, perhaps you should kep playing but with a specific goal in mind. Perhaps you want to improve your game to a certain point, maybe you have something other than that in mind. That is up to you, but if you say it here, perhaps we would be able to give you more specific advice.

You've mentioned analysing your games, I will do so with one of your games in the next post.

Well it was my goal but now that I have had my run and beat all my fellow friends and family It felt like I hit my ceiling and I honestly had a goal of becoming grandmaster but realized that takes full dedication. I do want my ELO to go up though respectively, that side of it too really makes it discouraging because I have been playing for nearly two months with barely even a budge in my ELO... I understand getting better at Chess is about time but im the type that wants to get good instantaneously but that is just impossible lol, thank you for your wonderful advice and feel free to analyze any game of mine you'd like!

quit now while you are ahead. People literally abandon pursuing careers to live in poverty to pursue reaching their chess peak. I am not kidding. If you already feel too invested at 2 months, you are a prime candidate for this condition.
got get a job a degree, marry and breed or w.e normies do to feel fulfilled.

Here you go. First of all, if you feel I was too harsh, I apologize, that wasn't my intention. My intention was to point out mistakes in this game, which you actually won in the end. It is a typical novice level game.

As I've said earlier, I do not know what is your goal. Perhaps you just wish to play for fun. That is completely ok.

If you wish to improve, first of all, 10 minute chess is too short for most of us mortals. Plus, in this game you've spent a little more than 2 minutes. I am sure I would make many mistakes playing games in that manner.You should try to use the time better.

Some people will go beyond 2 000 rating just by playing and looking through their games afterwards. Most people will improve a bit and stop. After we stop improving, in order to improve more, a lot of effort will be needed. Most of the people are not prepared to invest hours upon hours in order to do so.

You can improve at the start if you learn principles (which you don't know now, or at least you are not following them usually) and if you do your best to decrease the frequency of one move blunders. That pawn loss was a mistake, that queen loss, which the opponent didn't capitalize on, was a game losing blunder.

Now all that is easy to say, it will take time to improve on.

in any case, it is up to you to set your own goals, if you wish to continue playing.

Ok, 2 things.

Grandmaster... that is a very tall order, even if you are still very young. I will not say impossible, but that requires a talent for chess, plus basically dedicating your life to chess at least for let's say 10 years. So someone who does chess full time for 10 years have some slim chance of becoming a GM.

So unless you are serious about this, perhaps you should set a more realistic goal. For instance I would recommend doing it in small steps. Try to avoid 1 move blunders as much as you can, and to develop your pieces faster than you do now (unless you have an opportunity to win a game of material). After you achieve this, go for a more ambitious goal, and so on.

Second thing, you haven't reached your ceiling. People are using that word a bit too much. In order to reach your ceiling, you have to play and study seriously for years, so 99% of people will never reach it. Basically the only ones who can reach it are people who are living and breathing chess, or are very close to it.

In any case, I wish you luck with whatever you decide doing in the end.

Your whole post is baffling to me, but this is the cherry on top. What are you talking about? The kid is rated 100, which is the absolute minimum rating possible.

I know. That is why I addressed 2 things he mentioned in his previous post. The first one is the goal of being a GM, and the second one is mentioning a ceiling after 2 months of playing and the rating you mentioned. OP mentioned reaching his ceiling, which is why I just reacted to it.

I understand that you try to be nice, but you try so hard that your message is lost in all those veils.

The main point is this: the kid doesn't enjoy chess anymore, and he doesn't have time to try to get better at chess. He often tilts and resigns games on move 1 or 2.

The only reasonable advice is to take a break from chess and maybe come back later when he has some love and enthusiasm for the game.

I love that last part and you are 100% correct on that one part. Those games where I resigned almost instantly, I was already tilted or frustrated, which is understandable since I have practically been living and breathing chess for about a week. I think I need to take a break, study fundamentals and come back to it when im in a better mental position 👍🏻

Lol, I've actually been enjoying Disc golf with my father as of lately

I didn't think you were too harsh at all, not one but and if anything I actually GAINED something from this study. I wish someone could personally make these or something for me, it'd be cool, but I appreciate your advice and think I am going to take a minor break and come back once I have studied and learned proper fundamentals such as attacking the center properly and actually playing with a brain. Most of the losses that I have had from the past week are mostly quick resigns or give ups due to loss of confidence within 1-2 minutes (even as little as 10 seconds) and just tilt in all honesty. I hope to come back better than ever and thank you so much for your wonderful words of advice, helped me more than anything!

You're welcome. All the best.