eventually every thing is pointless?
The worst form of self torture: Becoming a chess pro!
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"... the NM title is an honor that only one percent of USCF members attain. ..." - IM John Donaldson (2015)
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Reaching-the-Top-77p3905.htm
What It Takes to Become a Chess Master by Andrew Soltis
"... going from good at tactics to great at tactics ... doesn't translate into much greater strength. ... You need a relatively good memory to reach average strength. But a much better memory isn't going to make you a master. ... there's a powerful law of diminishing returns in chess calculation, ... Your rating may have been steadily rising when suddenly it stops. ... One explanation for the wall is that most players got to where they are by learning how to not lose. ... Mastering chess ... requires a new set of skills and traits. ... Many of these attributes are kinds of know-how, such as understanding when to change the pawn structure or what a positionally won game looks like and how to deal with it. Some are habits, like always looking for targets. Others are refined senses, like recognizing a critical middlegame moment or feeling when time is on your side and when it isn't. ..." - GM Andrew Soltis (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093409/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review857.pdf
100 Chess Master Trade Secrets by Andrew Soltis
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708094523/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review916.pdf
Reaching the Top?! by Peter Kurzdorfer
"... On the one hand, your play needs to be purposeful much of the time; the ability to navigate through many different types of positions needs to be yours; your ability to calculate variations and find candidate moves needs to be present in at least an embryonic stage. On the other hand, it will be heart-warming and perhaps inspiring to realize that you do not need to give up blunders or misconceptions or a poor memory or sloppy calculating habits; that you do not need to know all the latest opening variations, or even know what they are called. You do not have to memorize hundreds of endgame positions or instantly recognize the proper procedure in a variety of pawn structures.
[To play at a master level consistently] is not an easy task, to be sure ..., but it is a possible one. ..." - NM Peter Kurzdorfer (2015)
http://www.thechessmind.net/blog/2015/11/16/book-notice-kurzdorfers-reaching-the-top.html
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Reaching-the-Top-77p3905.htm
"Yes, you can easily become a master. All you need to do is some serious, focused work on your play.
That 'chess is 99% tactics and blah-blah' thing is crap. Chess is several things (opening, endgame, middlegame strategy, positional play, tactics, psychology, time management...) which should be treated properly as a whole. getting just one element of lay and working exclusively on it is of very doubtful value, and at worst it may well turn out being a waste of time." - IM pfren (August 21, 2017)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/don-t-worry-about-your-rating
https://www.chess.com/article/view/am-i-too-old-for-chess
https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-can-older-players-improve
Train Like a Grandmaster by Kotov
Becoming a Grandmaster by Keene
What It Takes to Become a Grandmaster by GM Andrew Soltis
"BENJAMIN FINEGOLD (born Sep-06-1969 ...) ... Ben became a USCF Life Master at 15, USCF Senior Master at 16, an International Master in 1989, and achieved his final GM norm at the SPICE Cup B Section in September, 2009. ..."
http://www.chessgames.com/player/benjamin_finegold.html
"MARK IZRAILOVICH DVORETSKY (... died Sep-26-2016 ...) ... He was ... awarded the IM title in 1975. Dvoretsky was also a FIDE Senior Trainer and noted author. ... During the 1970s, Mark was widely regarded by the strongest IM in the world, ..."
http://www.chessgames.com/player/mark_izrailovich_dvoretsky.html
Nov 15, 2017
0
#24
The life of GMs is hard, no doubt about this. If you read Gormally's book or the autobiography by Vidmar you will feel almost as depressed as reading the OP. Matthias Wahls, a strong German GM had to stop playing chess after all Russians and other strong players from Eastern Europe came to play in Western Europe in the 1990s. Although he was among the best German players in this time, he decided to make a living with a (successful) online poker school (he is now back to chess, at least as a coach).
Although many chess-lovers will probably perceive the OP as exaggerated, it is much closer to the reality than most of us would imagine. Professionals in the game have also to deal with cheaters, and I will be not surprised if in the future one of these cheaters will be killed by a IM fighting to win the first price of a small tournament.
But there is another side of the story: a lot of IMs and GMs really love the game. They are doing what they want to do, and they feel comfortable in this small and dark chess world. The hard life that they have is similar to the life of early gladiators, who had to stay fit in their attempt to stay alive. I respect chess professionals and everybody who tries to be one. They are heroes.
Although many chess-lovers will probably perceive the OP as exaggerated, it is much closer to the reality than most of us would imagine. Professionals in the game have also to deal with cheaters, and I will be not surprised if in the future one of these cheaters will be killed by a IM fighting to win the first price of a small tournament.
But there is another side of the story: a lot of IMs and GMs really love the game. They are doing what they want to do, and they feel comfortable in this small and dark chess world. The hard life that they have is similar to the life of early gladiators, who had to stay fit in their attempt to stay alive. I respect chess professionals and everybody who tries to be one. They are heroes.
I can think of worse, e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_torture
Nov 15, 2017
0
#27
Madhacker, you are right, this is definitively worst. Perhaps even worst is to use this bamboo torture on a unsuccessful GM, this would be mean.
Pashak1989 wrote:
We all know that guy who tries to convince you that chess is an art, a sport and a science at the same time. Yes, we all have that ridiculous friend who tells you that chess is a sport because after a 5 hour game you feel exhausted!
But it's Ok. Some day that person will grow up and will stop having such ridiculous fantasies.
The real problem is unfortunately something much more serious and sad. A boy discovers chess and starts playing it just for fun, after some time he starts improving and even wins some games. Then he gets greedy, he wants more and more and more.
He starts discovering new openings, tactics, he gets extremely amazed by the beauty of Kasparov's games and suddenly the tragic day arrives: He decides that he wants to become a chess professional!
Fortunately there are some cases where such a horrendous idea is just temporary, but there are other cases where parents even support that atrocious idea and that is how the kid starts spending his childhood years on a board game that he thinks is an art.
Years pass, and very quickly this amazing art/sport/science is starting to become a complete nightmare.
Constant mental breakdowns, nerve wracking moments, stress, insane obsession, absolute lack of a healthy life style....he starts realizing that he has spent so so so many hours training, his parents spent so much money on trainers and travels and chess material, and still he is so so far from the level he wants. There are so many people that are way stronger than him, there are so many things that he needs to learn.
But let's be positive. After so many years of tears, stress and suffering he finally achieved a good enough ELO rating to be considered a chess pro.
He is highly respected by casuals on chess.com because there are red letters next to his nickname that prove he is a titled player and not some random Joe.
But what happens next? One would think that after achieving a high level he can finally have a good life, with financial security, and all that killing of childhood and teen years was absolutely worth it.
Not even close!!
He is a good player but he is not even in the Top 30 of best players in the world. He plays tournaments but never wins because there are always people stronger than him.
The amount of money he makes is really slim. He is a very strong player but he can barely afford a very very small appartment.
Plus, because he spent all his youth years on chess now he is socially very awkward and has a very difficult time socializing with people outside of his chess circle.
He gets really depressed when he realizes that there is no money in chess, that the vast majority of people in the world do not care at all about chess, that women are not attracted even a bit to him and that he spent his best years of life on nothing more than a board game who brought him nothing.
Now he does not know anything in life outside of the 52936394 variations of every chess opening.
He needs to somehow survive. He can become a chess scammer in parks, he can write blogs or articles for some website or magazine, or he can teach chess to little kids who, like him, are in their way of making a catastrophic life choice...
This goes for a lot of professions. That's just your pessimistic view on life.
Nov 17, 2017
0
#29
Young people should listen.
25 years ago I as a young prodigy in a former Soviet U. had to make a choice. Chess all my life, or normal life. Normal life is better. Once you are out of this mad race for a year or two, get yourself into a top university etc. You should immediately notice how poorly developed emotionally are all the players around you.
Just getting back to chess after 25 years of normal life, two careers, a wife, kids, house and all other fun - basically don't miss out on all this other goodness.
Here's another point of view. You will already know if you CAN become a GM - I did. You will be at the top of your age locally and very high in the country. People with high ratings around you will look at your game and will say that you make moves worthy of a GM, or at least an M. If you don't and you are past 18 - forgettaboutit.
Good luck all, and don't use chess as a gateway drug to your unhappiness in normal life.
And I agree with people above - you need nerves of steel or you will have a nervous break down at one point or another, as chess is a game of CONSTANTLY LOSING and LEARNING FROM YOUR LOSSES.
Interesting thread. First of all, kudos to OP for a well-written post. I don't know if you're actually in Ukraine, but your English is very eloquent.
Anyway, it's a pretty accurate assessment of how tough it is to be a chess pro. That said, like others have commented, it goes for any profession that's based on a passion rather than just a job.
If all you want is to make money and have a reasonably easy life, you can do that. You can be an investment banker... or a lawyer... or a computer programmer. Or if you don't want that much money and want to work less, you can be some kind of admin, or do HR, or do IT. Etc. etc.
But what if you don't want a regular desk job? What if you want to do what brings you meaning and happiness? Then it's going to be tough, and there is nothing specific to chess here. Do you know how hard it is to start a restaurant? Or become an academic scientist? Or make a living with your rock band? Or be a professional writer, actor, director, etc? Years and years of training, sweat, blood and tears, and so little chance of actually making a decent living. But you're not doing it because you want money and security. You do it because that's what you love. I just read a bit about the band Hollywood Undead. You guys heard of them? Apparently, before they were signed, they had so little money that only one of them could eat on a given day. So whoever was recording vocals that day got to eat.
So yeah... you have to make tough choices. Everyone wants their kids to be financially secure, but sometimes the kids want to do what brings them satisfaction, not just money.
And as a side note, the stereotype of the socially inept (male) chess player who has no friends and can't talk to women is severely outdated.
Nov 17, 2017
0
#31
I actually know two more highly ranked former young players (one was around 2000, one a CM) , who both chose normal life over chess and are extremely successful. One owns a company that has 50 employees (selling virtual products and, essentially, analytic skills he's really good at), one owns an accounting firm with his wife and changes Porsche's every 3 years. And no, this is not video game gear.
Pashak, how many games have you lost?
Being a titled players does not pay because chess is not a popular tv event because
1) long format of 4+ hrs.
2) lots of draws.
Solution:
1) rapid and blitz as TV events
2) stalemate as win(perpetual check as win).
xartesit03 wrote:
this is very dark and depressing...
You actually read that dissertation? 
yea i did :/
Nov 17, 2017
0
#36
Another one of these gay "chess is not a sport" threads.
when do these blokes ever give up ?
To people saying that what I wrote applies to many professions and I just have a very pessimist view on life:
- No, there are not many professions like this. In the vast majority of professions you don't need to be world class level to be actually able to live a decent life.
In chess you need to be one of the best in the world to earn good money, if you are very good but not one of the best you will struggle a lot.
To the one saying that I simply do not have the courage or desire to work hard to achieve something:
- Absolutely false. I am a violinist and I started at 5 years of age. Spent many many years and did tons of hard work to achieve a good level. But I am not and will never be one of the best in the world. Fortunately, I am good enough to work in 2 orchestras and do other activities and I have a very comfortable life. I am not a millionaire or anything like that but I have a very stable financial situation and I am not afraid that I may be out of money by the end of the month.
However if I was a chess player, I would be counting every single cent and I would struggle a lot simply because I would not be one of the best in the world.
It is not that I don't want to work hard for something, it is just that I do not see what is the point of working very hard if it is 99% sure that the results will not be good.
To be one of the best players in the world just hard work is not enough. Talent is absolutely a MUST, and also you need very good coaches, support from other people etc.
The problem itself is not only the (lack of) money in chess. There are sports where you also need to be one of the best in the world. But if you are doing a sport, even if you are not the best at least you are doing something good for your health. At least you are in excellent physical shape, at least you get media exposure.
I am not hating on chess at all. As a hobby I think it is a wonderful thing. If you already have a profession and a stable job then trying chess as a second profession might be Ok. But to chose chess as your only profession in life? Worst idea ever!
Nov 18, 2017
0
#38
As W.C. Fields said "Chess is chess. Not the best thing in the world or the worst. But there is nothing quite like it"
LilBoat21 escribió:
You HAVE to know who he is! He is a rap GOD, Eminem wishes he was him!
Please stay on topic. No one cares about some shitty rap teenager.
If some young person has a passion for chess and pursues it, he or she will have a much better life living in the midst of an all-consuming interest than the millions of careerists who spend their lives doing something they find tedious just to get enough money to leave a substantial amount to their usually ungrateful heirs. Life is the sum total of what you do everyday, not how much money you make.
It's not up to the one to decide for the other how to spend his or her life (unless it involves harm to self or others obviously).. So although you may be right, your point is moot.