This is very common, and it’s not your fault — blitz is designed to feel rewarding:
* Immediate feedback
* Lots of dopamine
* You feel “in the game” constantly
But improvement comes when you can detach from performance and instead seek understanding:
* Why did I lose?
* Did I actually calculate, or did I guess?
* What were the plans I missed?
Something I have heard a lot as a chess player looking to improve is that you need to enjoy chess.
When I hear this statement, my mind affirms that statement as I already enjoy playing chess! In fact, I would go as far as to say I am addicted to playing. Playing chess is my favorite hobby.
However, as I play everyday, and my improvement seems to slow down, I wonder, what am I doing wrong? I'm enjoying myself, playing blitz and rapid day and night, but I don't seem to be improving. Why is that?
You see, I misinterpreted that statement. To improve, one must enjoy chess, and that includes all aspects of chess.
I am someone who does not spend a lot of time playing puzzles or reading books on chess, instead my chess training consists of a lot of blitz and rapid, and the occasional review of my opening files, but after struggling through some simple endgames someone of my strength should know, i realized how little I know about chess!
So, I decided to change my approach,
I started reading a book on chess called on "How To Study Chess On Your Own" by Davorin Kuljasevic, and it really opened my mind! I have not been training properly, nor have i been approaching chess efficiently. Hence, I decided to rectify my training slowly.
I started reading more chess books, and doing more puzzles. Finding gaps in my knowledge in chess, and learning about those aspects (such as middlegames plans and endgames) to fill those gaps in my knowledge, but most importantly, I started enjoying every aspect of chess! From the tactical shots, to the subtle positional nuances, from playing chess, to going through games on my board simple because I wanted to.
However, I still have the habit of binging blitz and rapidAs they say, bad habits die hard, but slowly, I am correcting this habit! Now, whenever I feel the urge to play chess, i substitute playing with learning about the game I love dearly, whether it be puzzles, endgames or reviewing interesting games.
To conclude, I believe a lot of chess players go about improving and enjoying chess in the wrong way. It is not just about the love to play, but also the love to learn about the game you enjoy! The process needs to be enjoyed as much as the journey.
Below is an interesting position I found from an interesting game!
There's a joy to going through chess positions and I hope you find this one interesting!