Why I'm Done With Chess

No one is forcing you to play.  Loss of enjoyment usually means you should stop whatever it is your doing.  I don't skateboard, but I'm not about to go out and do it, then complain how bad it sucks because of its downsides.  Come back when you miss it for the good things...

I thought the OP was a listing of GOOD aspects of the game.

oh c'mon manicule, lets play last game ;-)

 Titled players have actually said that?!

I mostly agree with the author, although I see a lot of beauty in both chess tactics and strategy, so I think it'll out rank most of my other interests for awhile longer. I played a few tournaments in college, didn't do well, and didn't start playing again until my 5 year old asked me how. Two years later, I LOVE playing with my two oldest boys, I'm coaching a handful of kids (free -- they get what they pay for!) many of whom play with their parents. I'm also far ahead of where I was in college, because I'm studying correctly, rather than relying on my so-called intellegence.

BTW, I did some research ... chess masters are slightly more intellegent than the average person, and they have a high ability with regards to one type of memory. More importantly, studying chess helps young minds develop. I'm not sure it helps beyond a certain rating. Anyway you have to admit, it's pretty cool to study a game that has been studied for over a thousand years, never fully mastered, either by man or machine.

Pretty sure one of the masters here has said that... but I head it before at a club.  Probably meant half jokingly, I think the advice was to use moderation... don't pour yourself into chess unless you can make a living out of it.

Any activity we humans pursue can be construed to be a waste of time. Why is looking at wood with leaves attached considered a "better use of your time" than pushing wood around a board? Once you start asking these questions, you might as well ask,"Why are we here? What's our purpose on earth?" I'm not saying I know, but I do know I can enjoy myself without asking all these philosophical questions and simply play some chess!

I think that it's mostly a function of time/utility though.  There are less people able to put in the time than are unable due to mental capacity to become masters.  (When chess is a viable profession, people have more time for it).  So what we end up with is a group of people who make master because they didn't need as much time to do it than say your average person who needs many years to make it.  They didn't need as much time because their memories and knack for the game (if you want to call that intelligence) is higher than average.

Intelligence is a tricky word in the first place, I think people vastly oversimplify the issue when trying to equate chess with intelligence.  One of the smartest people I know is truly terrible at chess... I mean awful.  But like Fischer he's taught himself a few languages (fluently, in his late teens even!), taught himself a dozen instruments (not just a scale, he can reproduce whatever he hears), has a near photographic memory, good at math, things like that.

Chess is a highly highly specific skill.  And it's a good thing too... the frequency and degree of errors class players (like me) make is nothing short of embarrassing.  If chess = intelligence then I'm lucky I can tie my shoes half the time

 The only way I could ever make a living with chess is to sneak up behind people, whack them over the head with a chess board, and steal their wallet.

manicule wrote:

"Over the 3 years I've been playing chess I've gathered a few things about it:
1. Chess has very little to do with true intelligence."

For your statement to make sense you would to begin by correctly defining "true intelligence", which is something that you can't do.

"This is number one. I was introduced to chess through a good friend in college. He was a great player and beat me consistently. At the time I said "So what? It's only because you WANT to be good at chess. You play it so much that you learn from your experiences." He read books on chess, was part of a chess club, won championships. He thought that he was a genius."

How do you know what he thought? And how do you know that he wasn't a genius? Did you measure his IQ?


" Now, after playing chess for a while, I too started to feel somewhat more intelligent, but I was fooling myself. I know that if I continue to play chess I will improve now, just as I have been improving since I started. This is all due to repetition and experience playing the game. And I have done very little in the way of actual studying of the game. Chess requires a certain though process, that's all. I understand now what I already understood before I even started with chess - it is not a measure of intelligence."

It's not a measure of intelligence but it correlates well to intelligence. A person with an IQ of 90, unless we are talking of an autistic savant, is not going to play at the master level.

"2. Chess causes most people to become unfriendly and callous - Of course not all chess players are this way. "

How do you know that chess causes more than 50% of chess players to become unfriendly and callous? Even if the correlation is correct, which is dubious, how did you establish a casual relationship? Is it possible that you are exaggerating your numbers or perhaps that you have been hanging around the wrong group of chess players? Is it possible that people who are callous and unfriendly tend to gravitate towards chess (especially online chess) and other solitary activities? So far you have provided no evidence that chess causes most people to become unfriendly and callous.

"But I've found time and time again, that chess players are some of the most arrogant and unfriendly people I've ever met. I don't like being around most chess players."

Either you did not express yourself correctly or you have been around all chess players in the world and concluded that you did not like being around more than half of them. I think it's the former. Arrogant and unfriendly people, in case you don't know, abound in places where intellect is valued. You will find plenty of such people in prestigious universities and top companies.

"3. Chess wastes time. This is a big one for me. I have many interests - from painting to enjoying the outdoors."

Unless you are getting paid for your paintings or to enjoy the outdoors those activities also waste time.

"All these activities leave me with memories that are more fulfilling than anything chess can do."

That's a matter of personal taste. It doesn't mean that there is something wrong with chess.


"4. Chess is shallow. "

You are shallow.

"I had to ask myself "Why am I playing chess?" And I was shocked at the true answers I found within myself. For one, I want to be a good chess player. I want to know that I am better than most people (this went along with the delusion of intelligence described in #1). I was also addicted to the distraction it provided me. Chess, and games in general are great distractions for introverts. It allows you to escape from your problems. It's entertainment. But above all these, I had to be completely honest with myself - I was addicted to the rewarding feeling it provided me. But I found this feeling a shallow, empty one, and I was disgusted."

It's not chess' fault that you wanted to be better than people.

"So, I am done with chess. And I'm sure many people will disagree with what I've said, though I've only been as honest as possible."

As if your being honest means that there can't possibly be logical fallacies in your arguments that other people can pick up on.

noooooooooooooo don't go jk peace out.  I would have a hard time never playing chess because it has been in my life from an early age, I didn't play very much, but I like the game.  It is an awesome game!  It is probably the best game ever invented, and it is very practical ... don't have to plug it in, you can draw the board and use rocks for pieces.  And I know if one day I get too old to move I can play using myjedi mind tricks jk but seriously.

1. really it does measure intelligence a certain degree, if anything demonstrating ones capacity to coordinate the pieces and board.  2 that news is bad, maybe they want to make easier for when they sac you later in life 3 I agree I enjoy other things more than chess, but it is a mental exercise and I don't consider that to be a waste of time 4 That is how you feel today, later you may realize you like playing chess for less shallow reasons.  You know some people absolutely love playing chess, and I'm glad they can find such happiness with such a basically harmless activity.  I hope you don't think this is shallow but I think chess makes the world a better place (I'm sure prisoners who are able to play would agree).

If you're worried about wasting your time why did you write all that? It's not like we care.

I'm amused and mystified by people who find it necessary to compose a manifesto to tell evryone that they aren't going to play chess anymore. EO______________ was a little harsh with the OP_______________________, but he did the same thing.

What are they expecting, that scores of people will beg them to stay? Apparently this latest guy needed to tell us we are all odious individuals before he leaves. Is it that they're frustrated that they aren't improving faster and they need to "vent"? Do they feel bad that chess has taken time away from other things and they need to lash out?

If they weren't disturbed by something, they would just go. I echo the sentiments expressed earlier; bye bye.

chess is little about intellegence, its about hard work and discipline.  Of course you have to be smart enough to know how sit in one spot, relax your eyes and focus.  I suppose we could always fling fecal matter at one another when in disagreement..   Dude, CHess has even gotten me laid!  I am so eveloped in the warm, moist velvety embrace that is CHESS

I wasted my time reading this.

Reading about people's attitudes about chess wastes my time.

And as for giving up chess, it's just not worth it. I've done it at least three times over the years, and I just can't afford to buy all those books again. So I'm sticking with it.

You need to teach me how to do that.

He's hysterical. Chess does not get you laid. You have to give up sex for a weekend Swiss. You don't go to one for it.

 I don't know, some of those guys are pretty horney.

Are you suggesting you are a girl? What swiss tournament are you attending next?

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