My mother loves the game and forced it upon me as a child. I have always and will always detest chess. I find the game mindnumbingly dull. It does not give me any sensation in the least. It is simply logic in game form. I simply can't undestand the beauty in it or how one could find it fun.
The roullete and blackjack table - that is what I love. It gives you sensations, chess is like timid masturbation in front of the computer, the casino is like passionate sex.
In conclusion, God I hate chess.
Here is a very short and also very famous game. Looks easy doesn't it?
But how many people could have forced the king onto that square and then sacrificed a queen so that his opponent was checkmated by two bishops in just 12 moves?
http://youtu.be/FKUr699k9CY
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
Maybe being forced into playing chess didn't help you with liking the game?Originally Posted by Alexander III
I don't like the casino or gambling. There's a thrill in it for sure but you have to lose in the long run.
I don't agree that chess is just logic though. Chess for me is a combination of logic and creativity. It certainly helps if you can calculate deeply, but if you need some creativity, something extra special to think differently and outwit your opponent. (See the link below.)
I also like the quiet and peaceful mind that comes after a game of chess; it's very refreshing.
I used to play chess alot when I was younger but having children had an irreversible effect on my ability to concentrate on one thing for any great length of time, which chess demands. I had a game with a friend last year and while the pot boiled, the washing was going and a moody teenager argued with me between moves, well, guess who won?
Perhaps later I'll take it up again. I like the strategic thought required of the game but now is not the time. The best I can do is play snap or fish with a pack of cards!
Before sunlight can shine through a window, the blinds must be raised - American Proverb
Oh boy kids are such a drain, so tiring and demanding. I swear I'll have grey hair by the time I'm 34.
Maybe you could try getting into blitz chess in pockets of free time? You can build up from there. I don't know how I feel about blitz chess really, it's practical to play that way on the Internet, but I'm with those I think who prefer longer games over the board someplace quiet. I wonder if blitz chess really helps within longer games anyway? Maybe to a certain degree, surely, but they're different muscles being exercised I think. I personally don't like the 5/10 minute blitz games as time then becomes a big factor, I prefer something with an accrued time, like 5 min plus 5, which means you gain 5 seconds with each move, reducing the pressure of time greatly.
Thanks for the tip. I'd never heard of blitz chess.
Before sunlight can shine through a window, the blinds must be raised - American Proverb
No worries. Blitz chess seems to be the norm on the internet for obvious reasons really. One site, FICS - The Free Internet Chess Server is a good place to explore further, as well as others, some of which have been mentioned earlier.
Not certain about blitz chess, but the people I used to play Go with discouraged me from playing blitz Go, saying that it will teach me the wrong instincts - stuff that only works because people don't have time to think about it. One will start believing and feeling that these kinds of things work and are good when they're in fact not.
Then again, have no experience with blitz chess so maybe it doesn't hold for chess.
EDIT: THen again, in the case of new players there's the proverb that one should lose one's first 50 games as fast as possible...
If you believe even a half of this post, you are severely mistaken.
Yes I think your instinct is right on this (or at least I think the same way). I'm not criticizing blitz chess at all, I've had loads of games and it is exciting (hey Alex try it maybe) but I also think the danger is that you can pick up bad habits. It is also easy to make silly mistakes which can undermine your confidence.
I love the idea of chess - I'm just spectacularly bad at it. For some reason, I just don't seem to have the right mindset for it.
"I should only believe in a God that would know how to dance. And when I saw my devil, I found him serious, thorough, profound, solemn: he was the spirit of gravity- through him all things fall. Not by wrath, but by laughter, do we slay. Come, let us slay the spirit of gravity!" - Nietzsche
I think positional players play blitz chess better ... I personally have trouble about speeding up when it comes to the point of needing to make calculations about tactical moves. In opening it is just about what you generally a comfortable able ...
There are lots of mixed opinions on blitz chess. Botvinnik once said, upon being asked about it, "Yes, I have played a blitz game once. It was on a train, in 1929." I love that quote. I think that if you're a serious player, wanting to get good, then you shouldn't play games with less than a 10 minute time control. The reasons are basically as you stated, specifically, you don't learn anything because you're not really thinking about your moves. You learn bad habits and what not.
On the other hand, it's possible to play 5 minute games very well, if that's your goal. But a lot of work is required and you have to really focus. I have a friend who's an A player, who says that he plays tournaments to improve his speed chess, and he plays speed chess to improve his Bughouse! And when he plays tournaments he rarely uses more than 10-15 minutes of his clock. That's not that unusual, but to still play a good game, which he does, is.
Also there's the killer instinct involved.. matching wits with someone who is near your strength in speed games, can really build your desire to be better, for competition's sake. I've done that with a friend, played quite a few blitz games that were real contests to us, since we're about the same level, and it gave me incentive to study and improve, even years later. So, there's nothing wrong with blitz, especially if that's your goal in itself. But it's easy to just play reactive chess, not thinking deeply. It takes extra work to think intelligently in a blitz game, because it requires doing so very quickly. It's common to slip into playing bad moves because of not thinking, and when that happens, you hurt your game.
I rarely ever play with a clock. Actually, the only time I did, it was in chess club. When with friends, I don't really see a need for it.
Ahhh I remember the good old clock.
I won a match in Grade 6 because my opponent forgot to finish their turn
(to the eyes of the modern day player) it looks silly, nowadays sacrificing material (the knight) like that makes no sense at all, and that ridiculous defense is nowhere to be found, maybe not even at 1300 Elo level.
"He had but one eye, and the popular prejudice runs in favour of two."
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