Does anybody here play chess?

[kag101]

I think it's a great game to develop strategic thinking. 

I'm still a newbie, but i've been getting a kick out of it.

Does anybody else also play? What are your thoughts about the game?

[impulse9]

Chess is a great example of the dance between simplicity and complexity. It's a deeply philosophical game and can teach us many things if we open ourselves to it.

Edited March 24, 2021 by impulse9

[Lyubov]

yes, I'm 1200. trying to get to 2000 one day. 

[Hardkill]

18 minutes ago, Lyubov said:

yes, I'm 1200. trying to get to 2000 one day. 

I've been playing chess for a couple of months now, but I am getting discouraged by it lately because I've been for weeks now stuck at getting a certain level of the computer game. 

[Flowerfaeiry]

I love playing chess because it feels like the other person and I are playing with our minds together. Super fun

[How to be wise]

32 minutes ago, Flowerfaeiry said:

I love playing chess because it feels like the other person and I are playing with our minds together. Super fun

Interesting reason. Most people love chess because they want to see if they can outsmart the other person. 

[OceanRiver]

I play with my grandpa at least once a month, he's been teaching me how to play since I was a kid (he's basically a grandmaster). 

[Consept]

I love chess, play a couple games daily. I think it's a great metaphor for life as well, in that its good to have a plan but that plan has to be constantly adaptable because of the factors outside of your control, ie the other players moves. 

It's also great to get in the zone as you need a high level of concentration to play well. 

Near 1500 is the highest I've been on chess.com and 1700 on lichess. But its so hard to improve or even maintain those numbers and it gets to a point where if you're not gonna be a pro it's better to just enjoy the game, without worrying too much about the numbers. 

[Rilles]

Im too dumb for chess.

[Tim R]

I love chess. Sometimes when I've played a lot of chess in one day, this very weird thing happens: everything somehow becomes chess. Everything that happens is viewed through a strategic lens. It's a very odd feeling. Objects are viewed as pieces and everything you do is a move. 

[Snader]

If you like chess you might enjoy this mini-series. It's a story about a girl on her mastery process to become the best in the world while not only fighting against her inner demons and traumas but also suffering from the cost of the mastery process itself.

Really inspiring and emotional.

[NoSelfSelf]

I play it its a monster of a game it can be so complex 

[Rilles]

45 minutes ago, NoSelfSelf said:

I play it its a monster of a game it can be so complex 

Haha. Spot on!

[fridjonk]

I used to about 2 years ago and made it to 1600 in 7 months.  After many of my awakenings, it became too much of a thinking sport, but I kind of want to revisit it again since it's pretty healthy to be a good strategic thinker and to work your brain. 

[EnlightenmentBlog]

Just sharing a very unpopular opinion. 

Chess can still be good as a hobby and I'm not hating on the game. But getting good at chess means ... getting good at chess. Nothing more. That strategic thinking you develop - you develop it only for chess. Memorizing move sequences does not make you smarter or better at anything else but playing chess. Have that in mind. I'm going to leave you with a quote from Einstein here to illustrate my point:

"Chess holds its master in its own bonds, shackling the mind and brain so that the inner freedom of the very strongest must suffer."

[fridjonk]

@EnlightenmentBlog The brain is like a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it gets.

 https://www.medigraphic.com/pdfs/revmexneu/rmn-2019/rmn194e.pdf

Edited March 24, 2021 by fridjonk

[EnlightenmentBlog]

@fridjonk It depends on what you use it. You can use it to play video games. Then you can get good at playing video games but suck at everything else. I guess a lot of teenagers nowadays illustrate that point. It's the same with chess and anything else really. 

Look, it's a tough pill to swallow, but all those similar games like Rubik's cube, Go, etc, they're smart people's drugs. Again, I've got nothing against them, but they'll ultimately waste so much time of your life you could have used for more valuable things. I get why you're getting defensive. It took me a long time to realize this as well. 

[Bando]

I think you guys will appreciate this guy if you want to start chess or get better, he makes learning the game fun

[Carl-Richard]

Yes. I did one game on Chess.com where I didn't have any mistakes or blunders and only 1 inaccuracy (the rest were primarily best moves), but other than that, I'm pretty noob

[fridjonk]

47 minutes ago, EnlightenmentBlog said:

I get why you're getting defensive.

Lol, what? Why would I care about this in the slightest, I left chess behind precisely because I wasn't attached to it.