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Draws

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There's the confidence to think you'll win, but then again choosing whether to accept a draw is a different confidence based on material, position and strategy. I play 1-10 games a day, usually more towards 2-4. I've won a lot of games by just being persistent and keep on going even if I lose my queen. I've lost a lot of games too, and I don't get too sore losing, but it does sting quite a lot, so the desire to win versus the desire to just play are in competition.  I like the psychology of juggling various strategies and ways of being in chess. I saw a post on r/Buddhism questioning whether a Buddhist should play chess: "I'm a Buddhist and I play chess. Should someone closer to the goal stop playing chess? I don't think you're close to the goal, so maybe worry when you get closer. Faking it till you make it? Well, if you want to quit chess, quit chess. I don't think that will make you enlightened, enlightenment is brought about by meditation, ...
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To play for fun or to play to improve rating?

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  Humans are competitive. I'm not going to pay to get better, but I do as many free puzzles as I can each day on Chess.com.  My lowest ranking came when I had Covid and I played anyway because I was bored. I thought I was heading to 700, 800, 900. I have to admit, my rating has dipped. I've gone on spurts of playing and if my rating goes up I get quite excited, but the habit of playing often takes over and I enjoy the game and I keep playing even if my rating goes down.  I think I have this idea that if I play a few games and really concentrate and put pressure on myself to win, then my rating will go up. Sometimes I like to play instinctually and there are unseen consequences to it. I like blitz games, 5 minutes each, because there's not too much thinking.  11/22/24 Ding Liren is the world champion. I thought it was Magnus Carlsen, who I learned relinquished his title in 2022. Didn't know it was Ding Liren who took the crown in 2023.  Gukesh Dommaraju is...
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