To play for fun or to play to improve rating?

 


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 coming up behind him, and Ding Liren hasn't been in good form, rusty from taking time off. (NY Times)

Reading Gukesh's bio, he started playing at 7 and would study 1 hour 3 days a week after his chess teachers suggested he might have talent. "On 15 January 2019, at the age of 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days, Gukesh became the then second-youngest grandmaster in history, only surpassed by Sergey Karjakin by 17 days. The record has since been beaten by Abhimanyu Mishra, making Gukesh the third-youngest."


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