I don't like losing, I want to always win. That's why I don't play.
I've been thinking recently that I should play anyway so that I could grow out of this condition. Any tips for that?
How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
81–90 of 320 posts
Re: How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
#82On a side note, it's a good demonstration that knowledge beats intelligence. Being smart just gives you a higher ceiling, but most people can get pretty good at almost anything if they work hard enough. The question is of course why would you do it, and do you have the motivation.
Most people are intelligent, that's why they can get good, but being smart not only has a big effect on the ceiling, but also on the speed to get to the same level, which in turn affects motivation, so you can't judge it to be an inferior factor But this isn't a good illustration anyway since it's a very constrained artificial example of a game based on pattern matching
I see examples of that pretty much everywhere. People that regularly do and practice something get to be better than the vast majority of people, so talent and intelligence end up playing a lesser role. This is true for physical skills and also mental. The author said he ended up in the 95th percentile -- I doubt this is achievable for all people, but "high" yes (whatever the interpretation of high is).
Re: How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
#83Is there a well known strategy game where AI doesn't have better chances to win than a human? Is there possibly, math wise, that such games exist? I kind of dislike not having a chance when playing against bots.
Yes. Risk. There's a large online community around it now and lots of YouTube videos of people playing it to a high strategic level. There's all sorts of signalling going on between players and bots are easy to counter even at the highest settings.
Re: How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
#84I don't like losing, I want to always win. That's why I don't play. I've been thinking recently that I should play anyway so that I could grow out of this condition. Any tips for that?
I am the same, I'm so terrible at chess that it's just not enjoyable for me, and I don't have time to learn it properly, so I just don't play even though I find the game interesting and a bit addictive.
Re: How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
#85On a side note, it's a good demonstration that knowledge beats intelligence. Being smart just gives you a higher ceiling, but most people can get pretty good at almost anything if they work hard enough. The question is of course why would you do it, and do you have the motivation.
For most cases, I agree. I think almost anyone with the time and determination can get to 95th percentile or up in a non-physical pursuit. Intelligence becomes a key determinant if you want to break the top 0.1%. Most people of average intelligence could become a top 5% programmer if they wanted to, but getting 2 minute solutions on Advent of Code? Almost certainly not. (I pick AOC because I've been looking into the folks who hit the leaderboards and they all seem to give off high IQ vibes so far.)
Re: How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
#86My dad was a master chess player in my country when I was growing up so I know all the moves but I never had the interest to go further than that.
So what I really need to study are the famous openings and the responses to various openings. Seems like a memory game.
Computer games were always more fun.
Re: How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
#87"Only about 10% of players ever gain more than 100 points, and only about 1% of players gain more than 200 rating points given years." This seems like a wild claim. On chess.com I've gone from 500 to ~1050 in a handful of months without any real study, just some light YouTube watching. 500->800 felt like all it took was learning a few openings and not blundering pieces. 800-1050 felt like it came mostly from getting…
This seems like a wild claim. On chess.com I've gone from 500 to ~1050 in a handful of months without any real study,
Is rating on chess.com similar to rating in lichess? The article mentions 1%, but you start with 1500 in lichess??? If you lose often, you quickly go down. But if you keep an even record, you stay in 1500.
I don't understand how people learn from slamming blitz/bullet games.
As in the article, speed training helps recognizing patterns and dealing with them. At first it seems impossible to play significant moves with so little time, but you can try to just doing it. You'll adapt very soon.
I recommend starting with blitz 3+2 and later bullet 2+1. There are tournaments of 1+0... or even less time. 30 seconds is really crazy.
Re: How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
#88I don't like losing, I want to always win. That's why I don't play. I've been thinking recently that I should play anyway so that I could grow out of this condition. Any tips for that?
Yeah. You have to realize that in chess there are two players and one of them is going to lose. Sometimes it's you, sometimes it's your opponent. To progress in chess you need to win more games than you lose. 50.5% win rate is enough in the long term.
My suggestion based on my own emotions with chess is that you should start playing quick games like 3+2 or something. The time and emotional "investment" in those games is low enough that you might not care when you lose. Just start another game and try again. Losing classical game that you were playing for 2 weeks is a different beast.
Re: How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
#89I don't like losing, I want to always win. That's why I don't play. I've been thinking recently that I should play anyway so that I could grow out of this condition. Any tips for that?
I was the same. I can't easily describe what changed, but now I don't play to win or lose, I just decided to play for the sake of playing.
If you lose a game, just stop playing for a bit, and don't give in to the feeling of wanting to play another to prove you can win. This will only result in frustration.
If you lose, make yourself think "That was a fun game. I learned X, and will try and do Y next time."
Re: How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
#90Great article. I got into chess recently, and I can only recommend the "Learn chess with Dr. Wolf" app. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/learn-chess-with-dr-wolf/id135... It's got a beautiful UI, and it's a conversational chess tutor that goes over the basics, tactics, advanced strategy and with whom you can play and will point out mistakes and blunders for later review. Perhaps it is too basic for anybody that has a fe…