Strategies for dealing with chess burnout?

Question

I am wondering if anyone else has faced chess burnout. Do you have advice? I am a novice enthusiast (~1400) but, with a wife, child, and job, do not have the opportunity to dedicate as much time to it as I would have in my youth. Because of this I have mostly been playing correspondence chess online, which I am sure is contributing to burnout. Being tied to 50+ games at once against fairly faceless opponents is not conducive to passion for the game I am sure.

Some ideas I have had:

Play more OTB and find better live opponents. I always enjoy the game more and play better when it is personal, like a dance or a good conversation. I have found clubs intimidating but I think at this point I need to bite the bullet and go for it... at my level I am by no means good but I definitely have trouble finding challenges against casual players.

Teach (what little I know). Generally speaking, pouring into others helps motivate and inspire the teacher as well. Maybe I should start a chess club at the local library? (Just to be clear, I have no delusions of grandeur with my measly 1400 but one can always teach basics or facilitate, right?)

Have any of you successfully dealt with burnout? What were your experiences and what would your advice be?

Answer 1

I experienced burnout once from too many correspondence games and I chose to limit my correspondence games to only 10 games, 5 per server that I play on as the max that I would start. I only play on 2 servers. For me, it really helped.

I have a growing family, a full time job and like we all have, the realities of life going. Not a lot of time to really dedicate to developing my game as much as I would like or get to the chess clubs as much as I would like.

Keeping my expectations to be based on the input that I can realistically give to developing my game helped me out mentally as well. I can't expect monumental results in my development in chess when my top priorities are not chess. I also plan on trying to get to the chess clubs and just keep track of local tournaments so if the opportunity for me comes that I can play I know where and when the tournaments are.

Also for me, some of my hobbies help. I'm a programmer enthusiast(novice-beginner) and I'm making my own database, data processing program for pgn files so if I'm feeling a little burnt out I can redirect my attention to the programming stuff for a bit. Seems to help me so maybe if you have a hobby, chess related or not, you can throttle time between them.

Hope however you chose to deal with your issue works out the best!

Answer 2

It sounds like you simply crave some human contact in chess, and that is understandable, oh, and much more fun.

Starting a club, or getting involved in state chess "politics" is certainly one way, but it is a much bigger undertaking with more responsibility. Think hard about this commitment before you do this.

Helping kids at a school, possibly your child's school, is another. If you do attempt to teach, focus on the rules and basic tactics, which you can get straight out of a book. Give them a few puzzles each week, but go through them yourself first before you go over them with the kids. If you have any questions about certain avenues of defense for a particular problem, then you can go over it with Stockfish first so you are ready to answer their questions. You can also see if some local Master would come in and give a talk, play a few games, or give a simul. I have done this quite a few times over the years just because I like kids, and thus, did it for free.

Another think that came to my mind first, and that is go to a club, and make friends with someone, who is close in rating, and invite each other over to your homes, and play for a few hours (or all night...I did that a lot when I was first learning) every week, or couple of weeks.

I would finish the correspondence games, and get away from that. When i started playing in 1980, correspondence was still chess. Now, it is who is better with a computer program. I can see why you do not find much fun in that.

Playing tournaments is also a way to meet up with people, who you will see many times over the years.

Good luck, and let us know what you decide to do.

P.S. You could also take lessons yourself as that would also fit the bill.

Answer 3

50+ correspondence games is a lot of them. If you don't have time for chess you are either dedicating time you don't have or not even thinking most of the moves you are playing.

Correspondence games are supposed to give you a spot where you can think your moves for almost as much time as you want. If, instead, you are rushing through them in order to play all 50+ games, then what's the difference between that and playing Blitz?

Sure, human contact is also a key factor in staying motivated. Go to a local club and play some games. If they make a tournament on a day you are free, give it a try! You may even also find your chance to teach there once you are trusted!

Answer 4

1) Get away from correspondence and play more blitz. I realize blitz may not be the healthiest for your long term development but it is fun and correspondence (esp that many games) can be stressful and demand a lot. I know sometimes I avoid analyzing correspondence positions because I know they'll take hours to figure out. It become this stressful thing that dominates my thinking. If you're playing 50 correspondence games at a time you're either analyzing in a superficial way (which leads to frustration) or you're neglecting other areas of your life. At that point it starts to feel like work. A blitz game is over in ten minutes at most and then you can think about something else.

2) Take a look at your opening rep. Play some fun openings. The Englund gambit is very simple to learn and perfectly playable in blitz or even in classical up to about 1800. Evans gambit, scotch gambit, king's gambit, vienna gambit. Anything with the word "gambit" in it is probably good.

One thing I've noticed is that players around your level tend to play defensive openings and play for material pretty much exclusively. 9 times out of 10 learning to play for the initiative over material is what takes a 1400 to a 1600.

3) Take a break if you need to. When you come back spend some time on what interests you- Maybe a particular player or opening or concept or whatever. If it were me I'd play through Fischer's 60 memorable games or maybe take up a new opening. Maybe a biography of a player. Whatever interests you.

4) Lastly, I agree with the person who said you crave some human contact in chess. It sounds like you're looking for some other way to enjoy chess beyond solitary study. I wouldn't be afraid of a club. At 1400, you'll be better than some of the players and the stronger players will help you improve. There are plenty of other avenues to explore also like teaching.

Answer 5

You are playing way too many games at once! Stop doing that!!

Better yet, stop playing completely, and start studying until you are much stronger. 1400 online is a pretty low rating compared to the complete set of all chess players, and very low to those who compete online, and even lower for those who play OTB tournaments.

What is your prioritized list of goals for your life?
I suggest God, Family, Self, job, retirement, country, ..., and finally chess. You need to make your own list looking at the far future as well as the near future and not just today.

What value is chess providing? Is it worth the time and effort?? Do you want to get better? Do you just enjoy playing and don't care about your rating??

Clearly for burnout you need to resign at least 45 of those games and then phase them out while you move into the plan the questions above helped you make.

Answer 6

It may sound little counter intuitive, but taking little break from chess can help you. Invest time into other hobbies. Also, watching games of older masters (Tal , Morphy, etc.) , who play quite attractivly, attacking chess also sparked some extra joy in me and reminded me why I have started to play this game after all. :)

Answer 7

I used to be playing chess with a clock lots a few years ago. Then I felt like my brain was naturally trying too hard and I couldn't control that and it was stressing me out so I later stopped playing entirely except for the few rare occasional games. When I played just a few games after not having played for so long, it was less stressful. Maybe in actuality, I never played any games after the time I stopped except for those 3 that one day at the Annex Chess Club but I think it just happened that way and I was open to playing games at other times. I decided not to worry about giving up chess. If your brain is different than mine was at the time I gave it up, my solution for myself might not work for you. My mind is not on chess anymore. I don't want to push myself to play it when I don't feel like playing it.

Here's another strategy that might be a solution for you but I have no idea. I don't know exactly how tournaments work but if there is a competition category whose time control is 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move plus half an hour after move 40, it might help to play no other chess games than those in tournaments in that category. Then you'll notice a pattern over a long period of time of your opponents' game play. You need to be patient. Then in baby steps, you'll learn from beating weaker opponents how to gradually start beating stronger and stronger opponents.

Source: What is the time control for FIDE chess tournaments?

The original link in that question at https://www.fide.com/fide/handbook.html?id=39&view=category won't load on my computer so I linked the answer itself instead.