Taking a break from chess.

Ok, so I've decided to take a break from chess, it seems I'm kinda sick of it.

Im going to try to play minimum 1 game per day and perhaps a few moves here but no more games or tactics for atleast a week or 2.

What do you guys think? Is this a good idea?

I've decided this becuase my rating started to drop quite badly on blitz games and it's probably just becuase I'm not that enthusiastic about it.

Originally posted by Ian Coetzee
Ok, so I've decided to take a break from chess, it seems I'm kinda sick of it.

Im going to try to play minimum 1 game per day and perhaps a few moves here but no more games or tactics for atleast a week or 2.

What do you guys think? Is this a good idea?

I've decided this becuase my rating started to drop quite badly on blitz games and it's probably just becuase I'm not that enthusiastic about it.

chess is like any other exercise.. gotta take a break or you'll do more damage to the muscle (in this case the brain) than you will help it.

I hardly think 6 games in progress is taxing your time

Originally posted by Mctayto
I hardly think 6 games in progress is taxing your time

Originally posted by Ian Coetzee
Ok, so I've decided to take a break from chess, it seems I'm kinda sick of it.

Im going to try to play minimum 1 game per day and perhaps a few moves here but no more games or tactics for atleast a week or 2.

What do you guys think? Is this a good idea?

I've decided this becuase my rating started to drop quite badly on blitz games and it's probably just becuase I'm not that enthusiastic about it.

Too much chess???????? hahahahahahahahahahahaha Shirley you must be joking 🙂

Originally posted by RahimK
I took a year off and still not the same.

If you think you will come back to chess, take a shorter break or continue playing a few games now and then.

Don't go cold turkey like me and regret it when you come back again.

Originally posted by Ian Coetzee
lol, cold turkey.

But yeah, im talking just calming down abit not going to quit.

I have goals, and one of them is to beat all the players at my school, even those with 10 years of experiance.

I need atleast a 1550 Rating, and I will work hard for that, and prove that I can slaughter them.

Originally posted by RahimK
Well I don't know how serious you are but for me,

I would spend 2 hours a day easy studying chess for 2 years straight. The 2 hours were studying chess not playing so reading books, tactics etc... 1 summer I read 9, 300 page books! That hard work payed off and I got a nice 1800+ OTB rating and won some prize money but it wore me out.

So I think cold turkey 🙂 is a good expression.

Originally posted by Ian Coetzee
Haha, sure is!

Well, the 2 hours you spend, were those two hours mostly spend on the books?

I bought two books, still shipping(My System and Chess Praxis both by Aron Nimzowitsch).

I hope with the books, chesslecture.com, tactic puzzles and playing I can achieve my goal.

I've been taking a semi-break myself. I don't play as many games, or as rapidly as I used to, and it's benefitting my game a lot. I say do whatever feels comfortable for you, and you should get good results.

I took about 2 years off, came back last month, and I feel that I've made much more progress than ever before. I re-read a few books that I previously had trouble getting through, practice tactics daily, and rejoined the local chess club to stay up on my OTB. So far, I feel like I'm doing very well but at the same time, I find myself tiring out. I guess it's a catch 22 situation.

I took about 4 years off, except for some occasional Yahoo blitz. While I regret the lost time, I was actually a little stronger when I came back then when I left and I had fullly regained my enthusiasm for the game.

Edit: That said, if you have the timebank for it, I fully endorse taking two weeks of from chess completely. I occasionally take 3 day breaks and they do a lot for my mental health.

Originally posted by zebano
I took about 4 years off, except for some occasional Yahoo blitz. While I regret the lost time, I was actually a little stronger when I came back then when I left and I had fullly regained my enthusiasm for the game.

Edit: That said, if you have the timebank for it, I fully endorse taking two weeks of from chess completely. I occasionally take 3 day breaks and they do a lot for my mental health.