English Chess Forum

How can you tell if you've been over doing it and are feeling a bit burnt out from too much chess? I only started playing on line at the end of July last year yet by the year was out I'd already played well over 1000 games. I seem to have reached the point where I am switching off during the games and not calculating half as much as I usually do. How can you tell if you are starting to feel burnt out and need to put the brakes on? It seems to me that by playing chess on-line you are more exposed to that phenomenon since you can play anytime you like rather than once a week down the club for example.

I think you give the answer when you say you find yourself switching off during games or not calculating as much as you usually do. You sound like you are playing chess because you play chess ie out of habit rather than enjoyment. I often get this - I play chess sometimes because I'm bored and not because I really want to play chess.

Its one reason why I have hardly ever played online chess.

Harry Duff wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 26, 2021 3:28 pm

I think you give the answer when you say you find yourself switching off during games or not calculating as much as you usually do. You sound like you are playing chess because you play chess ie out of habit rather than enjoyment. I often get this - I play chess sometimes because I'm bored and not because I really want to play chess.

Yes, that's often the case.

Matt Mackenzie wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 26, 2021 3:32 pm

Its one reason why I have hardly ever played online chess.

Me too! (Or more precisely, why I stopped playing online chess after nearly getting addicted some 10 or so years ago.)

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 26, 2021 4:49 pm

Matt Mackenzie wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 26, 2021 3:32 pm

Its one reason why I have hardly ever played online chess.

Me too! (Or more precisely, why I stopped playing online chess after nearly getting addicted some 10 or so years ago.)

Me too. I stopped in April 2011 for the same reason. Lockdown caused me to play again last year between May and September, followed by a final game in December which has put me off completely because I think it's very likely I lost to a computer cheat.

Ian Thompson wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 26, 2021 5:07 pm

followed by a final game in December which has put me off completely because I think it's very likely I lost to a computer cheat.

That really shouldn't be a reason not to play ( if you want to ). Most of your games will not be against cheats.

NickFaulks wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 26, 2021 5:11 pm

Ian Thompson wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 26, 2021 5:07 pm

followed by a final game in December which has put me off completely because I think it's very likely I lost to a computer cheat.

That really shouldn't be a reason not to play ( if you want to ). Most of your games will not be against cheats.

It won't put me off playing casual online blitz if I ever feel like doing that again.

This game was a rapidplay game in my first ever organised tournament and it has put me off that.

Hopefully, it's put my opponent off as well. He got marked as a computer user by lichess a week or so after I played him. When I asked him what he had to say about this, his response was "I am in dispute with lichess about this. Stems from an unhappy loser i played". I assume he hasn't managed to persuade lichess that they got it wrong because his account was still marked as a computer user about 2 months later and it's now been closed. The accusation must have affected him very badly though, because his standard of play went from never making a bad move in about 25 games to playing little better than a beginner after his account got marked.