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You Are Your Rating

I praise the author for their willingness to state their opinion.

However, I would like to counter by comparing it to the common fatphobic attitude that people display toward overweight people. There is a very negative stereotype that is upheld by rudeness toward overweight people that, although it's mostly meant in a 'tough love' sort of way, mostly results in a worse outcome that doesn't help the overweight person by damaging their self-worth.

I believe that this topic shares a similarity. I think the real issue here, are elitist chess players who have nothing else going on for them in their lives - who derive their self-worth from chess, and then project that on to others, that damage the overarching, more important detail: people's happiness. The game of chess is a GAME, it's supposed to be fun.

So I disagree, one is NOT their rating, and although there's nothing inherently wrong with pursuing excellence - chess, a board game, is a tool that people can use for whatever they want, regardless of how important you think it is to 'succeed' (by your own construct/definition of success).

I praise the author for their willingness to state their opinion. However, I would like to counter by comparing it to the common fatphobic attitude that people display toward overweight people. There is a very negative stereotype that is upheld by rudeness toward overweight people that, although it's mostly meant in a 'tough love' sort of way, mostly results in a worse outcome that doesn't help the overweight person by damaging their self-worth. I believe that this topic shares a similarity. I think the real issue here, are elitist chess players who have nothing else going on for them in their lives - who derive their self-worth from chess, and then project that on to others, that damage the overarching, more important detail: people's happiness. The game of chess is a GAME, it's supposed to be fun. So I disagree, one is NOT their rating, and although there's nothing inherently wrong with pursuing excellence - chess, a board game, is a tool that people can use for whatever they want, regardless of how important you think it is to 'succeed' (by your own construct/definition of success).

boooooooo + yaaaaaaaaaaa

i think both have a good point.

boooooooo + yaaaaaaaaaaa i think both have a good point.
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To me "you are not your rating" is just good advice not to obsess about one's rating as well as not to obsess about the role of chess in life.

Either you don't care about improvement, then there is no point in focusing on rating. Or you care about improvement, then there is no point in focusing on rating.

There's good advice in this post, but I think most of it actually doesn't relate to one's rating and the attitude towards it: doing sports, getting enough sleep, analyzing one's games, getting a chess coach... all good stuff, but how does it relate to rating?

"To optimize self-improvement, we need to have an awareness of whether we are improving, and whether we are meeting our own goals."

True, as a measure of success so far, rating is very useful, but not so much as a measure of what you want or need to do next in order to improve at chess. For that I think it's far more important to focus on what is happening on the board and in the head of the players and to largely ignore rating for practical purposes.

Focus on rating prevents people from having a process-first approach. But, by all means, celebrate well-earned accomplishments, the joy from successful improvement!

To me "you are not your rating" is just good advice not to obsess about one's rating as well as not to obsess about the role of chess in life. Either you don't care about improvement, then there is no point in focusing on rating. Or you care about improvement, then there is no point in focusing on rating. There's good advice in this post, but I think most of it actually doesn't relate to one's rating and the attitude towards it: doing sports, getting enough sleep, analyzing one's games, getting a chess coach... all good stuff, but how does it relate to rating? "To optimize self-improvement, we need to have an awareness of whether we are improving, and whether we are meeting our own goals." True, as a measure of success so far, rating is very useful, but not so much as a measure of what you want or need to do next in order to improve at chess. For that I think it's far more important to focus on what is happening on the board and in the head of the players and to largely ignore rating for practical purposes. Focus on rating prevents people from having a process-first approach. But, by all means, celebrate well-earned accomplishments, the joy from successful improvement!

I really don't think this is true, in otb I fell off from 2000 and am now 1950. Why? Because I played a bunch of tournaments with 2300+ players. If I'm 1950, I'm weaker than them, if I'm 2000, I'm still weaker than them. Rating is just a NUMBER and is what causes hesitation in chess. You should never fully care about your rating. It's like setting a goal, you don't focus on the goal, you focus on how to get there which to me is always the important part.

I really don't think this is true, in otb I fell off from 2000 and am now 1950. Why? Because I played a bunch of tournaments with 2300+ players. If I'm 1950, I'm weaker than them, if I'm 2000, I'm still weaker than them. Rating is just a NUMBER and is what causes hesitation in chess. You should never fully care about your rating. It's like setting a goal, you don't focus on the goal, you focus on how to get there which to me is always the important part.

@svensp said in #5:

There's good advice in this post, but I think most of it actually doesn't relate to one's rating and the attitude towards it: doing sports, getting enough sleep, analyzing one's games, getting a chess coach... all good stuff, but how does it relate to rating?

It's funny, now I'm remembering a chess puzzle book which I had hoped offered more than puzzles:

Rapid Chess Improvement (Everyman Chess)

In the foreword, the author explains that rapid improvement requires hard work.

@svensp said in #5:

True, as a measure of success so far, rating is very useful, but not so much as a measure of what you want or need to do next in order to improve at chess. For that I think it's far more important to focus on what is happening on the board and in the head of the players and to largely ignore rating for practical purposes.

Focus on rating prevents people from having a process-first approach. But, by all means, celebrate well-earned accomplishments, the joy from successful improvement!

Honestly, this is my key take-away and probably I should have concluded my post this way, tying back in my experience with Zen mode and tournament play in general..

@svensp said in #5: > There's good advice in this post, but I think most of it actually doesn't relate to one's rating and the attitude towards it: doing sports, getting enough sleep, analyzing one's games, getting a chess coach... all good stuff, but how does it relate to rating? It's funny, now I'm remembering a chess puzzle book which I had hoped offered more than puzzles: > Rapid Chess Improvement (Everyman Chess) In the foreword, the author explains that rapid improvement requires hard work. @svensp said in #5: > True, as a measure of success so far, rating is very useful, but not so much as a measure of what you want or need to do next in order to improve at chess. For that I think it's far more important to focus on what is happening on the board and in the head of the players and to largely ignore rating for practical purposes. > > Focus on rating prevents people from having a process-first approach. But, by all means, celebrate well-earned accomplishments, the joy from successful improvement! Honestly, this is my key take-away and probably I should have concluded my post this way, tying back in my experience with Zen mode and tournament play in general..

I revised my study chapter to provide even more knowledge and analysis. Hopefully my blog will update itself somehow.

I revised my study chapter to provide even more knowledge and analysis. Hopefully my blog will update itself somehow.

"He who gives up what is imperishable for that which is perishable, loses that which is imperishable; and doubtlessly loses that which is perishable also"

Not saying I have grandmaster potential but realize some unfortunate sap probably will never even reach your rating however
hard they try. However much people try to downplay it chess elo is 40-50% predetermined by your mind's capacity to calculate, spot tactics, intuit positions, etc etc. And even that can be quickly eroded with a car accident, bad insomnia or even mundane stress.

I think a better way of putting it is you are who fate lets you be.

"He who gives up what is imperishable for that which is perishable, loses that which is imperishable; and doubtlessly loses that which is perishable also" Not saying I have grandmaster potential but realize some unfortunate sap probably will never even reach your rating however hard they try. However much people try to downplay it chess elo is 40-50% predetermined by your mind's capacity to calculate, spot tactics, intuit positions, etc etc. And even that can be quickly eroded with a car accident, bad insomnia or even mundane stress. I think a better way of putting it is you are who fate lets you be.

de la Maza (author of Rapid Chess Improvement) disagrees, saying that they think anyone can achieve an expert or master rating. As for me, I do not know whether intuition/talent is necessary.

https://youtu.be/y1feEqgRZQI

de la Maza (author of Rapid Chess Improvement) disagrees, saying that they think anyone can achieve an expert or master rating. As for me, I do not know whether intuition/talent is necessary. https://youtu.be/y1feEqgRZQI