Exactly a year ago I set the goal of reaching 1500 ELO in rapid chess in chess.com
It wasn't going to be an easy task, especially because I began playing serious chess in November 2023 and I had around an 800 ELO level.
Growing 700 points was not going to be an easy task, and in fact if a player grows around 300 points a year they can call that a success, but I am a fast learner and to be honest it is not that hard to go from 800 to 1200, the real challenge is to get those last 300 points and reach 1500, which could be called an advance intermediate level.
I knew it was going to be complicated as fuck but I decided to record my progress and to explain my logic and process while playing and document it all on 3speak.
The series was amazing and I taught me a lot and, exactly one year after setting this goal to myself
I have finally reached a level 1500 ELO in rapid chess!!
Well, not really, in fact I only reached 1488, which is still 12 points lower than my goal but to be completely honest, I've been having a terrible streak lately and I am playing like a retarded 12 year old, and the more I lose, the more I get frustrated and well, the more frustrated I get, the more I lose.
I don't have the time nor the drive anymore to grind my way back up to 1500, and since I was only 12 points below my goal, I am calling this a success and with this, I am retiring from Chess.
Retiring from Chess
I have played 2,700 Rapid games. That's a lot, that's a fucking lot and considering that each game at least lasts 5 minutes - while some of them last 18 minutes, if we get an average of let's say, 10 minutes, that means I have played in one year more than 450 hours, and perhaps even 600 hours.
That's too much, that's enough time to get a masters degree or to learn like 10 new skills.
I am 1500 ELO level and I am ok with it, but I am done.
I reached my goal, I am satisfied, it is time to stop wasting time in chess. It's not that I don't enjoy chess, I will definitely still play every once in a while but I am no longer playing daily, solving puzzles - which by the way I have solved almost 15k puzzles and spent 355 hours, which adds to almost ONE THOUSAND hours dedicated to chess - and some times watching videos in the background - which by the way, I think I have watched at least 200 chess videos which adds like 100 more hours to the equation.
You see where this is going.
I need to focus in other things. Had I dedicated those 1000 hours to get important things done or actually doing job related stuff I would be several tens of thousands of dollars wealthier.
It's just a halt
I am going back to chess at some point in my life, just not right now, I have to prioritize my time and schedule if I want to succeed in other parts of my life.
And for that, I want to thank you all three people who watched my videos, read my posts and followed me on this journey from 800 ELO, to 1500 ELO.
Thanks for being part of...
Bow out at the top I say, or stop when something is no longer fun, as you say though that is some serious amount of time you spent playing chess!
Yeah retire a champ or play enough to become a shame or smth like that lol, I'm not even close to where I would love to be, but being part of the top 4% of the chess players is not that bad.
You will return, too many times have I quit chess but Kaissa always pulls me back 😀
I still play, I just don't have that goal in mind and life became 10 times easier after retiring from that goal lol
it feels good when you complete an achievement, after so much time spent on it you finally got it, congratulations man! You must be proud, to reach that level you must also be very strategic and intelligent.
I feel so much more free and without a burden on my back, I used to play for hours late at night trying to reach 1500 and crabbing on the high 1400's, that's when I decided to just call it quits. I'm still playing but without that goal in mind and I'm even playing better, less pressure.
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Good, now get into league and try to pass the bronze rank of SBF
Lol I might as well just do that for the lulz although given how autistic he is and that he plays LOL during important meetings I imagine his rank is quite high - and I don't know anything on ranking on lol hahaha