How to stop obsessing about rating and enjoy chess more

Most of the things we worry about do not matter at all.

Getting paired against an underrated kid -> doesn’t matter.
Losing from a won position -> doesn’t matter.
Losing 6 games in a row -> doesn’t matter.

This thought is liberating to me. I wish I had this shift back in my professional chess days. It would have made my life so much more joyful and less miserable.

Funnily enough, it would have made me much more successful as well.

Why Bother at All?

You might have the thought: “But if it doesn’t matter, why bother?”. I had that same thought too.

The truth is, your chess journey matters. Not that it changes the world, but it can enrichen your life.

What doesn’t matter are the results.

Not bothering to play or improve your chess is like sitting on the same spot all your life. Same people, same experiences, same daily life. You won’t have disappointments but are deprived of many interesting experiences.

Chess improvement is seeing a beautiful mountain and trying to climb it, without seeing all the way ahead.

On your way, you’ll encounter people that help you, others that try to tear you down. You will face roadblocks, choose between similar looking ways and experience hardship and beautiful moments.

Where you end up on this journey is what doesn’t matter.

Looking back on your deathbed, you won’t say “my life was worth it because the highest mountain I climbed was 2000 meters high”. You might not even remember how high it was.

What you will remember is all the people you met along the way, you will feel pride of having tried your best, remember the difficult moment you faced and pushed through.

Memories, experiences, people, that’s what matters. Your results don’t.

Don’t Care About Results – And You Will Get Better Results

A neat side effect of not caring about your results is that they will get better because of it.

The fear of losing, getting angry when it happens, frustration after a bad result, all these things take a lot of energy away from you.

Looking back on my career, I can’t even imagine how much more joy I would have had with such a mindset. Sure, losing a game would still annoy me for a bit.

But then I would get back on track and think “how can I continue on this journey?”.

It is too late for my own chess playing career. But I try applying this thought to all aspects of my life right now.

I’m aware this article might be too ‘woo-woo’ for some readers. Some might click away, others simply never read my blogs again. That’s ok because that doesn’t matter either.

I had a revelation and wanted to share it with you. That is my task. How you perceive it and what you do with it is out of my control.

If you want to improve your chess, creating a plan and studying is your task.

Signing up for great tournaments is your task.
Preparing for an upcoming game is your task.
Giving your best in every game is your task.

The result of said game? Doesn’t matter. Yes, you’ll feel a little sad. Then remind yourself of your journey. Get back to your task. Train. Smile. Fail. Analyze. Play. Enjoy your journey.

Keep improving,
Noël

This article was originally posted on my own Blog, NextLevelChess.
Click here to read more similar articles.

Whenever you're ready, there are two ways I can help you:

- Get my Free eBook, The Art of Chess Training. It teaches you all you need to know to start training in a structured, efficient way.

- Sign up for the waitlist for my upcoming course: Beginner Chess Mastery; Reach 1200 Online. You can learn more here and sign up for the Waitlist. The course will be available on March 19th.

- Last but not least, you can get more Chess insights by signing up for my free Friday Grandmaster Insights Newsletter. Join 16,000+ chess enthusiasts here.