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stendhar play-chess-online.com chess
3/15/2006 01:29:59 play online chess | Subject: Regrets
Message: Was there ever a time when you regreted that you invested so much time into chess? That you could have done better things with your time?
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mattdw play-chess-online.com chess
3/15/2006 01:42:57 play online chess | Nope.
Message: Nope, I would only regret it if the time I was using meant I was neglecting family and friends. But as it stands the time I invest in chess at the moment is what I would consider free time, and any one activity that is available to me is pretty much equal in the end. I think it doesn't matter what we do as long as we don't hurt others, so why not choose something that we enjoy? There is of course the matter of doing things that help others, which could be considered a responsibility for those who are capable but I don't exactly live in a place where that is possible right now. So chess it is...and music.
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daverundle play-chess-online.com chess
3/15/2006 03:54:55 play online chess | i wish
Message: I had spent a little more time on chess i had the opportunity t learn from some very strong players and although i got to a good standard with a little more discipline and effort i could have been so much better.
To coin those immortal words 'i could have been a contender'!
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ionadowman play-chess-online.com chess
3/15/2006 11:00:49 play online chess | Not sure...
Message: ...My *Wargaming* has been very neglected in the last 12 months... :-/
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schnarre play-chess-online.com chess
3/15/2006 11:32:57 play online chess | I
Message: know the feeling ionadowman (I've sometimes compromised by making wargame miniatures into temporary chesspieces--freaks guests out!).
I really do not regret the time I've put into chess! I wish I could have carried it further, whilst now I'm pretty much a has-been.
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fmgaijin play-chess-online.com chess
3/15/2006 11:40:53 play online chess | People and Places Through Chess
Message: Given all of the people I have met through chess and all of the places I have visited where I would not have gone without chess, I certainly do not regret the time I put into chess. Moreover, it helped pay for my education and I have been able to connect chess with my academic work at times, so on those grounds it has actually been a plus!
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wschmidt play-chess-online.com chess
3/15/2006 12:55:43 play online chess | Wow, great question!
Message: Because of chess, I've:
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1) Had a machete held against my throat by an obvious lunatic who was trying to force me to become his "follower".
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2) Stopped playing and writing music for extended periods of time - a very dubious decision because I clearly have more musical talent than I do chess talent.
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3) Spent innumerable hours of misdirected study, mostly trying to run before I could walk.
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4) Spent a small fortune on chess books I'll never read.
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5) Made some fabulous friends both OTB and on-line.
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6) Become frustrated beyond measure at my blunders.
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7) Played some delightful games (some were wins, some were losses).
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8) Spent many hours learning about the culture, personalities and history of this amazing game.
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9) Learned how to savor a a good chess book.
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10) Finally learned to accept my limitations and enjoy the game anyway. Yes, character development through chess. Who'd a thunk it?
So, the answer is.....sure there was and there still are those times. But it's been in my blood since the nineteen fifties. I always come back to it. Finding the balance is the key, the middle path.
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stendhar play-chess-online.com chess
3/16/2006 06:59:52 play online chess | Nice responses...
Message: I think fmgajin got the most out his investement, possibly because his skills are undoubtedly higher than ours.
But all in all I guess that chess does tend to start friendships faster than other hobbies as it is an universal language.
But my original idea is that if chess changed something in the way you think, you do certain things or respond to stimuli, are you the better person for it?
Please take into consideration that I've finished reading Nabokov's "The Defense" not so long ago, so my own opinion may have been altered from reading that certain book.
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ionadowman play-chess-online.com chess
3/16/2006 12:08:14 play online chess | schnarre...
Message: ...a man after my own heart! Fantasy (Warhammer, LOTR, Epic ... ) or 'Historical'?
I'm the latter myself - for a given value of 'historical'...
Cheers
Ion
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ccmcacollister play-chess-online.com chess
3/16/2006 19:02:52 play online chess | No, never regretted the time spent ...
Message: The regrets I do have about Chess are mainly:
1)Not having a coach, as a young player having the time, and I believe the aptitude to have gotten to and beyond Master level in otb. Rather than starting at a 777 rating and peaking at Expert decades later, after being almost completely book&self-taught.;
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2)
I regret that there have been people close to me who just cannot be helped to realize that a corr. Chess game with dozens of hours invested in it, can have worth & value to many other people who understand that it represents an expression of artistry when well done.
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I cannot have regrets for playing, considering all the great people it has brought me to associate with ... and the creative outlet it provides.
}8-)
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ccmcacollister play-chess-online.com chess
3/16/2006 19:07:33 play online chess | PS// And of course ...
Message: How could I regret my Chess play when it is responsible for meeting my wife, sugarandspice here at GK !
I would say that the game has paid off handsomely for me ...
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alberlie play-chess-online.com chess
3/18/2006 02:59:09 play online chess | re wschmids no. 10:
Message: "10) Finally learned to accept my limitations and enjoy the game anyway."
On the ICC, I followed Hikaru Nakamura solve some chess problems the other day. That had the most similar effect on me.
Normally, I don't consider myself as being a complete idiot but it does take me a few seconds to take in the chessboard as a whole. Not only seeing the mate threats on g7 but also acknoledgeing the bishop on a2 etc. So, that takes a few sec. But within that time, Nakamura had already solved the problem. A few mate-in-six and seven's among them. It was absolutely amazing. He was moving the pieces with a speed that I couldn't even follow the movements. It was like "here's a position, then he does something - oh, it's already mate. Whoops, that was fast."
I felt more thorough beaten by just watching him solving problems than I could have by playing him a hundred blitz games and loosing all of them...
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gwalchmai play-chess-online.com chess
3/18/2006 14:26:03 play online chess | Sadly, no.
Message: The regrets are exactly the opposite way around for me. I do hope though that some day in the future I will be able to devote more of the time necessary to actually improve a little. I suppose I could devote a little bit of that time now since I'm kind of pottering around these forums procrastinating, but that would kind of defeat the point of the exercise, right?
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