My grandfather said that "Too many great minds have been wasted playing chess.", and so always played checkers with me, always kind and teaching, but never rolling over. It took me years to win, but I still remember the three times I did before he passed away when I was 13. I've hardly ever played again. Played enough chess in HS to learn how, a few openings and just enough games to understand the intensity. I could definitely see what he meant, and it's probably a good thing my passion was already for alpine ski racing, which has similar intensity but is naturally a bit self-limiting (e.g., the lifts close and you have to go in).
I've since read the saying to the effect that "Being able to play chess is a sign of intelligence, being able to plat chess very well is a sign of a wasted life.". Seems to ring true, except for the true greats.
"Too many great minds have been wasted programming UIs."
Both quotes are tongue in cheek, you're not supposed to take them seriously.
If you're good at something, fuckin do it.
Seeing a lot of comments in this thread from people who probably consider themselves intelligent, but haven't put the time into understanding chess, so you all have come up with some pretty creative excuses why you don't like chess.
aaannnd . . . . Whoosh!!
It isn't about how good you are; in fact it is the opposite.
My grandfather was an engineer and focused on building actual things - being a productive member of society. He was also pretty alert about avoiding addictive things.
His point was that the gifted minds — who can get and ARE very good at chess — tend to get addicted and squander years or decades just chasing the next tournament, the next 100 GM points, the next high, producing nothing useful, and getting no skills applicable to productive pursuits.
He did not want to see me go down a path that could lead to being a chess bum any more than he'd want to see me become a ski bum, join a cult or just become a hardcore partier. All are surely enjoyable, but not a productive addition to society.
(& no, I haven't got a shred of insecurity about my abilities; I was getting good at an extremely satisfying rate, but also saw what it would take to get really good, and that I'd be better off spending my time not memorizing every classic opening and variant, but instead on understanding physics and chemistry concepts ... I absolutely see the beauty of chess, and may well take it up again, but I also am grateful for by grandfather's point, especially considering how addicted I got to the adrenaline of ski racing at international levels...)
And if you enjoy it and have the freedom to do that - fantastic - it's your life, do what you want - I hope you get as good as you desire and enjoy it!
Because I can leverage that knowledge of physics and chemistry to build something useful - and actually do so in my job. I use that knowledge to produce good things for customers, feel the satisfaction of that connection between my study and what I can offer people, and now that I'm writing about it, have a thought that I haven't had in a long time that my grandfather would indeed approve (so double thanks for the question!).
Chess may be more satisfying, but as a career, it's pretty self-satisfying, and only the very top competitors even really provide entertainment for others. That said, chess can teach you a lot about strategy, your own mind, managing your own emotions and skills, etc., and all of those are useful skills to apply to life in general (as long as you don't fall to the addictive risk and make a burnout career out of it...).
My grandfather said that "Too many great minds have been wasted playing chess.", and so always played checkers with me, always kind and teaching, but never rolling over. It took me years to win, but I still remember the three times I did before he passed away when I was 13. I've hardly ever played again. Played enough chess in HS to learn how, a few openings and just enough games to understand the intensity. I could definitely see what he meant, and it's probably a good thing my passion was already for alpine ski racing, which has similar intensity but is naturally a bit self-limiting (e.g., the lifts close and you have to go in).
I've since read the saying to the effect that "Being able to play chess is a sign of intelligence, being able to plat chess very well is a sign of a wasted life.". Seems to ring true, except for the true greats.