My love-hate relationship with chess
I reached my highest ever bullet rating on lichess today.
Chess is something which I mainly picked during grad school - when my motivation for research was at an all time low. I knew the rules as a kid, could calculate decently, and generally played well against friends. Though, it was a game which I rarely played (maybe about 20-30 games during my entire childhood). What was interesting was I would take a lot of time to calculate - which I now think is impressive as that meant I could really concentrate for a long time.
Most of the chess playing I have done is during stressful times. As, it does two things - 1) Takes your mind off from the thing that is causing you stress (though, it only delays the stress!) 2) Provides an intellectual kick (however small). For a long time, I would always feel guilty about playing chess. Because, it meant taking away time from the thing that I should actually be doing.
It is only recently, that I have started playing chess just to enjoy it. While, my competitive tendencies to become good at anything I do, do kick in, largely I play chess without any goals in mind to achieve.
Btw, shoutout to lichess.org, the chess server where I play. It is one of the most impressive open-source websites.
Liked by
Comments
Participate in the conversation.
Read More
Serious hobbies
I don’t know if other people relate to this. I have a problem - I can only do serious hobbies. The hobbies themselves are not serious, it is just I become serious about them. For example, cricket - something which I resumed for 2-3 months this year and then finally stopped.
My Happy Place
A lot of friends ask me. Some wonder secretly. Why do I build random stuff? The answer is simple. It makes me happy.I have benefited immensely from the stuff I have built. Personal satisfaction has been the biggest benefit. But when you have stuff to show, it also becomes ...
The Joys of life!
I think everyone has some special things where they are completely in the moment. For me dancing and coding are those things which give me the ultimate joy of being in the moment. But lets be real, for both it won’t happen right away. You need to invest time to get to that state...
Measuring your self-worth with your profession
The most pernicious belief of the Urban millennial is how much of their self-worth is derived entirely from their profession.
फुर्सत
The post goes beyond the picture it paints for me because SpaceNET was my first company, and Shuvam was my first mentor. When I joined, SpaceNET was called Starcom.
Reading Habit
My monkey brain is in overdrive when I am alone. I can’t read. I can’t write. I can’t watch an entire movie. I can’t code. Well this is all I can do when I can. There is not much else to me.
Music folder
I love good music. Generally and specifically.
Basic Rhythms
We all find life lessons and values in things that we are attached to and like.
My First Raw-kinda writing, I Guess
Now that I have you here, how about we explore the possibilities coming out of a semi-toxic combination of overthinking and an imagination that runs in all directions.