I may play some exhibition games so I don't want to quit the game of chess completely. I just decided and it's a firm decision not to play competitive chess anymore.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I attend to my fitness. I go the gym every day and try to maintain my physical fitness; without that, it is tough to take challenges on the chess board.
I am still a victim of chess. It has all the beauty of art - and much more. It cannot be commercialized. Chess is much purer than art in its social position.
Chess is a lot of fun for me. Football is a physical game, and in chess you can just beat someone mentally - you outwit somebody, outmaneuver them, think ahead of them.
My problem with chess was that all my pieces wanted to end the game as soon as possible.
I'm not here just to walk two rounds or four rounds and just show up. I want to be able to be competitive, and I truly believe I can still be competitive when I'm playing well and feeling good.
Chess only appeals to quite a small minority. It does not have the cachet of a mainstream popular sport.
Chess for me is not a game, but an art. Yes, and I take upon myself all those responsibilities which an art imposes on its adherents.
I hate to play a tournament in which I'm not contending. It's just not any fun for me.
I still love to play chess. So I do not even spend a minute on the possibility to step back.
I spend hours playing chess because I find it so much fun. The day it stops being fun is the day I give up.