Nice post, Sam! I like your thoughts on talent—as a junior, when it's easier to improve from the sheer volume of playing a lot and spending hours on chess every day, talent seemed to be how quickly you could improve—inspiration, the ability to grasp things quickly. Until you start plateauing long-term at a certain level—that's when you might realise that first notion of talent can only take you to that point. From there, 'talent' may very well be the capacity for hard work, grounded in a more process-driven mindset away from results, the hunger to fulfil one's potential even if it means years of struggling.
Thanks Junta. I especially agree with your point about being process-driven; it's easy to work hard when things are going well, but not as easy when things are going badly.
Another important point is the quality of your effort. If you start of by playing hyperbullet on berserk mode, there might be a reason you aren't improving. If you don't think about how you think and find your minor ceilings (e.g. calculation, openings, tactics, and later specific areas within these), you won't get the chance to even approach you major ceiling (i.e. you peak performance, ability and rating).
In short, you should direct your effort to finding the sub-disciplines that are holding you back and improving on those.
Nice post, Sam! I like your thoughts on talent—as a junior, when it's easier to improve from the sheer volume of playing a lot and spending hours on chess every day, talent seemed to be how quickly you could improve—inspiration, the ability to grasp things quickly. Until you start plateauing long-term at a certain level—that's when you might realise that first notion of talent can only take you to that point. From there, 'talent' may very well be the capacity for hard work, grounded in a more process-driven mindset away from results, the hunger to fulfil one's potential even if it means years of struggling.
Thanks Junta. I especially agree with your point about being process-driven; it's easy to work hard when things are going well, but not as easy when things are going badly.
Another important point is the quality of your effort. If you start of by playing hyperbullet on berserk mode, there might be a reason you aren't improving. If you don't think about how you think and find your minor ceilings (e.g. calculation, openings, tactics, and later specific areas within these), you won't get the chance to even approach you major ceiling (i.e. you peak performance, ability and rating).
In short, you should direct your effort to finding the sub-disciplines that are holding you back and improving on those.