Originally posted by TheLastNail
@dublimax:hmm.. i have 1 of the best conditions to practice chess rly hard (a lot of time, tons of materials, my gf WGM, w 2 IM norms, a top young GM friend i could train with in the future coz he seemed interested in exchange of chess/poker lessons.. but after all: i just kind of feel it s too much pressure or sth, like i want to prove i can be an IM or sth (which i am sure i can, but is this time rly worth it? doubtful..) ; esp when i do chess for more than 2h straigh i just freaking get like: hmm.. its not interesting at all; esp till 2200 level, i think the most important skill is just precise tactics and decent endgame/opening knowledge. Thats just either memorizing or just wearing urself to count day in day out on making it a habit of seeing lines clearer. Hmm.. idk, maybe if i had a well scheduled training w a lots of entertaining stuff in there, i would like it, i think so yea.. but i think poker has a lot more potential for my true abilities to show, so i also feel i am kind of losing time on training chess. U have any particular book/material u recommend u rly liked?
Well the first thing I would like to say is that being surrounded by chess players is the best thing you could ever had. This is one of the reasons I am not getting back to it (another is that chess is time consuming and with job, gf, poker etc.. I can't - I will get back to this later). You get great opportunities to talk strategy, blitz against them etc...
I can somehow see a little bit where you are coming from when you say that it is not interesting. But chess is like any other sports including poker. You need the basics. And learning the basics takes time and practice. And by basics I am not talking about how the king or the bishop move, I am talking about knowing all your openings well (don't need to know the first 20 moves but still), have a decent understanding of the midfield game, being decent at tactics and have a good grasp of the endgames (all of them).
One thing that will make you want to study more the game is to play. Are you playing much? You will get very frustrated when you manage to end up in an equal endgame against a good player and you end losing the game or you didn't get the chance to play because you screw the opening up. These will make want to study I think.
As far as books etc go I have read all the classics. Going from the basics like My system (I and II) from Botvinnik to Zurich 1953 candidates tournament or my best 60 games from Fischer, same from Kasparov etc... Also I used to do tactics exercises on a book (but I am sure now they are great softwares that provide this). Loads of great books but I am sure that your gf has read them and can advise you on this.
To come back to time it is true that you will need loads of time. Not only for studying the game but also for playing, especially if you want to get IM. These tournaments take usually a full week (that's where it gets difficult) and you need to play several a year because like in poker there is no need to study the game if you are not practicing.
Last point that is very important is to enjoy the game! Play loads of rapid games for fun get crushed by better players and I am sure that with your competitive mind you will find the time and will to study.
EDIT: I forgot to say that you should spend loads of time to analyze the games that you play whether on your own or/and with someone stronger (since you have good ppl around you that should easy enough). Big part of your improvement is to go through your mistakes and understand them not to make them again. (i.e like in poker)
awesome
saaad.. w/e, the truth is i dont readjust so well to some better opponents, i think its deffo bad for the performance to be mixing so many lims as i did now, NL400-2k; prolly should just play 400-600 & then other days 1k&2k... 
The Brotha Blog 
right? right?!? 
w a lot of salt marks after sweat from my usual sprints trough Bratislava. Hell, i hate washing.. coz then comes even worse: ironing 
