Note to a future or current chess master

In this hustle bustle of a world, one is inclined to be eager to whoosh into the next move, and sadder than forgetfulness is an unfaithful discretionary computer validating egregiousness.
Worse than religious engine assistance or hasty “decisions” (they are rather reactionary impulses merely, as an engine), is the insistence on perpetuity becoming habitual unhealthily.
A blitz game here, a classical, rated tournament there. Where does improvement come from? I humbly inquire it comes from the health of a person, and strictly so, as chess is mentally brutal.
A simple routine can be excused as such, however many are not aware of such a sacrifice in vain they make to do such. Do not toil on the game tirelessly, not unless you are called to do so.
Called by whom you may ask, but I cannot tell you to whom you may call you to journey across the sea of chess excellence, I just hope it is a person, as doing it alone is not really advisable.
Be my guest though, sitting in your bed or wherever you’re at reading this sentence, just know you won’t get anywhere by being in such a state when the pieces begin launching at your king.
Get a training partner in a person, not an artificial one. No divine being can guide you into forgiving yourself for blundering a rook (I am kidding). Take good care of your body and mind.
So, do not toil on anything in vain, whether it be chess, the job you heavily grudge, or even these words. However, know that in this is a balance where leisure makes the burden heavier.
Chess may be [is] vanity as Alekhine once said, but it is something we should acknowledge, respect, and even appreciate. The nature of the game is something that bears grand gifts.

National Master Troy Cavanah, 2025-04-27 Bloomington, MN