[faeriechangling]

In chess I drilled tactics puzzles, I drilled endgames, I memorized openings, I studied the game, all things typically considered less interesting than actually playing. Yet I never felt this was very difficult because I paced myself out, I skipped it when I was bored, I did extra when I felt more encouraged, I alloted a fixed amount of time to this sort of practice. I used spaced repetition software and generally optimised for actual learning of the skill.

The big difference with sports and games vs school is that in sports and games you are optimising to win the game, and in school you're optimising to pass an arbitrary test which only exists in the context of school. It's depressing for the same reason people grinding leetcode puzzles just to get through interviews is depressing. I've had to drill many pointless things over the years to prove to some authority that I'm willing to waste tons of time if they want me to.