"You must take your opponent into a deep, dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one." - Mikhail Tal

I was in my early 20s (c.1989) when I first played chess, and still remember two embarrassing losses to my cousin. The first was losing every piece and the other was falling to Scholar's Mate. I thought how complicated can this game be, so I purchased a chess book - while it wasn't called Chess for Dummies, it was something along those lines. It helped a little, enough at least to regain some honour by beating my cousin in a re-match (albeit it a few years later - that win was particularly satisfying given I blundered my queen early in the game and played what I thought were guerilla tactics (attack and retreat).

Fast forward, or rather rewind to 2005 when a work colleague introduced me to RHP and the world of online chess. At last a benchmark. It has been slow improvement from then. If there is something that I could share, is that the more you play the better you generally get, playing by the maxim I never lose, I either win or I learn . I am prone to making unsound moves, some of which are seemingly brilliant or turn out to be complete f**k ups.

I have a few e-books which I refer to - Lasker's Manual of Chess, Batsford's Modern Chess Openings, and the Endgame Manual by Dvoretsky. The later book, plus taking a master class with Gary Kasparov has improved my game immensely (if you have the inclination, check out www.masterclass.com/chess - and no this is not a paid advertisement).

I will say hello at the beginning of games 🙂 and I am open to conversation. Depending on my mood 😠😢😴, I may not respond. It is nothing personal, as I am either sulking or cranky that I am losing.

As for the quote at the top of my profile I have no idea what to make of the quote from Mikhail Tal, other than perhaps sums up the confusion and complications of my life and chess.

Current Mood: 🙂