I remember playing as a child in preschool, but not very often. Then I remember playing with my uncle, and then I started playing in high school. That's when I really started playing, I think.
THEN I started playing here, and all of the sudden, I can't win a friggin game to save my friggin life. Seriously, how is it that I can beat players with ratings at 1400+, yet I can't seem to get MY rating above 1200? Explain that, sombody please.
*sigh*
Anyway, that's how I started playing chess.
I never thought much of chess. Then Colossus on the Commodore 64 got me started when I was about 21. (I can still hear it go poo-poo-pweep when it moved.) I liked beating that program, but still didn't think much of it. I also found playing OTB against a human player something totally different, and somehow that put me off.
Then I decided to watch a match live on teletext. It happened to be game three of the 1990 Kasparov-Karpov WC match, where Kasparov sacrificed a queen for two minor pieces. I think after 'living' that game (as far as I could) I was hooked on chess, at least for a while.
My cousin introduced me to the game when I was 11 yrs old. In the openings we used to play the rook-pawn up and get the rooks out! 🙄
So after ahile we progressed and found out that we could get the queen down into the other guy's territory and raise some real hell! 🙂
After a year or so I thought I was pretty good... And then I discovered the owner of a corner grocery store loved playing the game. So at 12, I would ride my bike up to the grocery store and play this guy. He was marvelous with his knights and kept forking my king and rook and/or my king and queen. 🙁
So after learning that trick I went back to play my cousin... 😀 I stomped him so bad he wouldn't play me anymore.
So started playing in the school leagues and always took 1st or 2nd place. But what REALLY improved my chess was when I went down to the local chess club and announced I could beat the top player! <GASP!>
Heh, the president set me up with a game against the weakest player in the club - and HE BEAT ME! 😳
Okay, so then I got ahold of the book "Chess Made Simple" and found out that there was "opening theory". 😲
Within two years I went from the bottom to the top player at the club. 😀 And I've been hooked every since (or cursed, depending on how you view an addiction).
I have two older brothers , 7 and 5 years older . They began playing in middle school , and played each other frequently in very emotional grudge matches . They taught me , simply so that I could be the tackling dummy . They read books to hone their tactics , would try them out on me prior to surprising each other with them . I lost every game I ever played until I was 16 . I finally beat my oldest brother as he was reading a book and playing me at the same time . He was furious and after examining /analyzing the mate for a full 2 minutes demanded the board be set up again . He would not allow me to get up until he had beaten me three more in a row . But nothing could take away the exultation of that one win after being beaten for so long . Couldn't find opponents for a very long time . I'd never imagined there could be something like a chess club outside of high school . But when I found a room mate or opponent in a tavern I was always eager to play . I had a job where the foreman played chess , and we played two quick matches at lunch every day for 5 years . Didn't play much for 10 years after that . Got turned on to internet chess about two years ago by a friend who invited me . Been an addict ever since .
Some kids set up a board in the grade school classroom I was in. I suppose it must have been some sort of teacher's experiment in "free time," for kids to do whatever reasonably quiet activity they wanted to do for 20 minutes or something. I watched two kids play each other. Of course I had heard of chess, but I lived in a household that owned only dominoes and cards and Monopoly. Oh, and Twister.
Anyway, afterward one of the players was willing to take time to show me how the pieces moved, and the next time the board came out, he played me a game. He seemed knowledgeable beyond his years. He even owned stock! I still remember he had been given stock in a company called Gardiner (Gardner?) Marine. I ought to do some research to see how it has done the last few decades--assuming he still owns the shares.
I played maybe a half dozen games in grade school. I got serious enough in high school to read some books. My brother, a high-and-mighty college boy, challenged me to a game at that time, and I beat him. That was the only in-family game of chess I have played, but what a satisfying moment it was. Take that, old dog dookie.
I've been an adict ever since my first game after being taught how all the pieces moved. I, completely by mistake, stumbled upon the 4 move checkmate against my older brother (who would open with his rook pawns and bring them out early). Of course, the following years of chess consisted of me being beaten left and right by my old man, my brother, and a slew of extended family.
-Fatty
my parents taught me and my brother when we were ickle (i was about 6,he would have been about 8) and i spent the next 4 years attempting to beat him (my brother). when i was about 10 i finally did. and then he couldn't win anymore. so he stopped playing me...so i joined my schools chess club and i was the best there! muahahaha. (we were one of the best primary schools in our area-we competed in 3 team tournaments, coming 3rd, 2nd then 1st in that order!) then i went to high school, and discovered i was meerly okay...so i stuck at it before i could beat everyone there apart from some guy whose name i can't even spell. he was chineese though...then he left and two guys in the year below me decided that they could beat me. well-they couldn't all the time. we were about equal. but still none of us cold beat the guy that ran it - Dr Sinha. he could whoop our asses! i was winning once, but then the bell went. and i got a few draws out of him too. anyway, he said i would be better with a bit more experience. so i came here. where i discovered i am not very good at all.
i'm gonna go make some moves now. i'm gonna get good 😠