Chess

[Skeever]

Any chess players here?

I'm on lichess, and I've just started playing again after something like 20 years of not playing, and probably forgetting, that chess exists. Like a lot of people, I became interested in it again after watching the Queen's Gambit. I had no idea that there was so much depth and theory behind the game. I've very bad and so far all my victories feel a little bit cheap. But I've got lichess on the iPad and it's nice being able to play a quick game during morning coffee before work begins.

[El Barto]

I really like the idea of chess, it's something I'd enjoy, but I can't play it. Like, literally. My issues with spatial orientation make it difficult to find the right moves, and impossible to see beyond the current turn. Scrabble is the other game I can't play. I can make big words out of damn near any 9 tiles, but applying them to the board is simply beyond me. Just a peculiarity in my wiring.

[Stadler]

I really like the idea of chess, it's something I'd enjoy, but I can't play it. Like, literally. My issues with spatial orientation make it difficult to find the right moves, and impossible to see beyond the current turn. Scrabble is the other game I can't play. I can make big words out of damn near any 9 tiles, but applying them to the board is simply beyond me. Just a peculiarity in my wiring.

I'm the same way - love the idea, can't execute - but for different reasons.  I have no problem with the viewing, or the thinking ahead (that's kind of how I work), but I don't have anywhere NEAR the knowledge necessary to play that way, and against a player with even a modicum of skill I turn into the criminal who, at the crime scene, drops his wallet and driver's license, touches everything without gloves, smiles at the security camera, and leaves a pile of DNA in a tissue.

[WilliamMunny]

I really like the idea of chess, it's something I'd enjoy, but I can't play it. Like, literally. My issues with spatial orientation make it difficult to find the right moves, and impossible to see beyond the current turn. Scrabble is the other game I can't play. I can make big words out of damn near any 9 tiles, but applying them to the board is simply beyond me. Just a peculiarity in my wiring.

I'm the same way - love the idea, can't execute - but for different reasons.  I have no problem with the viewing, or the thinking ahead (that's kind of how I work), but I don't have anywhere NEAR the knowledge necessary to play that way, and against a player with even a modicum of skill I turn into the criminal who, at the crime scene, drops his wallet and driver's license, touches everything without gloves, smiles at the security camera, and leaves a pile of DNA in a tissue.

That's a great way to put it—ever the eleoquent poster you are!

I agree...I 'get it,' but my lack of investment into studying the game renders me useless against anyone with even a shred of practice.

[hunnus2000]

I used to play a lot during my high school and college days but I drifted. We did watch the Queen's Gambit and thought it was a fine movie! 

BTW - besides the spatial recognition thing, you only get better the more you play.

[Evermind]

I know how to play and know a little bit of general theory, but I haven't played for years. I'd like to once again get into it, but haven't found any spare time for it yet with all the other stuff going on. I played rapid (10 minutes) with my friend who has ~1300 on chess.com a year ago and he destroyed me in 4 games out of 5, one game I was ahead in material playing white, but I still lost on time as I spent most of the time mid-game trying not to blunder anything.

Queen's Gambit was a blast, really liked the show.

[LudwigVan]

I grew up loving chess. Played in the Queens chess club for a few years, going up against players in the 1500 - 1700 range. I also played for my company in the Banker's League, where we'd have weekly tournaments against other banks like Goldman Sachs or Deutsche.

I participated in a simul against a master who won 8 of the 10 games against club players. He lost 1 and I managed the only draw.

Played some street chess in Greenwich Village and Bourbon Street but blitz is just not my thing.

I played in a simul in Central Park against US Women's champion Irina Krush and of course I didn't stand a chance. 

Nowadays I just play against the computer on chess.com but would love to join a club again. There's nothing quite like the adrenaline rush of face to face chess.

[Stadler]

I keep a list of a few - three or four - meaningless, quirky things I want to do before I shuffle off this mortal coil.  I want to:

- learn how to pick a lock;
- hotwire a car (though I've sort of already did that);
- juggle
- learn at least one chess tactic/strategy

[MirrorMask]

Always liked chess, played it when I was young, then growing up I basically gave up.

I never forgot the rules or lost interest in it, I just happened to not play it anymore, but - I know I'm not the only one - Queen's Gambit sparkled my interest again and I downloaded some apps to play.

[Skeever]

I keep a list of a few - three or four - meaningless, quirky things I want to do before I shuffle off this mortal coil.  I want to:

- learn how to pick a lock;
- hotwire a car (though I've sort of already did that);
- juggle
- learn at least one chess tactic/strategy

You can learn the scholar move pretty quickly and wipe everybody in the lower levels who doesn't know it for a good 1-2 hours on chess.com or lichess.com but after you rank out of that you'll be in for a rude awakening from people who know what you're doing immediately 

I grew up loving chess. Played in the Queens chess club for a few years, going up against players in the 1500 - 1700 range. I also played for my company in the Banker's League, where we'd have weekly tournaments against other banks like Goldman Sachs or Deutsche.

I participated in a simul against a master who won 8 of the 10 games against club players. He lost 1 and I managed the only draw.

Played some street chess in Greenwich Village and Bourbon Street but blitz is just not my thing.

I played in a simul in Central Park against US Women's champion Irina Krush and of course I didn't stand a chance. 

Nowadays I just play against the computer on chess.com but would love to join a club again. There's nothing quite like the adrenaline rush of face to face chess.

This is such an interesting background! Any reason you just play against the computer and not any of the people online?

[LudwigVan]

This is such an interesting background! Any reason you just play against the computer and not any of the people online?

In general, I'm not really a big fan of playing online, much preferring over-the-board play. I have played many games against online opponents, but somehow I lost my patience and taste for it. There are some bad actors out there who like to heckle, or simply just walk away if they're in a losing position, refusing to concede and simply letting the clock run out. So I'm left sitting in front of the computer waiting for someone to make a move when I'm not sure if they have any intention of even continuing the game or not. My time is too valuable for that. So I play against the Chess.com computer to help keep my game sharp, and because it makes its move pretty much instantaneously. I've beaten the computer at 1800 level but hit a wall at the 2000 rated "player".

Also, chess is already a rather solitary kind of game, and playing online makes it feel even more so, at least for me. It's not the most social of recreations, compared to something like poker or golf, where you can hang with buddies and bullshit while knocking back a few beers and smoking cigars.

The unique thing about the game is that it can be ALL-consuming. It takes a different kind of person that wants to obsess and analyze over every possible move or theoretical line in a given position. It's not like tennis, where after you've played a couple of sets, you can hang up your racket and tennis shoes and then go about your everyday. After a game, it's hard to resist going back over it and asking... should I have made this move? Or that move? Or what if I tried this...? The chessboard is always in front of you, like some sort of siren call luring you into an endless world of complex variations. Better yet, you can do calculations in your head or from a book, which means you can take the game with you wherever you go. Openings... middle game ... end game... it can all be enchanting and overwhelming at the same time.

I remember walking into the Manhattan Chess Club one day, where the first thing that struck me was the smell. The place reeked of body odor and unwashed people. Those hard-core chess players cared more about finding an answer to the Poisoned Pawn variation of the Sicilian Defence than about their own personal hygiene.

[Skeever]

The quality of online opponents is definitely hit or miss. At the lower rankings where I'm at, people generally resign as soon as they lose their Queen. I never do that because I am trying to play better, not just raise some superficial rank as quickly as possible. I have come back a few times and won a match despite losing my queen too early. That felt great.

[LudwigVan]

Good for you. That's where you really learn the game... playing in tight, difficult and uncomfortable positions. Many folks would rather give it up instead of squirming through and trying to defend in a bad situation. Then it also becomes a game of psychological will power.

BTW most players are divided into two general camps: Queens pawn or Kings pawn players. Q-pawn openings tend to be more positional, strategic, closed and slower-developing in nature, while K-pawn openings are wide open tactical affairs. I guess I tend toward Q-pawn openings but it's good to get comfortable with both styles.

[wolfking]

Never tried to play chess, probably never will.

[Skeever]

Good for you. That's where you really learn the game... playing in tight, difficult and uncomfortable positions. Many folks would rather give it up instead of squirming through and trying to defend in a bad situation. Then it also becomes a game of psychological will power.

BTW most players are divided into two general camps: Queens pawn or Kings pawn players. Q-pawn openings tend to be more positional, strategic, closed and slower-developing in nature, while K-pawn openings are wide open tactical affairs. I guess I tend toward Q-pawn openings but it's good to get comfortable with both styles.

Yes.. so far I tend to gravitate toward the Queen's pawn. I wonder if a lot of new players will do this because of the Queen's Gambit TV show, where I think it's implied that she often uses that move. However when I started playing again I realized that when I was younger and my grandfather was teaching me to play he would always move the B3 pawn and deploy his Bishop to B2. I did a little research and learn a little bit more about this, which is apparently called the Larsen open. I've been trying to alternate between doing this and just playing the traditional Queen's pawn open, and I think I've had better luck with the Larsen so far, though I'm sure that mileage will vary at higher levels.

I've also been learning more of those quick tactics like the scholars open, just to practice it and see if people will fall for it. I don't want to be gimmicky but it seems like it's good knowledge to have both to whip it out every now and then and also to realize when it's happening to you.

[axeman90210]

My homeroom teacher junior year of high school ran the chess club and used to host games in his classroom before school started, so I dabbled for a year. I was never very good, I could never really form a plan for moves ahead, always just reacted to what was already on the board. I do have a win over the eventual state champion to my name though because he wasn't paying attention and I hit him with scholar's mate We used to have a lot of fun playing doubles as well.

[Dream Team]

chessbymessage is another great site. After 200+ games I got my rating up to 1504 but it's dropped a little.

Middle game is where I'm deadly; pretty good at endgames but kinda weak at openings.

[PetFish]

Third Place 1987!  Grade 8.  First place was my pal and we used to play chess over the phone with the whole "queen's knight to queen's bishop 6" stuff.  Good times.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!ArBpArpA7bTZrlI7hvXj4y20HtgU?e=vhGV9e

[Dream Team]

Probably about 10 years ago or so I was playing chess with my nephew, he was around 14 and had learned the game and was into it but not good enough to compete with me yet. Fast forward to this past weekend; we visited my sister where she was renting a place on a lake in upstate NY and had my niece and nephew with her. He beat my rear-end red 4 times before I finally got him, then he proceeded to tell me he thinks he's about an 1850  . I'll probably never beat him again. 

[SomeoneLikeHim]

Love chess! Been playing, on my phone mostly, since 2020. currently swinging between 1500-1600 on lichess blitz which is what I mostly play. Ratings on lichess are pretty inflated so I doubt I would be more than maybe 1200 on chess.com blitz.

[gmillerdrake]

Used to play a lot in high school....especially against the computer once we got our first family computer. I remember the name of the computer player was 'Ziggurat'  Could only win every now and then on the easy level.....the medium and hard levels the thing would destroy you in a couple moves.

My dad then bought this really cool pewter set that was the North and South from the Civil War. This set was awesome. We played a lot of games on that thing.....makes me wonder where the heck that set disappeared to? Anyway....

I have a chess board in my office and there was a time when me and the boys would play a couple times a week when they were younger. But now, it's very sporadic. I enjoy playing it but am still just probably an average player at best.

[XJDenton]

I like playing it but I goddamn suck at it.

[Cool Chris]

I like playing it but I goddamn suck at it.

I knew we had to have something in common.

Gary, I remember seeing ads for what I assume is that Civil War set as a kid and thinking it was the coolest thing. Until I saw a Star Trek chess set anyway.