How were you taught chess?

My story goes like this.  My dad was a rank amateur tournament player in the 1300's in the 70's, and he had an opportunity to play in a simul against a Russian female IM whose name escapes me at the moment (I'll ask him and add it later).  She also gave a lecture during which she explained that her father had taught her how to play chess by teaching her how the pieces moved and then giving her all her pieces while he took only his king.  He then tried to win.  Once she could beat him he added a piece, etc.  In this way he would always have a challenge and wouldn't have to let her win to keep her interested. 

My dad decided to use the same method with me.  He didn't have all of his pieces until I turned 18 (he has continued to improve of course), and we've always had great fun playing against him even though we don't get to play very often OTB because I live in a different town.  I suspect that we are fairly even in strength at this point.  He says that I am much better, but when we get together he still usually wins.  The proof is in the pudding.

I'm 28 now, and I have a 2 year old son and a 2 month old daughter and I look forward to teaching them in the same way.

So what's your story?

In 3rd or 4th grade all the kids were playing chess and I was pretty oblivious to it for a while and finally I noticed that I was one of the few not playing. So I asked my friend if he could show me how to play. And he explained and I kind of understood but where I really learned was watching the other kids play. And a month later I had gotten so good that none of them would play with me anymore, only the teacher would.

My dad bought a chess set and he taught me how to play...

ADK

By watching my dad and grandpa as a 4 year old. I beat my 2cd grade teacher soon after and then my dad never won after 3rd grade!

My dad taught me when I was a kid, I stopped playing for about 15 years after that then picked it up again due to the internet and from friends in university. Haven't looked back since.

A good friend, who incidentally was taught one piece at a time by his father, passed what he learned on to me.  We were incredibly competitive, however, so I had to tolerate the disadvantage of learning the rules as it suited my friend.  (He was apparently tired of getting beat by his father sans two rooks, a bishop, and a knight.)  Over the next couple years, the following exchange occurred on a surprisingly consistent basis:

- "Wait, that piece can't move there!"

- "Yes it can."

- "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

- "I'm telling you now.  Checkmate."

Despite the constant hijinx, I foolishly allowed my friend to continue teaching me, and many years later, he got me into online chess.

I am ashamed to admit that I only learned en passante (sp?) a few years ago.  Needless to say, introducing that little gem operated to my friend's advantage that game...   

Thanks barefoot. 

(You dirty bastard...)

I learned in 7th grade by joining a chess club, but never took it seriously. Then I was incarcerated and everyone was playing it.It took a lot of time and that's what we wanted:to occupy our time and not be bored.Since then and especially now, I wish I took it more seriously then, because I sure as hell am now...Greg

I've always thought it funny that you've consitently and succesfully turned "I'm a slow learner with ADD" into "Josh is a cheater."

My father taught me when i was 6. He showed me how the pieces could move......and about a year later i could beat him. I joined a local chess club, but there wern't many members and no one was really interested in teaching. all i knew at that time was basic e4, or d4 openings. I gave up playing when i was 15.....and have now picked up the game again 10 years later. I just happened to see my father a couple of weeks ago and gave him a game. I won without looking at the board.

Shows that old dogs can still learn new tricks!

....Although it makes me wonder how good i could have been had i played in those 10 years i missed.

Michael.

I learned from my dad and granpa when I was about 4-5 yo. My dad was to strong for me so I played vs granpa, and he was little better than me. So I found some books about openings (when I was about 6) and that was huge boost for me, so I got start wining vs. granpa, but still to weak for my dad. I joined school chess club when I was 2nd or 3rd grade, but after first class, when teacher gave us tons of homework to do I quit. Now I am sory for that. I did not have any opp for OTB chess, I played some chess in college, but not very often. And now, when I work, have my own money, family, and after I downloaded 70% of the internet I got bored so I start playing online.

My father taught me when I was young...not sure when can't remember a time where I couldn't move the pieces. Probably was 6 or so. Never got any lessons and always lost to my father whose passive chess drove me insane :(. Child foolishness I liked nothing better then to rush queen out for harrasment purposes. Played off and on until my second to last year of high school where I got a regular partner out of the captain of my high school chess club, though he was a weaker player so he rarely won. The next year I had gained two partners, both of which were younger then me, both of which were better players. Made me want to improve for the first time, but couldn't deal with the bore of tactics practice problems or any chess book. When I finished high school I played maybe 4 games in the next year and a half...about 1/3 of the amount I was playing per a week before. Month ago I've been reintroduced through this site and have found studying more interesting then I ever had before, seeing where it takes me ^^

I was in fifth grade when a friend taught me the names of the pieces. The night was real tricky as it could move two spaces parallel to the board then one space left or right.  I also learned by example that I needed to take a long time before making a move. Since then I've been working on using that time better.

I learned how to play chess when I was about 8 years old. (Although I was never any good at it.) It was fairly simple for me to grasp how the pieces moved, and my favorite one, of course, was the Queen. My older brother and me would play hundreds of times in the course of a month. (He would always beat me!)

I was actually quite recently that I seriously started getting into chess as a sport. That started, I think, after buying Seirawan's Winning Chess Strategies. When I got that book, I just sat there reading it for hours and hours. Needless to say, I have since then bought almost all the books in that series, and am quite advanced in my level of chess understanding since I was eight!

I am going to be joining a live chess club in the near future, and am looking to earn some kind of rating (title?) soon.

My dad taught me to play when i was about 4 or 5.  i remember him playing me with his rooks only and at times only using his knights.  it was a great time spent being him and my mom were divorced and i only got to see him on sundays.  never did have too many friends who enjoyed the game so my skill has dropped horribly as shown by my rating on here.  i however love the game and have a 4 year old son and a 4 month old daughter to whom i cant wait to teach.  my son loves to "help" me when i play the windows vista version and loves to make the chess pieces i got him fight each other.  hopefuly him and my daughter pick up the game as i need people to play at my level!  unfortunatly they are already showning me how smart they are and will surpass me quickly enough but i hope they are enough of a challenge to each other as they grow.  i plan on having "house chess tourny's" when they get older with treats for prizes. 

Oooooh, in house tournys are a great idea Bean!

A friend and I learned from the rules inside a cheap plastic chess set. This was when I was about 9 and fascinated with the medieval.

My Father introduced me to the game, when I was pre-teen, but I think I was selftaught.  I think he kept this cool looking chess book, it was about some candidates tournament in the 1960's in Switzerland.  I started "reading", and tried to play the games, with very little chess concepts at the time.  At that time I think in math class, we were learning that coordinated  graph chart, with the "from and to" ideas.  So I was happy just to move stuff on the board because I could understand the A-H  and the 1-8 concept.  Later on I picked up other ideas.  Anyways, that was the catalyst.  Then came the usual stuff, I played with dad, saw other people play, joined a club....etc....

Nice stories.

My neighbors, 3 boys, taught me how to play when I was 13. It was interesting for them to beat me all the time until one day, I finally beat the best of the brothers. I then played my brother-in-law(BIL) for some practice and found out while playing him that the Queen could not move like the Bishop, Rook, and Knight. Yes, the brothers taught me the incorrect Queen moves. Well, that shattered my game, needless to say, and after 35 years of therapy to remove the stigma of "the stupid move that Mark made while playing me" heard continuously from my BIL, I still get a little weepy if I lose....

Hi Everybody,

My dad taught me, and tooks pieces off his side, much as others have said. 

One funny story I remember, is that years later, when I was perhaps a freshman in high school, I was playing a friend who also 'knew' chess.   In the mid-game,  after a file opened up, he took his pawn, perhaps at c4, and slid it the rest of way down the file to the 8th row, and promoted to queen!!   My eyes bugged out of my head, and I was like, 'what the he@@ was that?!"   He said, "that's the rule".   We eventually got that situation straightened, but it scared the pants off me when he did it!  I thought I was doing it wrong all those years :)   Man, how would that rule change the game of chess!

My father taught me how to move the pieces when I was about 6, but I didn't really know what I was doing until I was hospitalized for several days when I was about 11 or 12 and I read Horowitz's How to Win in the Chess Openings and How to Win in the Middle Game of Chess a couple of times each during my stay.