When I started out playing Chess here in October of last year, my intentions were to understand the game. Instead of just moving pieces around, with no theory or tactics. I played terribly(I still do but I am aware of it now), and I rarely beat anyone. So I bought a few books, but have no chess set of my own, and tried to do the work on a virtual board. I made some progress, but I was still getting destroyed by everyone I played. So now five months into it, thanks to a lot of Chess Mentor (especially Eric Schiller's lessons on F7) my game has improved ten fold, but I am even more frustrated then I was when I started out. The difference being that I expect so much from myself during a game, not to make the blunders I make on an every game basis, to understand the attack I am trying to set up before I go for it, and many other things. My point in saying all of this is that my perspective of what the game is and what it could be for me has and still is completely changing. I appreciate the game of chess more than I thought I ever would, but the game also frustrates me more than I ever thought it would. So in this way this game is both a reward and an obsession.

I only wish that we had some actual OTB players where I live, but the nearest club to me is 5 hours away. Not many chess players in Louisiana as a whole.

Echos,

I'm guessing that you live in North Louisiana because there are a goodly number of OTB clubs in the southern part of the state.

Still, if you were able to get to Baton Rouge this spring, there are several really good OTB events coming up: LA State G/30 Championship on March 14th, LA State Pro-Am on April 18th, and the LA State G/60 Championship on May 9th. Here's a link to the state website: http://louisianachess.blogspot.com/

Here's hoping you might be able to make one of these.

Thanks for the information DrawMaster. I'll definitely check that out and register with the LCA. I have not played any OTB tournaments, so this should be a great experience. I am in Northwest LA.