May we know who taught you how to play chess. Thank you for your respond.

I learned how to play chess by watching my friends playing chess when I was still young in the late 1950s, but I stoped playing the game because I was appearing in the movies and was dancing the ballroom dancing. I just started playing chess again in the 1990s but not concentrating it because I'm just playing the game for fun, to make more new friends, to refresh/exercise my brain. I don't even read chess books and moves.

Ray Duque III (GMBD), New York City

Nice topic, Ray.  Thanks.  

I remember in my childhood my Dad telling us his children not to play chess.  "It is a game for lazy people," he said.  This commandment was meant to be tested.  So I watched older people play chess and I became curious.  Sometimes, I watch them play alone with their chess sets and books.   Never did I play a single game of chess in high school.  

In college, I had the chance to watch grandmasters play in a tournament in Manila.  Through chess books and magazines I learned the moves and was able to analyze their games.  I religiously watched a chess program on Philippine TV in B/W. I joined GM Eugene Torre's chess club in Cubao and frequented other chess venues.  I played board one for the company I worked for.

In the US I played in a few USCF tournaments and won prizes: chess equipment and more books.  I even played chess in restaurants and parks, with betting on the side.  I even learned to hustle.  Thankfully, the public libraries in Los Angeles offered lots of chess books for free.  I read many of them.  

No single person mentored me in chess.  Books and OTB play were all the training I got.  Had I started early in life, who knows, I may be a master by now.

But I agree, my Dad was right, chess is for lazy people.  I am lazy.  And I like it.

My parents bought me a $1 chess set with instructions. I read them, but I really learned how to play by playing my friends.

by watching my brother,then reading books from the library,had stopped for some time, but stillread books when had the chance,got back into really playing here.

My grandfather taught me how to play when I was 5

my dad played with hes friends and they had a league table to see who was the best it looked like they was having so much fun that i wanted to learn.

My boyfriend taught me how to play chess when I was 16 years old. We only played a handful of times though. Then in my twenties I met a guy who was really good at chess and he taught me how to play chess somewhat better. After that I played on and off here and there.  Then after many years of not playing chess I discovered chess.com

I learned to play chess thanks to my mom (when I was 7 or 8)... and I instantly fell in love with it. Had I had somebody to mentor me I could be a great player now, but I never had the chance of playing with people better than me until I found this site a couple of months ago :P

I learned the moves from a friend at church. We would play in the back row and it kept us quiet. I never had a mentor and as such developed a lot of bad habits. What helped me the most was playing correspondence chess back in the 80's before computers became popular.

jusT mYseLf.....

As a class room teacher in Texas, I needed to do something to keep the ADD students from getting to restless, so I brought out some board games one day and discovered that chess was a big hit.  I started a chess club at the HS and have been playing every since.  I learned from books and playing on websites.  I have a long way to go!  I found some good friends on here and this site has helped me improve.  

i just learned my move from my wild instinct..haha..nice topic..

my grandad taught me how to play when i used to visit him. later on he got me one of them chess computer boards, was really good because i could play the computer and when i played my brother and sister it wouldn't let us cheat. that didn't last very long as i would always win.  anyway i have not played since i was a kid until now, i started playing again recently after thinking about my grandad that died last year and thought i'd join this site and have ago again.

my bOyfriend taught me hOw to play chess we bout love playing it together 

Nunca tube profesor soy fanatico a todo tipos de juegos de estrategia y aprendi jugando con amigos 

Well mY father Thought me how to play chess when i was 8 or 9 years old.. from then i just played chess but never tried to improve on it.. but now, here i am with lots of improvement and a gr8 chess player hoping to be a GM!

I am 17 years young right now.. can anybody say that i can be a GM?

My Dad!!  Back around 1980 or so - at first he would let me beat him.  Then I began winning him again and again.  Then became Chess champ of the Junior High School.

I was around 10 or 12 when a friend of my parents (Steve) came to stay with us for a while. My Dad and Steve would stay up late at night playing, I would watch them until I fell a sleep and after he left I asked my dad to teach me how to play. He showed me how the pieces moved, and we would play from time to time and I would win sometimes but loose most of the time. Steve came back later that year and brought with him a computerised chess set which he gave to me and I played with it until I could beat the computer on the hardest level.

Since then my chances to play have declined so much that I didn't play at all for at least a decade. I'm not sure why I recently decided to get back into it but from playing here I have learned that I have obviously forgotten everything but how the pieces move.

Same here - I remember how pieces move, but not remembering much strategy - can't think beyone about 1-3 moves ahead - LOL