• Member Since: Aug 7, 2010
• Last Login: May 27, 2012
• Profile Views: 1980
• Points: 1194
• Birthday: Oct 2, 1936

I have no remembrance of where I first saw a chess set or how old I was.  It was probably in a department store toy area and I was around ten.  I remember I was intrigued that four of the pieces were horse heads.  I knew no one that knew anything about chess. Chess was never mentioned at school.

 When I was 17 I went to a party where the host had many games set up to play, and one was a chess set.  He knew how the pieces moved, but was uncertain about the Knight.  

The next day I purchased the chessmen and a book on how to play chess.  Chess books were rare in the stores and the local library where I lived, which made my quest for educating myself difficult.  For three years I had no one to even play chess with.  It wasn’t until I was in the Army that I was able to find opponents, and they weren’t much better than I was, except for a sergeant who beat me every game.  He was excellent with the knights, and I learned much watching him defeat me with them. I am forever grateful for his patience to play with such a novice as I was then. 

I am not a strong player, but I enjoy playing chess for the sheer enjoyment of it. I enjoy reading about chess and improving my game, so when someone suggested checking out chess.com, I did and I immediately joined just to improve my game. .

Because I enjoy meeting people from all over the world, and what interests them about chess, I truly enjoy chess.com. And now I have many people in which to share my interest in chess.