i use to play checkers with my gradfather as a young boy. at age 5 i taught myself how to set up a board and what each peice could do by reading a book, from there i played as many people as i could, At high school i beat the schools best player and went onto win against the tutor (much to his surprise lol) these days the people i know that play wont play with me as i always beat them. im not the best player in the world, i play because i love it and it makes me use my brain alot lol, thank god for chess.com or i would not have anyone to play with ;)