When I was 14, I found an old chess set in the attic. After learning the basic moves from our Compton's Picture Encyclopedia, I taught my mother the moves so I'd have someone to play with. For decades I played rarely, and never read anything about the game, so when I started playing online a few years ago, I had all the chess skills of an average, inexperienced, self-taught 14 year old. Now, however, having played almost 1,000 online games(!), I take great pride in announcing my new rating: "Marginally Improved(!)"

motherinlaw