I began playing Chess when I was about 10 years old. My father taught me to play. We only played a few times as I recall, but he had a chess book that taught openings. I learned the d4 Stonewall opening for White. In the 8th grade I joined the Chess Club because some friends I met played. I remember beating the teacher with my d4 opening. I also remember going to the Scholastic Team Chess tournament. In high school, we continued to play in the Chess Club. We met a super smart talented student/player who taught us many things, including BugHouse. We went to the Scholastic Team Chess Tournament all three years of high school. I remember we played every chance we got while in school. In the lunchroom, between classes, and sometimes instead of classes. We didn't have any formal training. We had no idea what our rankings would be, we mostly played openings that we memorized.

Moves in the game after the openings were all thought of (for me at least) as 'if I do this and he does that' etc. until I couldn't remember the lines (4-6 moves at most?). One year at the Scholastic Team Tournament I sat 4th chair on our team. I won all four of my matches with checkmates. Probably 10th or 11th grade. In 12th grade I got a girlfriend, and dropped to 7th or 8th chair.

Our school did well at the Team Competitions each year we went. I think one of our teams always placed first or second.

All of this was in the late 70's/early 80's. Chess Club in school was a big part of my life and I remember it being a fun part. My dad had stopped playing me the first time I beat him (after I joined Chess Club).

After leaving high school (1982) I did not play chess again for many years, decades in fact.

Today, I have reconnected with one of the school mates from the Chess Club in school and we play a game or two each month, sometimes more. I try to study, but I notice my focus does no seem to be as strong as it was. I seem to get bored studying the myriad of possibilities, and I am frustrated that I can't seem to tell a good move from a bad one. Or, a good position (for me) versus as bad one. I believe I need to play more, and I need to find some motivation.

Chess engines have become a serious crutch for me. I am like a deer in the headlights without an engine. I need to break that habit. I am nervous to play. I am also not sure I can learn from my own mistakes. I want to, but I find it hard to know how many moves backward I must go to see where my mistake was. I own too many Chess books, and a Chess Challenger 7 from the 1970's.

Let's play chess!

Shaggy960