Chess of the Mad Queen - My history lesson, and other stuff...

This journey - Ended up learning history

Wow. I went a whole chess journey since my last post. Bloody hell. Where do I even begin? 

Let's start with the wisdom that Bobby gave me about the current state of the game. From him I learn't memory,memory,memory. So I am writing up a lesson plan for myself. This is for when I find a chess set in real life (I live in a small town, it's rather difficult and I don't want to get it from Walmart. I want it to have a soul.) but my plan is to find around 25 games of Bobby Fischer and every morning play one of his game. I'm gonna keep repeating these games until I can recreate the game from memory.

My learning style is from the Chinese. See, in China what they do is; to master a skill, they copy the master's work. So let's say painting. They would stroke for stroke copy a master piece until they painted the work of the original artist. This cultural habit is also why they have international IP legal issues with smart phones. I saw a documentary about Chinese smartphones. Long story short. I'm applying this cultural habit to Robert J Fischer. Sounds like a plan to me. Now only if I had a physical chess set. I'll be all set.

Now I'm on my crummy phone, flicking through youtube. And I'm wanting to learn where Chess came from, because it's a human trademark. If Aliens came to earth and were studying us, Chess would be a topic. Hell, I bet Aliens even have their own version of Chess. Chess seems even more like a trademark of an intelligent animal, let alone humans!!

So I'm flicking through youtube, innit. 

The first video is almost like a fable. The story you tell children, the religious myth of chess. It's about this King. So this King is dope at war. Likes to win his battles. Well, one day he goes to war with an army that's attacking his awesome kingdom. Oh yeah, he also has a son. And his son is also dope at combat, perfect match. Well, his son dies. The king is so sadden by his son's death, that he locks himself in his chambers because of depression. All the jesters couldn't cheer him up and all the wise men weren't wise enough, except this traveling adventurer that also was a wise man and get this; also amazing at math. He invents this game, and travels to the depressed king, who at this point must have social anxiety. He's been locked in his chambers for awhile now.

Anyway.

This amazing guy gives the king the game of Chess as a gift to cheer him up. After the king learns how to play. He notices something. In one play (No. Not the Spanish opening.) he has to make a sacrifice in order to protect his king and win the game. The king relates this to his fallen son. And he understands that in order to protect the King, he had to make sacrifice. So long story short. He felt better about his kid dying because he's the king... Sounds kinda bad put that way, who cares.

Turns out. SURPRISE!! This guy was a legit conman. The king offered him money but he turned it down. Why? Because Mr.Conman is good at conning the stupid. He asked for one grain for the first square and then double the grain for the second square and then double that for the third square and so forth. The king, who doesn't know basic math, agreed. Turns out that's a lot of grain. And the king couldn't even begin to pay that, and get this! He gives him a high status job because he doesn't want to be in his debt. Bruh, for that much grain? I know people who would just kill him. Mr.Conman lived good, the King was cheered up for awesome reasons. And kid was still dead. 

Fun story.

Now the second video I watched was more rooted in reality. I was watching this guy on youtube and I wished I kept a link. Google him on youtube later. And this dude is super passionate about the history of chess, and it's evolution. 

He showed me so many different kinds of chess. He explains with the Ancient chess, where it was found and where it evolved. He talks about it in much more depth than I can. I haven't finished the whole video. My phone crashed. But I saw a lot! 

The Europeans are responsible for the more standardized version of chess that we know today. The Mad Queen. I think he said the Mad Queen has only been around for like 150 years... or was it the art style of the chess pieces. Google it. Comeback. Correct me in the comments. 

I like the home made pieces that the Mongolians have. If you watch crash course history on youtube. Cut to the scene. If you don't get that... inside joke. In a lot of the older versions of chess, the pieces didn't move like today. Bruh, so many changes happened to this game over the course of time. 

He also showed me Chess from the East. Still popular to this day. Oh cool, I get to circle this back to the Chinese. Neat. See, Chinese Chess is the most popular kind of Chess. Sole reason? There is a lot of Chinese citizens. 

He showed me Korean and Japanese Chess. In Japan, it's call a general. You don't diss the Emperor. These games look fun and different. I would recommend checking it out, even if it's just to gawk at it like I did. 

Chess is very diverse. 

Oh my god! I should take inspiration from the Mongolians and create my own Chess pieces! That's a dope idea. HillBilly chess, (I live in the Appalachia.). Play dough. Cardboard. Done. Love it. 

Well. I'm done vomiting from the mouth. Time for shout outs! 

MAGNUS KINGDOM - My current club. Awesome people. Friendly too. It promotes an App, but it's not about it. Go join if you want to learn more about getting good at chess. They recently published an article with Tips and Guidance. 

Shout out to Dragon_Fangs - A really cool cat! 

Shout out to Marsella17 - Been playing her for awhile now. She's my sparring partner. She's better than me, but one day I'll win. 

And thats It for now! 

MattGrai