
The First Steps
Greetings to all zero of you who are reading this new and wonderful blog about my chess journey. I hope I enjoy writing it (for my benefit) as much as you enjoy reading (for what reason I cannot imagine). My name is Brian and I, after years of playing chess with a few friends, have decided I want to play competitive chess with serious people. I have never had a chess lesson or been a member of a group/club in my many years of existence. I moved to the Columbia, SC area about two years ago and shortly thereafter found the Columbia Chess Club. I spent over a year after finding it to actually make my way out to the club and now I am three rated events into this fun trip. The purpose of this blog is to cover my growth through chess for my benefit. If one of you actually starts reading and liking what I have to say then I would suggest finding a mental ward in order to get an evaluation.
My chess life began at the age of around 5 or 6. Both my father and grandfather played chess and I would watch. I eventually learned the basics from them and would play games when they let me. I also enjoyed the beauty of the sets that each had which, in my young mind, seemed to be the cool factor that drew me to the game. When I was a kid growing up I played sports or other activities outside and never gave chess a thought other than the occasional game with family. I did not know any other kids who played. Where I have spent most of my adult life had no chess club and no other culture to speak of. You may have heard of "K-mart-by-the-Sea," or Myrtle Beach, SC.
Most of my adult chess involved beer in my garage with friends (mostly one friend) who I still play online with a lot. He moved back to his home in Rochester, NY which is what got me to discover chess.com. He is a much stronger player than I which finally sparked my idea to study this game that I have played my whole life and maybe, just maybe, be good (relative).
Chess.com introduced me to lessons and tactics and opening positions. I found the chance to play games against strangers, which I rarely do, and it gave me the chance to find that there is a whole world of chess. Perhaps I was just stupid, but I only knew two chess player's names growing up: Fischer and Kasparov. Now I follow chess news and tournaments. I am that nerd who turns on live events on my computer and watches them from start to finish when I am not working.
Well, enough of my introduction. I am going to post games in this blog from OTB matches. These games will feature my commentary and move variations I find. When a computer is used it will be credited in the game. Since I have three games under my belt, all commentary was performed the following day and reviewed several times. I had reviewed each game no less than three times before I turned on a computer to assist. My analysis is weak, but this is where I want to improve in order to assist my growth in playing.
This was my first organized game and my first time playing USCF rated game. G/60,d30