You Know You're a Chess Geek When...
Ok, I believe I have finally taken the step over the line that delineates sane people from true chess geeks.
The other day I played a game against the computer which I felt I did so good that I actually went back into the log to write down each and every move made to preserve what happened and save it for another day to exactly determine where my positioning was brilliant (less likely) or the computer blundered (more likely). The game was a standard 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 e5 opening which I have been practicing lately (another sign of chess geekdom which I had crossed weeks ago - a noticeable impact of using smartphone chess which seems to go with very standard opens). I had been doing quite poorly at the e4 open (I do better with d4 for some reason) and this win was very satisfying as I felt challenged for sometime and then hit a major breakthrough in my tactical position which resulted in a forced move win - mate in 5 or 6 as I recall. It is definitely a different feeling when you're coming to an end game knowing exactly which and only which moves can extend a game which is going to result in checkmate - and checkmate is *for* you rather than against! lol
Given I was playing the smartphone version on a pretty low setting (but at least not on the lowest setting) I was really proud of my play on that game - enough so to actually write it down - something I was certain I would never bother to do.