I was inspired to learn chess in the 90s when Nigel Short earned the right to play Garry Kasparov in the PCA World Championship. I mostly learned by reading books and newspaper columns by Raymond Keene. Short and Keene might both have suffered their own controversies over the years, but younger me couldn’t have seen that coming!

I ran out of enjoyable ways to play. My friends and family weren’t nearly as interested in the game as I was so there was soon a significant difference in skill. There were no local clubs I could get to. Chess computers weren’t great, and had a habit of playing moves that looked strange, and that no human would ever consider. Internet chess servers were only just starting to become a thing.

Feeling like I had no-one to play I ended up taking a 25 year break from the game. In that time I forgot pretty much everything I ever knew. I’m trying to relearn, but my chess brain feels about as sharp as a sponge, and as absorbent as a knife!

mmmcaffeine