Hugh,
Just a supporting comment from the other coast. Ben Franklin had it about covered way back in 1779.
He said: "The Game of Chess is not merely an idle amusement several very valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to be acquired and strenghtened by it, so as to become habits ready on all occasions for life is a kind of Chess, in which we have points to gain, and competition or adversaries to contend with, and in which there is a vast variety of good and ill events, that are, in some degree, the effect of prudence, or want of it. By playing at Chess then, we may learn:
First, Foresight...
Second, Circumspection...
Third, Caution...
And lastly, We learn by Chess the habit of not being discouraged by present bad appearances in the state of our affairs the habit of hoping for a favorable chance, and that of persevering in the secrets of resources."
Best Regards,
John F.
(wow, like you've never heard that before, huh?) I'M JUST KIDDING HERE....
It's Sunday afternoon and my wife and I have blown off going to Trader Joes (it's a grocery store for you folks in other states and countries - I am trying to make sure I don't assume everyone is familiar with local San Francisco landmarks, etc), first thing this morning. Instead, she's sleeping and I'm taking care of band business on the internet. It actually takes up a lot of time running five social networking sites for my various band projects, especially the No Alternative myspace page. I answer all the mail myself (if people are kind enough to write in, I should be considerate enough to answer them). I got to thinking that even though I'm 47 years old, the average age group that listens to my music is 15 to 19 year old. A lot of bands promote the usual stuff, sex drugs, alcohol, teenage rebellion. I decided to back off of the usual subjects earlier this year because we have a responsibility to kids to pont them in the right direction. Therefore, I've started to turn these kids on to chess. A lot of them (like myself at the age) are so busy trying to be cool that they're missing some of the really cool things they could be doing. I was a trouble maker in High School and got thrown out of two high schools. I was the guy that picked on the geeks. Now I wear a button on my jacket that says "geek proud." I was always a bit of a nerd, but always too busy trying to be cool.
Chess is a great tool for self improvement. You can use the game to get lost and reduce your stress. You can use it to strengthen your mind. I'm finally going to start up a local musicians chess league to give ome of these kids a place to go. In short, I'm going to use chess to promote many of the positive outcomes of involvement in this greatest of games. It would be nice (even though I play a lot of Grand Theft Auto) to get this kids playing games that required mind skills instead of finger dexterity and a lust for computerized violence.