How did you start playing chess?

I'm interested in people's stories... how did you get into chess? Do you remember when you started to really enjoy it/ take it seriously? 

It was the summer of 1972, and Bobby Fischer was making headlines with his World Championship match against Boris Spassky.

That summer chess was everywhere... on the front page of the newspapers, the opening story on the 6:00 news... people were talking about it everywhere.  New books were coming out and old books were being reprinted.  Stores couldn't keep chess sets in stock - they were quickly being sold out.

Naturally, myself and MANY others during this period, became interested in this game.  How could you not?

During that summer I was 10 years old, going on 11.

I took it "seriously" from that moment.  I saved my allowance money to buy books, I started playing as often as I could, I formed a chess club at school, I started recording the moves of my offhand games, etc.  Unfortunately for me, I grew up in a small, small town.  We didn't have any chess resources (strong players, tournaments, library books etc.) to speak of.

Of course, it was many, many years later, after I because an adult, that I actually entered my first tourney.  But I've been a "fan" every since that summer.

Once upon a time, in the year of the Lord of 2011, probably in the early spring, two friends of mine started to play a strange board game of chess. I didn't know any rules, but I needed to start playing as both of them played all the bloody time. Therefore, I started learning and made significant progress in the summer of 2011 just by watching YouTube chess videos too many hours per day and not playing at all. Since now, I improved a lot, but there's still much to learn. Here is a screenshot from 2011, when I (for the first time) beat the easiest level in Chess Pro II on my HTC:

Just sayin', NA, unfortunately there's no screenshot in your comment atm.

P.S to others: I'm 1 of 2 friends of him who played all the bloody time. 

I can see it.

On my comp:

I was about age 10 when our family got one of those "30 Games in One Box" as a gift.  Of course one of those games was chess.  Since I was terrible at cards, checkers etc.  I took the time to study the chess rules.  So, I am self-taught. 

Anyway, after beating my father a couple of times, I graduated to beating my sister, the family genius.  Just before the "Fischer boom" I entered high school and played a few friends who were more of a challenge.  Then right as the Fischer boom caught America's attention our high school started a chess team.  We played a few matches with other high schools and I was more or less a "big fish in a small pond". 

In 1974 I saw an ad for the State Championship in our local newspaper.  I literally ran away from home to play in it.  It was a rude awakening to be beaten by such high class players.  But it was the turning point that made me go deeper into studying chess.

In the summer of 1988 I decided to learn chess because I thought intelligent people had to play chess. During that summer I played several games, when I lost (it always did) I asked for a rematch.

But it was not till the year 2000 that I got hooked. Again because a good friend of mine kept winning me all the time.

Now 25 years after that first match, when I learnt how to move, I am slightly better than my friend and it is me who usually win. 

I was in a chess club for a few months in Primary School (Elementary) but never took it seriously and never played again until the tail-end of last year while at a college in Norway. It turned out the school had about a dozen chess sets and after a couple of months people were playing chess every lunchtime and dinnertime. They then decided to host a little tournament but with only 12 minutes on the clock each.

Before the tournament I'd only played a couple of games against one of my best friends who had a lot more experience but was an unstudied player. He annihiliated me both times and I got annihilated in all my games in the tournament, including falling for scholar's mate. Twice...

I still enjoyed the experience though, and it spurred me on to start studying the game and see what people do to improve. I've got no natural talent for the game but after studying various things and playing more games against my peers, I improved a lot and gained a deeper appreciation for the game.

It was also nice to get to the point where I could regularly win against most of the players who used to wipe the floor with me and know I had managed to improve. It turned out only a couple of the 20 or so people who played chess there actually studied.

That said I am still an absolute patzer but would love to see how far I could progress given time. Especially considering I am 26 and well past the ideal age to start. I'm about to join a local chess club so that should be interesting.

@MrEdCollins: That's a great story! Wish I had picked up my new-found passion for chess around the same age you did. Just a shame you had difficulty connecting with other enthusiasts at the time.

About time for someone new to share a story, please.

It was 1964 or '65 when I was about 14. My friend had a little magnetic chess set, and he set it up and showed me the rules, and then I got creamed. I had no idea how to coordinate pieces or even how to look at the board.

So I went out and bought a book or two by Fred Reinfeld, and promptly got more confused than ever. But I stuck with it, playing when I could, reading about it, dreaming of becoming good. I got my first chess computer (a Fidelity rated about 1200) in 1980, and then things took off for me. I was able, finally, to play an opponent who (that) gave me a good game and challenged me. Then I joined our local chess club and had a few small successes. Then I joined USCF and went to a few tournaments.

I never got really good, but I had a few very memorable successes that sustained me for years; my best was beating a 2000 player rated 800 points above me in a regular tournament game. It's still my proudest moment, but I haven't got the record of it anymore.

I started our high school chess team and coached it for about 12 years until I retired in 2007. And then, last year, I discovered chess.com, and my chess dreams have finally come true.

A mouse slip! Two years ago, I accidentally clicked on Chess Titans when aiming for Freecell.

Although my dad taught me how the pieces moved when I was a kid I had never played an actual game in my life. I didn't even know what a fork or pin was. Needless to say, Chess Titans Level 1 kicked my butt.

It made me mad, so I started watching youtube videos on basic tactics to get better. Pretty soon I was watching videos on Tal and Fischer. Before I knew it I was hooked. I'm 37 years old and just wish I had taken it up as a kid.

taking out a chess board, when trying to get checkers. long story.

There are no clubs around me to go to.

i started playing when i was in middle school... 7 or 8 grade. Where I lived there were no tournaments but there was a chess club. I joined after i thought.."I was good". My first game at the club was against an older genteman who played another new member... with his back to us (blind). The other new member was an adult... we both lost. i was blown away and so was the other guy. We became friends and he was the opponent of choice to play when ever i went to the club. 

I started when I was about 8 years old. I used to love speed. I rode bicycles very very fast. So, my father decided to cool down my aggressive character and introduced me to chess.