Who taught you to play?

Born 1996?????

Strange. . .

I learned from a book I took out from the public library when I was about 10.  I don't remember the name of the book, though.

I recall being very attracted to chess because it had horses in it !

Amy

i learned when i was 6 or 7 from a video- in a sense i was self taught, but my mom reinforced what i learned and played with me until i could beat her easily

and now, at age 12, i've been very successful

i've improved about 200 pts since i got on this website

Fritz taught me to play.  As strong as he/she/it is, you can tell by my rating that human teachers are probably better.  :)

Dad.    when I was 7 or so - and when he'd trick us on the board he'd make a sound which made it seem almost like magical powers.  And the pieces looked so deliciously intriguing. My sister and I weren't allowed to watch television so he introduced it as something to keep us busy.  

I learned chess from my father when I was about 10 years old.  The first thing I can remember was him pulling the old fool's mate on me.  It was a learning experience that every beginner goes through.  He and one other person are the only ones I have played before coming to this site.  This site has offered my great opportunities to learn different styles and openings.

I didn't play chess in my high school years, but I started playing more and more after my first two years in college.

The ultimate game.

My best junior high school friend taught me when we were about 12-13 years old. His dad taught he and his brother and it was not much fun to play as they would crush me handily. I can't remember ever winning a game against them. I hadn't played anyone after that until this year in February when I joined this site. Now in my 30's, my good friend chessboxer introduced me to this site and thus my chess addiction begins. I didn't know there were openings and tactics and strategy books until I came here. I can't get enough. 

Ha!  My dad taught me when I was ten and would beat the crap out of me but wouldn't tell me what I was doing wrong... (only if I made an illegal move).  I didn't like chess until college... and then got revenge.

 Same here, But it was a "World Book" Encyclopedia.

 I learned it about a year and a few months ago which is probably why I stink. :(

My fourth grade teacher.

I was taught by my brother and father.I do admit I'm not Capablanca or Paul Morphy but I learned half of it by watching them play.

uhm..

I guess when I was in the grade school but I don't really remember what grade level I was. But I was pretty sure it was my cousin who taught me how.

My aunt taught me the moves but I learned strategy from a book by Fred Reinfeld and Samuel Reshevsky. The book was "The Complete Chess Player" by Fred Reinfeld. It had many of Reshevsky's games in it.

I can't remember who taught me. I just remember that as a kid, maybe 12 years old or so, I used to play chess with a friend of mine sometimes. Maybe he taught me.

Only startend playing more actively maybe 6 or 7 years ago, and since then I've gone through periods of active playing and not playing much at all.

my grandfather even though he knew no chess strategy. He just taught me how the peices moved and I tried to figure things out for myself

My dad began teaching me when I was around 4 years old.  We were taking a 10 hour bus trip and I was bored so he started teaching me about chess.  At first we only used pawns and just marched them down the board.  He taught me how to capture pieces with pawns.  later as I got older we incorporated other pieces.  I wasn't really patient enough for chess, though, and didn't really start playing seriously until just a few years ago.

My now deceased great-grandfather, Robert Fischer taught me how to play. Not the neurotic world champion one, but I still think it is cool to tell people I grew up under the tootlidge of Bobby Fischer :)

The Internet.

My father, when I was 6. Now, I can beat him!

A book.