Playing.

Although I think OTB is how the game should be played, I really only play online. I prefer the online turn-based correspondence games but have played other time variations. I think the ratings for lightning and blitz are a good indication of how much knowledge is actually sinking in. ie how familiar certain patterns are. They’re also quick to play if the kids are crying.

My favourite chess.com resource is probably Tactics Trainer which I see as a compromise between the theory of videos and actually playing games.

History.

I have been interested in Chess for a while but never learnt to play beyond the movement of the pieces. It was reintroduced to me In 2011 when out with a friend for drinks. He suggested we played and of course he beat me. Determined to win the next time I embarked on a mission. I downloaded some apps for my phone, joined chess.com and tried to improve whenever I could. I just achieved enough to win the next game some months later but still definitely need to improve.

Present day.

I am still relatively bad at chess and certainly below the level I’d like to be. I’m continuing to play when I can and learn through this site. I don’t need to be super fantastic at chess but enough so I can play a reasonable game with people in situations like that above.

crazypigg