Do you like chess?

[LitNetIsGreat]

Do you like chess?

I've been playing chess from a young age but I've been on and off with it all my life, playing a lot in spells and then not doing so for a year and so on. I used to play at a fair amateur standard I think but I've not played in a while, and having had a few games this week appear to be very rusty indeed/hopeless.

I used to follow the chess a little and think it's fascinating game. I'm also always amazed just how unbelievable the top players are, bordering on genius really considering some of the things they can do.

Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to see if Litnetters are chess fans or not.

[NikolaiI]

Yep I love chess. Studied it for a few years, I was the high school state champion when I was 14.. I wasn't great though, and my best rating was around 1820 and my playing dropped off sometime when I was 15. One of the best things about chess was getting to meet GMs, over the years I got to meet and talk with, via our club, Gufeld, Baburin, Blatny, and some of the top women players. Meeting Gufeld was one of the best experiences.. he was witty, funny, and just crazy brilliant at chess.

[Helga]

it is a game that has always fascinated me but I never truly learned, my brother tried to teach me as a kid but then we just stopped and I kinda forgot but it is something I might want to learn if I had a good teacher (patient one too, I can be slow).

[LitNetIsGreat]

Yep I love chess. Studied it for a few years, I was the high school state champion when I was 14.. I wasn't great though, and my best rating was around 1820 and my playing dropped off sometime when I was 15. One of the best things about chess was getting to meet GMs, over the years I got to meet and talk with, via our club, Gufeld, Baburin, Blatny, and some of the top women players. Meeting Gufeld was one of the best experiences.. he was witty, funny, and just crazy brilliant at chess.

Wow that's amazing.

it is a game that has always fascinated me but I never truly learned, my brother tried to teach me as a kid but then we just stopped and I kinda forgot but it is something I might want to learn if I had a good teacher (patient one too, I can be slow).

I think the learning of chess is easy, the rules and general ideas/strategies, it's the complexity beyond that that's the hard bit. As a well known saying suggests that "chess takes a minute to learn but a lifetime to master".

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I love Chess. I'm not good, as I don't play enough, but I enjoy it. Lately me and my dad have set up a chess set and have been playing the same game for a few months now, each of us making a movie every few days or so.

[Buh4Bee]

I love the idea of chess and have even played, but I am not skillful enough to think out all the possible strategies. You have to be a good algebraic thinker.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

No you don't, unless you're playing someone above your level. I just play casually, and all I have to do is pay attention to the board and not make any obvious mistakes. I think the biggest mistake people make is getting caught up in attempting to do one thing, like getting a checkmate, they stop paying attention to everything else. That's my main problem, at least.

[NikolaiI]

When asked, "How is that you pick better moves than your opponents?", I responded: I'm very glad you asked me that, because, as it happens, there is a very simple answer. I think up my own moves, and I make my opponent think up his. - Alexander Alekhine


http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess...on?cid=1012578

[tonywalt]

I like the game alot and play on chess.com. This gives me tons of games, if I want, but there again I just don't know anyone personally who plays the game.

So, I opt for playing Poker because there's a helluva bunch of people on the Island who play.

[Ecurb]

I like chess (I'm not any good -- I beat most other people who haven't studied the game, and lose to pretty much anyone who has). However, I prefer bridge. Chess demands too much concentration. The strengths of bridge over chess:

1) It's a team game. That's fun because communicating is a fun thing in lots of games (team sports, for example, which I like better than individual sports). In addition, bridge isn't quite as ego-involving because you can always blame your partner for defeat.

2) The amount of concentration varies. Some hands, it's like chess. You have to be 100% concentrated. On other hands, you can relax a bit more. Also, you get to be dummy 1/4 of the time.

3) It's more varied. The hands are always different. In chess, a lot of openings are the same.

The weakness of bridge is there's a considerable learning curve before you can enjoy playing. Because of the partnership aspect of the game, you need to learn basic bidding before you can even get started.

[Emil Miller]

Chess is the greatest game ever invented. I used to play it years ago but I haven't played it for a couple of years. I was never very good and lost more often than not because I was an attacking player and based my game on tactics at the expense of strategy, all my opponent had to do was to keep his head under attack and wait for the inevitable mistake. Whenever I met someone who played a similar game to myself, it became a war of attrition in which white usually won. If the positions became too convoluted, I was usually the first to simplify but the end game was still pretty nerve racking.
I have played against the computer but it's not like sitting opposite a real opponent. There are some interesting biographies of the great players.

[NikolaiI]

I like the game alot and play on chess.com. This gives me tons of games, if I want, but there again I just don't know anyone personally who plays the game.

So, I opt for playing Poker because there's a helluva bunch of people on the Island who play.

FICS - Free Internet Chess Server, at freechess.org, is a great place to play.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Oh a lot of people seem into chess then.

Chess is the greatest game ever invented. I used to play it years ago but I haven't played it for a couple of years. I was never very good and lost more often than not because I was an attacking player and based my game on tactics at the expense of strategy, all my opponent had to do was to keep his head under attack and wait for the inevitable mistake. Whenever I met someone who played a similar game to myself, it became a war of attrition in which white usually won. If the positions became too convoluted, I was usually the first to simplify but the end game was still pretty nerve racking.
I have played against the computer but it's not like sitting opposite a real opponent. There are some interesting biographies of the great players.

Yes I agree, it has to be one of the greatest games ever invented if not the greatest game. I agree about playing over the board Vs a computer, definitely not the same but a computer is still good for practise. I wouldn't mind reading some biographies actually as there are some colourful and quirky characters in the chess world, I'll have a look around or if you've got any particular suggestions in mind I'll consider those. I've read one on Bobby Fischer before; I don't think there can be many as mad as he was.

FICS - Free Internet Chess Server, at freechess.org, is a great place to play.

Yes this is the one I used to play on.

[MystyrMystyry]

Traditional chess is something I got pretty good at in primary school, then abandoned it for more sociable options in high school. There's a computer chess machine I came across in an op shop which beat me on on every level except 1 and 11, so I replayed 11 and won again - ah, right.

Later I found a cool computer simulation space chess with lasers and rocket launchers to vaporise the opponents which was fun, but impossible on anything other than level 1 and 11 (go figure)

I met a Chinese bloke with a Chinese Chess set, but I don't think he understood the rules because I won the first game - and he seemed to be confused about what a particular piece's moves were. I may investigate it if something turns up.

[JuniperWoolf]

I really like chess pieces. They're so cool, you can think up some intricate symbolism for them and I've seen some fantastic sets (my uncle has one that was hand carved from stone to look like real people and only cost him $120 - I used to have a girl crush on the Black Queen).

As for the game itself, I could take it or leave it.