“[Chess] is a foolish expedient for making idle people believe they are doing something very clever, when they are only wasting their time.”

― George Bernard Shaw, The Irrational Knot

I was very young when I played my first chess match.  It was probably against my older brother, but I really don’t recall.  I am sure I lost.  Everyone loses the first time.

You can learn the rules of chess, but that is like learning to drive by reading your car’s owner’s manual.  Knowing how to shift gears isn’t the same as learning how to stay alive on the highway.  So it is with chess.  Until you learn tactics and strategy, you are probably safer staying at home.

Fortunately, I learned fast and was soon beating my brother on a regular basis.  Winning against the geniuses at school (who were actually members of the Chess Club) was a much bigger challenge.  Though I never joined their club, I watched them play and I learned.

At some point, someone decided computers should be allowed into the chess arena.  Whether this was a good idea or not is still open for debate.  (Hopefully, we can have that debate here on this site.)  I have found the computer chess games are either too stupid or too expert.  In either case, I care little for playing against them anymore.

Chess for me has always been about fun.  I wasn’t especially interested in tournaments, though I would play every day at lunchtime.  I could smile when I won and smile when I lost.  I love the game.  I play fairly well, but I am not expert by any means.

We are here to share our joy in the game.  Here, we are all about chess.  Let’s have a debate on the great strategies.  We will share our favorite games and commiserate over our worst losses.  Demonstrate your prowess or folly.  Declaim the wonders of your favorite board and the beauty of your queen.

And then let’s set the pieces up for another match; another foolish waste of time.

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