-Chess:
-CHESS:
Chess is the best board game in the world, not to mention the oldest. To play chess well requires a great deal of mental capacity but can be played and enjoyed on many levels and still be a thoroughly pleasurable pastime.
I learnt to play when I was 8 years old in middle school. I’m unable to remember what prompted me to start learning but do remember visiting the school library at my lunchtime to study and borrow the chess books, taking them home for further practice.
By the time I reached the age of 13, a good friend of mine (a fellow sprinter and athlete like myself) and I began playing in our free time outside of school. He was always the stronger player back then, his father was a keen chess player and taught him early. The fact is, however, that people can begin learning chess at any age and with practice, training and determination, be able to challenge even the most experienced player.
When I learnt to play chess there was no such thing as personal computers or computer chess machines available in the common marketplace. Today, using the wealth of material in libraries, bookshops and online, with the aid of computer programs, and machines and through playing people in actual live games one can advance from having no knowledge at all to playing competently in next to no time.
As a youngster, I was reliant on meeting other players in order to test myself at chess. Now I can simply log on to the world wide web and choose from hundreds of thousands of players from all corners of the globe.
Fortunately, the popularity of chess has increased along with its media coverage, so the game is now more popular than ever before. This means, as well, that the style played now has evolved from when I was young and will undoubtedly evolve more - so by the time I’m an old man it will be different still! How exciting?!
If you fancy a game of 'correspondence' chess, then please don’t hesitate in contacting me using my ‘Contact Details’ page or via my favourite chess sites: 'Chess.com', and; 'lichess.org'. The beauty of these sites is there are thousands of players of ALL levels.
I believe they are the best chess websites around.
You'll find a link to my profile on both these sites below. My ID on these sites is 'Elitelixir'.
On each of these sites, you can play entirely for FREE! Players can play games requiring moves each day or longer, depending on the time they have available. There are great features like a large database of chess openings you can train on, and game analysis tools to aid in seeing where you might have gone wrong or gained an advantage that you may have not realised. You can train in Bullet, Blitz and Rapid Chess against real players, or even play against these sites' powerful computers. Other training tools include chess puzzles. Between these two sites, there really is plenty to keep you occupied every day.
It was at the end of 2020, that I discovered Chess.com. I was browsing 'Twitch' looking to view others playing their video games and found people streaming their chess games on the site. I've spent a lot of time enjoying watching great players taking on challenges from brave opponents, whilst they've provided running commentary on their moves. I found this fascinating. Why not use the links below to hit me up for a game?
