Chess

[CitricAcid]

OK, in a board about early retirement, I am sure that many people out there in retirement are big chess players, or are learning to play.

For me, I love chess, and was wondering if anyone else out there played a decent amount at all, somebody has to... we have a reasonably high intelligence on this board . Maybe we could set up a game or tournament if enough people are actually as nerdy as me!

 

[Marquette]

Can't stand it... but give me an Avalon Hill board game with some pencil and paper and a need to calculate fuel reserves when mission planning and I'm all over it.

oh, and no one is as nerdy as you ;-)

 

[CyclingInvestor]

Can't stand it... but give me an Avalon Hill board game with some pencil and paper and a need to calculate fuel reserves when mission planning and I'm all over it.

oh, and no one is as nerdy as you ;-)

I played chess back in high school in the 70s, but was not very good - just good enough to hang onto the lower boards of the school team.

I was better at wargames. I used to have hundreds of SPI, Avalon Hill, and other games, and played many of them regularly. I still have a couple dozen of them.

 

[Leonidas]

Okay, to continue the hijacking - I had forgotten all about the old war games. Those were fun, I wonder if they still are when compared to PC and Xbox games. You can still buy Avalon Hill games, but SPI went bankrupt a long time ago. However, I did find a site that has converted some of the SPI games to online play. HexWar.com, The Place to Play Wargames

I might have to try to [-]force[/-] turn the kids on to playing one of these. If I can tear the oldest away from online gaming.

 

[Moemg]

I used to play chess with my brother in the early 60's. Maybe I'll bring out the board and see what I remember.

 

[Nords]

OK, in a board about early retirement, I am sure that many people out there in retirement are big chess players, or are learning to play.
For me, I love chess, and was wondering if anyone else out there played a decent amount at all, somebody has to... we have a reasonably high intelligence on this board . Maybe we could set up a game or tournament if enough people are actually as nerdy as me!

I was all over chess in school, including the high school Chess Club with its free "Kick Me!" signs for all members. I used to have all the opening gambits memorized along with all the Ruy Lopez options... of course this was considered only slightly more fun than seeing who could memorize pi to the most places. It was all worth the effort because we knew that, deep down in their most repressed fantasies, hot chicks dig chess geeks.

When school wasn't in session your options were youth groups, "postcard chess" with people around the nation, or busing downtown to weekend tournaments. Preferably all at the same time.

I stopped playing tournaments in the late '70s, just as the "new" notation was becoming standard. I still have my official USCF clock, and maybe they keep old ratings on file after 30 years. But I'm saving my chess-career revival for the dark day far in the future when no one wants to wheel me down to the surf and strap me onto my longboard anymore.

 

[jIMOh]

I play online for free at flyordie.

Also played lots of board games as a kid- stratego was among my favorates.

 

[vimwick]

havn't played in a couple of months but 1500 uscf and around the same in 5 minute and below on the internet chess club (icc). if you're looking to play regularly, i'd recommend the icc 1 and 5 minute venues. you'll be automatically matched against a similarly skilled (by rating) opponent

 

[Marquette]

I was all over chess in school, including the high school Chess Club with its free "Kick Me!" signs for all members. I used to have all the opening gambits memorized along with all the Ruy Lopez options... of course this was considered only slightly more fun than seeing who could memorize pi to the most places. It was all worth the effort because we knew that, deep down in their most repressed fantasies, hot chicks dig chess geeks.

Gee Nords, I can't for the life of me figure out how you ended up with a career as a Nuke.

 

[CitricAcid]

I stopped playing tournaments in the late '70s, just as the "new" notation was becoming standard. I still have my official USCF clock, and maybe they keep old ratings on file after 30 years. But I'm saving my chess-career revival for the dark day far in the future when no one wants to wheel me down to the surf and strap me onto my longboard anymore.

If I'm black you won't get to use those Ruy Lopez ever, I'm a sicilian man. Also, for the most part, to know a decent amount about chess you need to know both notations. But the new notation is a lot easier . Also, no need for postcard/correspondence chess, it is the magic of the internet... I play on Yahoo Games a decent amount but have let other people play on my account and ruin my record/rating

EDIT: By the way, I do play online a decent amount so don't need suggestions for sites, was just wondering if anyone else played a moderate amount, where we could throw down and settle it like men (or women)

 

[FinanceDude]

FWIW, my boys, aged 6 and almost 9, were taught by some kids at school, and although my BIL handily beat them both, they made him think. I told him to enjoy it, because in a few years, he'll be toast.........

 

[clifp]

I was all over chess in school, including the high school Chess Club with its free "Kick Me!" signs for all members. I used to have all the opening gambits memorized along with all the Ruy Lopez options... of course this was considered only slightly more fun than seeing who could memorize pi to the most places. It was all worth the effort because we knew that, deep down in their most repressed fantasies, hot chicks dig chess geeks.

Gee why does this thread not surprise me in the least.

I was a member of the chess club, and I thought respectable player, until I reached college where my dorm contained an expert and international master, and which point I concluded that chess was no fun. (Something about losing 40 speed chess games in a row where you have 5 minute and the master had 2-3 minutes is tough on the ego.)

But war games, that turned into a life long obsession for me. Probably the thing I miss most about moving from Geek Nirvana (aka Silicon Valley) to Hawaii no wargamers I think the sun turns nerds into jock, e.g. Nords.

On the other hand being retired and living in Hawaii, is enough of a revenge of the nerds fantasy for me. Although if there are any hot chick still lusting after chess geeks, I'll brush up on my game

 

[vimwick]

i've logged a little over 25,000 1 to 5 minute games on icc over the last few years. is that moderate? later this week, we'll be hosting a party in support of our local annual chess camp. the camp members are top 20 u.s players for their respective ages and the instructors are included amongst the highest rated g.m's and speed chess players in the country. yeah, we're into chess but mostly we'll be playing table tennis. any ping pong geeks out there?

en garde!

 

[Texas Proud]

I played in junior high, high school and a bit in college...

Our team won almost everything in JH... we won a lot in HS... but then the good team broke up...

I won two and placed second in the other college tournaments I played... but the competition was rougher in HS....

Have not played much at all in many years... so I doubt if I would be that great.. I think my highest rating was about 1700... but who can say for sure...

 

[HFWR]

Played a little back in high school. Then, at college, I sat down to play with a real player. Three moves...

 

[Notmuchlonger]

I play on and off. Im already intimidated by all the chess trash talk..

 

[joesxm3]

I used to do a lot of chess and even took lessons from Patrick Wolfe (1992 US Champion) for a year in the 1990's.

I have an ICCF postal rating around 2300 but only about USCF OTB 1900.

I played in high school. Stopped the day I went to college except to stop by the chess club after consuming mass quantities on keg Thursday to slap around the wood pushers.

About 20 years later I got back into it (i.e. the 1990's). I stopped for another 10 years after that. This latest stopping was due to going over to the dark side (i.e. Texas Hold'em poker).

I recently ran out of poker money on the Internet and went back to the local college chess club for two tournaments. I tied for second in the club championship - got beaten by John Curdo (18 time MA state champion).

I love to play the Sicilian Dragon. I also used to play the Goring Gambit

I bet there are more chess players on the forum than poker players, given the aversion to pissing away money.

However, lately I get more of a kick from poker and the "thrill" of losing $800 at the casino and having to stay until 6am to get back to even

Well gotta run - my online GA meeting is starting

 

[CitricAcid]

I love to play the Sicilian Dragon. I also used to play the Goring Gambit

HAH, knew somebody out there also loved the dragon, the Najdorf just doesn't do it for me. I think you're better than me by a good amount, but I have never been officially ranked. Beat somebody who claimed to be ranked 1800 and somebody else at 1750 who was like 4th in the state of IL during high school but no way of confirming, so I think that I would be in the 1720-1780 range if I ever played enough tournaments or whatever to be ranked.

We should start a poll or something on the best gambit...

By the way, for those out there still interested, chessgames.com is a great site. It has a daily game of the day and a problem of the day (gets sequentially harder through the week starting on Monday and hardest on Sunday, I always get M-W and sometimes a couple moves of Thurs/Friday, the Saturday/Sunday ones are all impossible for me). It is a database of essentially every professional game ever played in the history of chess, it is really cool to learn from some of the greats just by watching them play, it is kind of how I taught myself to play.

P.S. It's the Evans Gambit