Ask Me Anything (AMA)

Chess

@PotatoMathematician asked: Do you play chess?

Yes, I do! My father taught me how to play when I was around five years old and immediately fell in love with the game. The problem is that there aren't many five year olds that know how or enjoy playing chess, so I was constantly looking for people to play with, to no avail. And my father worked full time, and I suspect he regretted teaching me because I was always bothering him to play with me.

I remember when I was in fourth grade, my teacher made an after school chess club that I joined, but it was mostly teaching kids how to play, which I had already been doing for years, so there weren't any other members that posed much of a challenge. 

I founded the chess club in my middle school, but not many people joined, so I often played against my science teacher. High school is when I studied chess the most. Like, actually studied. I read books and took classes and I had a friend that was pretty good that I played speed chess with most lunches. My rating was around 1700 - 1800 at that time. 

When I started college I fell off, and it wasn't until the past two years that I really got back into it. Currently my rating is somewhere around 1500.

I have definitely forgotten most of my openings but have been working on learning some of them again. But working full time, being a homeowner and landlord, and opening a martial arts school limits my time.

My opening repertoire for white is mostly focused around D4. I relearned the London just because it's a simple setup based opening that doesn't require much theory. I love the Queen's Gambit (opening, but also the show), it's always been one of my favorites and is the opening I have probably studied the most. I am also working on improving my Vienna Gambit. Repertoire for black includes the King's Indian, Naijdorf Dragon, Open Sicilian, and Caro Kann. The Caro Kann is definitely my strongest opening line.

With the big chess boom that has occurred, I love how many people are finding and falling in love with the game. And Chess.com means I never have difficulty finding people to play with. But I absolutely love chess. Definitely one of my favorite games of all time.