"King to F3 is a good prophylactic move..."

Thanks, Josh Waltzkin!

Until very recently, my understanding of chess was rudimentary at best. I knew how each piece moved (more or less) and I could casually play a game against someone of my level of knowledge. I'd stand absolutely no chance against someone with even intermediate skills. My neighbor Cory has been enamored with chess for some time now, and through him I've managed to step up my own learning. I knew chess was a game of strategy and survival, but I never grasped or respected how layered it truly is. Or how addictive.

We hung out last night and tested ourselves with tutorials from his Chessmaster game for Playstation. I'm not much of a video game guy (I'll almost always defer to be a spectator rather than a player), but this game could convert me. Not only does the game have tutorials and quizzes, but it's got games recorded and narrated by various masters and legendary players. One such player is the aforementioned Mr. Waltzkin, the inspiration for the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer. The way he narrates the games makes it easy to understand the reasoning and depth behind every move, and yet the simplicity at the core of the game. You simply take away every option the other player has for survival.

In just the week or so that chess has been on my mind, I feel like I've learned a great deal of basic strategy (not to mention realizing immediate parallels with martial arts, but I'll expound on that sometime later) and am starting to build a solid foundation of learning. How far can I take this, dear readers? I must say, I'm hooked at this point. It's going to be a cold-ass winter this year, and I've got a chess set and table at my house, and Cory's just two floors up. I think I've found my project for the cold-weather months.


*****N*T*G*****

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