Why I Play Chess, And Why You Probably Should Too
A game of juicers, fossils and wooden shields.
“I don’t consider myself a nerd.”
— Hikaru Nakamura
So, lots of people over the years have wrongly attributed chess to be a game for geniuses or people who are exceptionally smart and gifted. While it is true that being gifted and smart is an undeniable bonus when it comes to the game of chess, it is in no way a predominant factor.
Chess is a game that is played on sixty four squares, having half the number of squares as white and the other half as black in a checkered pattern. The pieces on the board all have different principles concerning movement, attack and defense. The squares are identified by vertical and horizontal notations, the vertical running from the first to the eight rank and the horizontal having the letters ‘a’ to ‘h’.
Each player makes a move and then waits for his/her opponent to make their move. A game is won either by checkmate (when the opponent’s king is in check and has no more legal moves and cannot get out of check), by stalemate (when the opponent’s king is not in check but has no more legal moves), when an opponent runs out of time or when one of the opponent resigns the game.
The game of chess has been around for hundreds of years and has featured a lot of wonderful geniuses, tacticians, theorists and masters. Some honourable mentions are Mikhail Tal, Robert (Bobby) Fischer, Paul Morphy, Viktor Korchnoi, Anatoly Karpov, Gary Kasparov, Hikaru Nakamura, Jan Krzysztof Duda, Alireza Firouzja, Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri, Fabiano Caruana and more.
Two years ago, I had no idea that any of these people even existed. And then, in October of 2020, the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit premiered its first episode. I used to play chess as a child and loved how the pieces moved and how one could create play and counterplay alike on the chess board. But I was taught and grew up with very little knowledge on the basics of the game and I slowly lost interest as I grew into adulthood because I couldn’t progress in the game.
When I heard about and watched the entire series on Netflix, I quickly pulled out my phone and searched for the series on Google. From Google, I found myself on YouTube on a channel I had never heard of before and had no idea I would come to love today. Channels like GMHikaru, Agadmator, IM Levy Rozman of GothamChess and even GM Daniel Naroditsky have dedicated time, effort and resources into teaching the game of chess to anyone who would show an interest.
Since November of 2020, my rating has increased from 800 Blitz to 1100 Blitz and 850 Rapid to 1250 Rapid. Sometimes, when I think about it, I know I could have been so much better at the game if I had known then what I know now and slowly built on that knowledge and improved my skills.
Well, I think, in large part, when I first began playing chess at seven years old, I was quite bad at it. I lost a lot of games when I first started.
— Hikaru Nakamura
No one starts anything being a genius. Even geniuses have failures because it takes time to build the level of skill and expertise at any subject matter. Some people have told me that they enjoy the concept of the game and are even considering learning how to play but they’re hesitant because they don’t think they’ll be good at it.
Even a Chess World Champion loses games. No matter how good a person gets at anything there still will be moments where the person says to himself/herself, “What the hell am I actually doing?” GM Hikaru, an avid Twitch streamer and professional chess player, would play on stream, blunder a piece and suck his teeth, saying, “I’m so bad at chess.”
I wonder what I am supposed to say if he can say that about chess. So, if you really have an interest in the game, don’t hesitate to take it up. Download an app or buy a chess board, solve puzzles and learn strategies and tactics. As you play, you will recognize patterns in games and chess will become easier as you move along.
I play chess because it is mentally stimulating. Losing a game can put me in a really bad, dark mood because I am competitive and I love to win. And when I do win, it can make my whole day. Seeing tactics and common patterns in games makes me happy cause I can calculate two, three, even five moves ahead and tell the outcome of the game.
On Chess.com, I have a rating of 2165 in puzzles and it has helped me get so much better at the game. For new and upcoming chess players, I would recommend solving puzzles every single day no matter how hard they may seem. Eventually, your brain would naturally start to put two and two together and you would be shocked at your progress!
Even if you don’t love chess or you have no interest in it whatsoever, games that task the brain and make you think help in cognitive development and quick thinking. It’s like taking your brain to the gym. A fun and engaging gym with less people and way more weights. I’m still learning the game and improving slowly. One of my goals is to achieve a FIDE Master (FM) title. It’s not impossible but it will take time, effort and resources. So, back to the sixty-four squares.
Get outta here and I will see you in the next one. Ciao.
