Chess—My First Love
13 Dec, 2024
I was in third grade when I first learned how to move chess pieces. For the next two years, I lost every game I played against my dad.
However, with every loss, my desire to win grew stronger!
It was on February 27, 2007, that I finally drew a game with my dad. Although it was a tie, it felt like a huge win for me. I was on cloud nine that day.
Then, it didn't take long for me to beat my dad. And once I tasted victory, I went on to win more games.
As I started winning against my dad, I looked for other opponents. I found them in school—my friends.
But there was a problem: We couldn't take chessboards to school because of obvious reasons (teachers, classes, blah blah).
So, my friends and I came up with paper chess. It's simple:
- On a piece of paper, draw one large square that contains 64 small squares.
- Put a dot in alternate squares to indicate the black squares.
- Use capital letters for white pieces (for example, "K" for King and "B" for Bishop).
- Use lowercase letters for black pieces (for example, "k" for King and "b" for Bishop).
- To move a piece, erase the symbol from one square and write it on a new square.
That's it—a simple yet effective way to play chess during class without a chessboard. 😂
With this crazy invention, we played numerous chess games and had so much fun! I had the most fun because I used to win against all my friends. 😎
When I was 13, I played my first tournament and won it. I still have that trophy, and whenever I look at it, I feel so happy and proud.
The more I played chess, the more obsessed I became with the game. At 17, I even considered ditching academics to pursue chess full-time, but you know that's not how things work in Indian households.
During my undergraduate years, I played chess on and off. I couldn't find many people in my college who were interested in chess (or maybe I just didn't look for them).
After graduation, I was busy building my career and didn't play much chess. I only played online occasionally.
As I got older, it became difficult to find tournaments suitable for my age. Most of the tournaments were for children.
For a long time, I looked for chess clubs in my city but couldn't find many, and those that existed were not active.
This disappointed me, and I thought of starting my own chess club but held back because of other priorities in life.
However, I recently stumbled upon an active chess club in my city called Pawns Gambit. They conduct weekly chess gatherings and tournaments for all ages.
The moment I learned about them, I was super happy. I participated in one of their tournaments recently, and it was so much fun!
I could experience those heart-racing moments again over the board—it was pure joy! Plus, I met amazing people who shared my love for chess.
I'm just glad that this community exists in my city and grateful for the people running it.
Though I couldn't play chess professionally, my love for this game continues to this day, and I'm sure it will go on forever.
To chess! 🥂