Few things in life are more humiliating as a competitive person than being absolutely demolished in a game you enjoy. That's #chess in a nutshell for me right now.
Did I say "humiliating"? I meant EDUCATIONAL... yes, I'm sure that's what I was going for.
And that's exactly how I would describe my experience on #Lichess so far!
I am a TERRIBLE chess player.
There, I said it. 🙄
And while I don't think it's the whole truth, it certainly feels that way as I'm learning the ropes. Here I am, working my way down through the upper ranks-- the 1500 range, then 1200, 1000 and so on-- after having watched The Queen's Gambit and a few YouTube videos...
I should be just fine. Right?
Wrong! Read My Title Again.
I've been getting dismantled! Destroyed. Annihilated.
Words are fun. Chess, though, is rude... and it's worth reiterating.
I'll admit that I am actually overreacting a little bit-- for the sake of emotional release-- but not by much... my rating over on CHESS.COM is in the high 400's right now, and I've done a lot of losing to get there. I earned that badge, damn it.
And I want to remember what that feels like: losing with such ease and proficiency, watching my value as a player stroll past the slums and alleys only to keep going. I'm discovering my inner invalid, smiling incoherently at all the inevitable winners.
Join Us, So You Too Can Lose.
I hope so, anyway... I need a few kind souls to make me look decent. You don't even need to know how to play necessarily. Just subscribe to THE CHESS COMMUNITY here on #Hive, sign up for their CHESS TEAM on Lichess and start pushing pieces around.
You'll probably still beat me, so don't stress.
You Want Some Help?
Tough... life is hard. Deal with it.
I'm kidding. Don't get your pawns in a bunch! There are a few books I've been meaning to grab which could be helpful: CHESS FUNDAMENTALS by Jose Capablanca and Bobby Fischer's MY 60 MEMORABLE GAMES are at the top of my list.
And if you do click one of those links above and buy something, I'll get a small cut... and I could really use some pity money right about now. Who knows: it might even make me a better player!
SPOILER ALERT: It Totally Will.
The more you buy, in fact, the closer I get to grand mastery. (I believe it is two ELO points gained for every dollar spent. I couldn't possibly make that up... I'm not that creative. I just report the facts.)
Final sigh. I feel a little better now. Chess is still rude, but I can digress for a moment and realize that it's not the #game itself that I hate... it's the players! What a bunch of overachieving douche-canoes.
I laughed so hard at that, I think that I too may now be discovering my inner invalid.
My school didn't have a chess club (too rural), but it did have a Latin program, and they had chess tournaments (along with quiz, volleyball, and ping-pong) at the district 'Latin Club' events twice a year. I usually could place top five at those, but don't remember ever winning first. I used to play on FICS back in the dial-up modem days, and got my rating up around 1200.
I've been kinda wanting to get back into it, but I've hardly played in the last 20 years, and I don't think I could take the humiliation, after my previous brushes with modest success. Maybe in another year or two, I'll be ready to trigger my midlife crisis.
Oh, come on now... you still have some humility you can squander on my account! I have faith in you. 🙃 !LOL
But seriously... a 1200 rating is nothing to sneeze at (unless you ask anyone above 1500 🙄). I wish I had taken more of an interest when I was a kid. I couldn't even tell you if my schools had a chess club... I lived and breathed baseball.
I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment, and getting even one good laugh is well worth it. Cheers!
!PIZZA
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Thanks for the tips, soon I'll have enough of those to hand some out! I was pretty proud of my rating, but pretty much everyone over 1300 thought it was bullshit!
I do have the humility to squander, but currently, not the time. Last year... well, I'll just say it set me back, and I have to play catch-up this year. I'm hoping by October I'll have time to participate. In the meantime, I may start checking out the competition... 😁
Very cool.
And I totally understand... I was just ribbin' you a bit. Good fun. And you should definitely come watch me lose. It should be fun. 😒
This actually gave me the strength and the little push that I needed to join the group as I felt intimidated by the scores of most group members earlier on.
I am Superzensitivosaurus on Lichess.
Looking forward to connecting and playing a game one of these days :<)
Perfect! I'm so glad to hear that. 👍
Yeah, I've been obviously feeling pretty inadequate too... and I don't expect to do much winning around this crew here on #Hive. But you know what they say: you improve much quicker when you play with opponents who challenge you. I'm trying to keep it simple and focus on fundamentals.
I've added you on Lichess. My name is the same (thatcryptodave) there and on chess.com. I'll see you in there. Best of luck, and thanks very much for leaving a thoughtful comment! :)
!PIZZA
!LUV
Just added you as a friend on chess.com
I like a good challenge.
In real life - and with the handful of friends that I have played against in the last year - I am quite a tough cookie to crumble but none of them is a Grandmaster, they are just friends with decent brains ;^)
One of the first guys who used to whoop my ass regularly was an ex Navy SEAL, and was fond of saying things like 'You should be happy, at least you're learning something... I'm going to get rusty if I keep playing YOU!'
Hahaha! I can totally picture him saying that. Classic. 😁
@thatcryptodave(3/3) gave you LUV.
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You're not alone. Sometimes I feel terrible about my play as well :)
Hopefully we'll have you on board soon!
That's very kind of you to say, @eniolw... but I can see from your ratings that you and I will have issues with a different crowd of players. lol
Thank you for commenting. I'll be there shortly... I promise. ✔️
I think the painful part about chess is that it feels like a detriment on your IQ as a whole when you lose.
I remember losing to my cousin, who is like 8 years younger than me and felt like I was so dumb, even though I haven't even played chess for 6 years prior to that lol!
Thank you for posting in our COMmunity!
I don't think I've ever felt so stupid as I have after my worst losses, honestly... it is just a piss-poor experience. Real talk. lol
And thank you very much! I was really hoping I would sneak into this current contest, but it was getting down to the wire. Glad I made it, and I value any community that sees value in my smart-assery. 🖐
!PIZZA
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Thank you so much! I !LUV your initiative... but I notice that all your posts are in Spanish (or Portuguese maybe) and I'm curious if you'll be translating them in the future-- or posting separate English content. Just curious.
Thanks again.
!PIZZA
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