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Chess
- Thread starter Weed
- Start date
I play. Have since I was a child. Really wonderful game chess, lots of valuable lessons.
I've played for years, but haven't yet played people who have played longer or better ... but look forward to doing so, someday, along with golf ...
I used to be into it fairly deep. I played in lots of California tournaments and, with a touch of luck, peaked at 2100-something, an 'expert' rating. Won the San Luis Obispo County Championship one year. Yea.
But there's a problem with being an 'expert.' Expert (anywhere in the nether zone between ~1900 and 2200+) is the WORST rating to have! It means that you've studied and worked and tried, but on any absolute scale, you still SUCK!
Any decent Master will tend to kick your ass, and often the ~2000 range is where you tend to plateau and stagnate. Such was my case. Some players hover in the expert/low master region for a while before finding a special something, whereupon their play makes a big jump. I enjoyed no such quantum leap. After a few years I started to lose interest in the game for a number of reasons, including basic frustration and boredom with the 'scene' in general. I still enjoy playing 5 or 10 minute with folks and even break out the board and a good tournament book to play over a pretty game or two. But other than an occasional itch, the mania has departed.
Last year I downloaded a few of the free chess programs and gave them a try. OUCH! They kicked my ass!
Even the crudest freeware program plays at master level these days, and the best programs, running on a modest PC, can thrash any human on the planet.
But there's a problem with being an 'expert.' Expert (anywhere in the nether zone between ~1900 and 2200+) is the WORST rating to have! It means that you've studied and worked and tried, but on any absolute scale, you still SUCK!
Any decent Master will tend to kick your ass, and often the ~2000 range is where you tend to plateau and stagnate. Such was my case. Some players hover in the expert/low master region for a while before finding a special something, whereupon their play makes a big jump. I enjoyed no such quantum leap. After a few years I started to lose interest in the game for a number of reasons, including basic frustration and boredom with the 'scene' in general. I still enjoy playing 5 or 10 minute with folks and even break out the board and a good tournament book to play over a pretty game or two. But other than an occasional itch, the mania has departed.Last year I downloaded a few of the free chess programs and gave them a try. OUCH! They kicked my ass!
Even the crudest freeware program plays at master level these days, and the best programs, running on a modest PC, can thrash any human on the planet.
