The Game of all Generations

When I was a kid, we had a weekly tradition. Every Sunday, we would go to the local video rental store or go through our entertainment cabinet and have a viewing party of movies we had. We'd pick up a pizza or burgers for dinner. Then, we would have game night. It would most always be a round of Monopoly, Checkers, Connect Four, or Yahtzee. I was never good at Monopoly, as I would always buy every property I came across. It made me feel powerful, until I ran out of money in taxes. I had a little bit of a competitive streak, I still do. But overall, I just liked the playing of the games. I loved learning new ones, even though I could feel frustrated when I lost. Sometimes I would pretend to be mad, but I would quickly burst out in laughter.

I remember when Daddy Clyde taught me how to play checkers. I would think it was the funniest thing in the world whenever one of my checkers would make it to the other side of the board where I would cheerfully exclaim "King me". Once and a while I would win, and I would always wonder if it was because Daddy Clyde had left me. He always said he hadn't, but I still think there were a couple of times that he had. At one point I ended up with a set of Chinese Checkers. I couldn't ever get the concept of the game; and I would use the marbles for other games. To this day, I still don't know how to play.

One summer when I was eleven, Mampau announced that we were travelling to Florida for a family reunion at a fancy bed and breakfast. I was so excited because I loved road trips. It was this huge two-story white house that to my young eyes looked like a mansion. It was owned by my great-aunt. During this time, her grandson was staying with her. There was a chess set up on the upstairs balcony, and Mampau thought it would be fun for me to learn. I don't have any strong memory of playing, although at one point there was an old picture of little me sitting across from my cousin looking intently at the board. If you didn't know any better, you would swear that I was deeply contemplating my next move. I was probably thinking that I hoped my nose wasn't going to look big in the picture. Unfortunately, I have no idea where this picture is now. It's alright though, because this was right in the middle of my seventies afro phase. What can I say, puberty is cruel to us all.

Even though I have many fond memories of that trip and by accounts, that was my introduction to chess, it wasn't life changing. I would say when asked that I could play a little, but there was so much that I still didn't understand. And for the next thirty years, that was the beginning and end of my great chess career.

In the last couple of months, I have been reintroduced to this game. Only now, I look at it with a different perspective. Now, I'm determined to learn. I still have a long way to go, but I'm getting there. When I look at a chessboard and its pieces, I know what I'm looking at.

And now, without further ado, what I have since learned...

Chess has two side, each consisting of sixteen pieces. These pieces include 8 pawns, 2 knights, 2 bishops, 2 rooks, a queen, and a king. The whole point of the game is to chase the other king while protecting yours. I like to think of it as a game of tag, and its the other pieces job to save the king from being tagged "it." The pawn is worth one point. It can move one square forward, but captures diagonally. Although it is worth the least amount of points, It shouldn't be underestimated in its ability.

The next is the knight worth three points. It moves in an L-shape. It's biggest power is that is the only piece that has the ability to jump over other pieces. Also at three points, we have the bishop, which moves diagonally, for any number of squares. The rook is worth five points and moves both horizontally or vertically. The queen, at nine points, is the most powerful piece. It basically has full rein of the board and can move in any direction and however many number of squares needed. Finally, we have the king, whose sole job is to stay safe. Whichever side captures the other king first wins by checkmate.

And for the grand finale, some fun trivia regarding the game of chess...

Although now the most powerful piece, originally the queen was the opposite. It wasn't until the fifteenth century that the queen gained more control.

The folding chess board was created by a priest whose church outlawed from playing.

There are actually believed to be health benefits from playing chess, this includes helping with concentration, memory, and problem-solving abilities.

There are more then nine million different ways for a chess game to go.

The longest chess tournament lasted twenty hours

Although I have learned a lot, I still have a lot further to go, and even though I may neve be a chess champion, I have fun with it. Then again, you never know.