My mother almost always brags that I beat her at Chess when I was 9. My father never spoke about when I beat him at chess that same month. In fact, he and I never played after that. But what I remember most about chess at that age is learning it and its effects.

My friends and I used to play checkers all the time. When my parents decided I should learn chess (poor them), I became very focused on chess and no longer wanted to play checkers - checkers was not a challenge. Chess was. I spent many hours alone, playing against myself, switching between perspectives of black and white and sincerely trying to beat myself. Whenever a chess set was available, I played - there was no Atari 2600 yet, no Nintendo... and while chess required 2 people to play, I pretended to be 2 different people. And this, to me, was all 'play'. It came naturally. No books to study.

Over the years, people asked me which piece was the most powerful. I used to say that it was the Queen, which of course has broad and sweeping powers. Later, I said the Knight, since it was capable of wreaking havoc at a distance when strategically placed. Ultimately, I ended up saying that the King was the most powerful piece on the board - something most people don't agree with. Still, the entire game hinges on the King. Protecting the King is how you keep from losing, trapping the King is how you win. Sure, its a slow moving piece with little offensive ability, but without the King there can be no game. { Read more }