The Battle

When I was a young child I learned to play the game of chess. Larry was my step-brother and taught me the game at the tender age of of eight. Throughout my childhood and most of my adult life I found very few opponents that I could not defeat. This was not because I was a child prodigy or even good at the game, but my opponents were just bad. During my youth there were no scholastic programs and chess did not really take hold in my community until the great era of Bobby Fischer and during this time I was a teen and mostly all I was concerned with was "Peace Love and Beatles"

I had for the next 20 or so years developed this sense of false security that I was a superior player and could easily become a grand master. *smile* I had never read a chess book, did not have a concept of theory, nor even knew that people studied the game.

When I was around the age of thirty I had a neighbor who live right next door and we would drink beer and play in the back yard around a fire and talk smack about who was superior. I usually came out of top, however he did occasionally get the upper-hand and win. This thought keep surfacing in my thought "I could easily become a grand master", so I bought a clock, chess set, the book Modern Chess Openings, and join the United States Chess Federation.

My goal was set I was going to become a Grand Master. I was excited and joined my first chess tournament in Lakeland Florida and this is when reality set in and my first lesson in humility began. It was a swiss system and I won one game and lost the rest. The thing I recall the most was I lost to this kid about four feet tall and he may have been at least nine years old. Well history repeats itself and what I gathered was the young person was probably thinking " I could easily become a Grand Master" , he was not a child prodigy, I was just a bad player.

OK now the purpose of this article. If you are a beginner to tournament chess you should become familiar with the "swiss system". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_system

You should have some opening knowledge and know the basics of at least one opening for white with 1. e4 or 1. d4 and one opening with black against 1. e4 and 1. d4.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_openings

You will be required to keep notation so you will need to know algebraic notation. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algebraic_chess_notation

If you intend to develop a better game you will need to read books, study endgames, solve puzzles, and observe grand master games.

Learn to use lateral thinking, tactics, and good sound positional play. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral_Thinking

Know the difference between positional player and a tactician.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chess_terms

The most important thing is too enjoy the game and make sure you learn from every tournament.

" I could easily become a club player", the verdict is still out.............Best of 64 squares.