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From	Message
aandersen 28-May-08, 13:08	Am I an addict ? Hi Everyone, I'm thrilled that I was allowed to join the club and i look forward to taking part in whatever is going on. First of all though, perhaps i should introduce myself. I'm Anne. I live and work in London. I'm just back from a short break in Tenerife which I thought, amongst other things, might help cure my addiction to chess. In some ways it did help, but i have to confess to occasionally thinking about chess, in breaks between drinking to excess and generally enjoying the sunshine. I learnt to play chess many years ago at college. I was fascinated by the game then and I guess the fascination never left me even though I didn't play or think much about the game for the next nearly 20 years. A couple of years ago, my downfall started when I found on line chess, while messing about on the internet during an idle period at work. At first it was just Blitz games, which I am absolutely useless at. (In all honesty, i'm not a hell of a lot better at this version where I get ages to think).After a bit more poking around on the net, i eventually found Gameknot, and this is where the downward spiral really started. The decline was briefly halted by spending a year living and working in Spain. I returned towards the end of last year, found a not too demanding job and settled down to playing on GK again. I haven't quite got to the stage where i actually play at work but I do look at my games sometimes to refresh my memory on positions. (One of my problems is that, in my imagination, my positions are almost allways more promising than they appear on the actual boards. I do however look at otherfolks games during office hours, in an attempt to learn and improve (I tell myself). Why is it that other peoples games always seem much more interseting than my own? I could of course ramble on for hours, and probably will at some point in the future, but for now I should get to the point and tell the story of the day when I realised that chess had really got to me. Some of you will probably know that in Baker Stret, in London, there is a chess (and bridge) shop. One Saturday morning, about a month ago, I paid this shop a visit, once again with the idea learning and improving. I bought two books, one is an attacking repertoire for white and the other is a book on standard openings. So far, i haven't understood either book. I think i probably need more practice and knowledge of chess generally before i can grasp theories. Anyway, the point is that this is conveniently placed for me as it is close to a wine bar where some friends and I often meet on Saturday lunchtimes. the helpful guy in the shop, after helping me choose my books, then offered me a carrier bag to put them in. It was at this moment that the penny dropped. I could hardly walk through the streets of London clutching a bag with "Chess Shop" emblazoned on both sides of it, much less, meet my friends carrying the ******* thing. My friends, i'm sure, would not believe I could even play chess and would be horrified if they thought that i was close to beingg addicted to it. As luck would have it, both books were quite sliim volumes, and i managed to stuff them down the bottom of my handbag and then cover them with tissues etc., so they couldn't be seen. I felt like an alcholic trying to disguise a bottle. Could someone please, please reassure me by telling me that my addiction is not yyet too bad and that they know of some inexpensive and painless cure. Best Wishes Anne
savy1 28-May-08, 14:57	hmm the best cure is chocolate;)
muttit 28-May-08, 15:45	I think you should knit a jumper with a rook on  )
aandersen 29-May-08, 02:31	Thanks guys, I’m afraid that I don’t normally like chocolate except for occasional yearnings for a sugar boost As far as knitting is concerned, my knitting ability is roughly on a par with my chess playing ability and therefore a jumper, with or without a rook on it, would be beyond me. Scarves are about my limit.
iceberge 30-May-08, 12:19	Im gonna have to congratulate u on being about the only girl in the world that doesnt love chocolate. hmmm is being abit of an chess addict a problem. My advice would be to play more chess. U seem like a good player to me and most chess books can take a while to understand cuz they are written my grandmasters or internation masters and so the positions are usually analyzed to death. Thanx tho for your introduction its good to have u in the club Anne. I think one of my missions in life to make chess cool u shouldnt need to hide your chess books u should be walking down the street showing them off.
iceberge 30-May-08, 12:20	Deleted by iceberge on 30-May-08, 12:20.
aandersen 30-May-08, 13:06	You are right, i should "come out", and pluck up the courage to tell my friends that i play chess. It will cheer them up and i reckon they won't stop laughing for ages. I like the idea of chess being cool. I think what chess needs is a sexy sort of top player to raise the profile of the game, a sort of chess playing David Beckham. Actually i thought Bobby Fischer was kind of sexy looking when he was younger. You are also right about chess books. I was coming around to the same conclusion myself. What i probably need is a book written by someone closer to my own level. Perhaps then i might be able to make sense of it. Anyone have any ideas on the best way to improve our play? Perhaps this should be another thread?
iceberge 30-May-08, 13:34	Im sure they wont laugh and u never know one of them may play chess or they might get into it when u tell them. Theres some realy cool peple on this site. A David Beckham of chess would be good if only i was that good looking. Maybe someone that could make sense of the book would be a big help. If u do have any questions about it i can try and answer them. I always think the best way to improve is playing some higher graded players. Often how they beat u can tell u alot about where u need to improve your own game and also if u see what they are trying to do in a game u can then use that idea in a future game. It might be a good idea to start a thread on it i have been thinking about starting a thread like that but wasnt sure what to include cuz often coaching threads are not that popular.
aandersen 30-May-08, 14:13	I'm currently playing a game agaist a higher rated player. I can't say too much about it because the game is still in progress. I'm going to ose it for sure and i hate losing as much as anyone. Having said that though, i have to admire the way i'm being taken apart. I'm sure i will learn a lot from this game. Has anyone ever thought about something like a limited period mentoring programme. I have not thought this idea through fully, but i would be willing to help someone, say 200 or so points below me in return for being coached by someone with a higher rating. What do you think?
iceberge 31-May-08, 08:02	Oh yeh i know what u mean i hate losing to but u only need to play a few games again higher ranked players and it will teach u alot. Thats not a bad idea. People could volunteer to be a mentor for a short time for someone and play a few games and help them out.
savy1 01-Jun-08, 07:31	yep we need some coaches for sure on this team as well as the club is anyone volunteering? lol
sbells 01-Jun-08, 08:45	good website for addicts www.chessedinburgh.co.uk
iceberge 03-Jun-08, 16:47	I will make up a thread for coaches. I know we have one for the team but dont seem to have much interest. Il make up a thread soon its late now tho and im lazy so doin it tomorrow.
savy1 03-Jun-08, 18:40	Well while re-reading all of this I do have some advice for Anne. First off, we (women) should feel proud of the fact that we even play chess. Chess is mostly thought of as a mans game. As for me, I don't have a single girlfriend that even knows what the pieces are let alone know HOW to play chess and because of this I am proud.  I am proud that I know how to play ( badly!;o( ) and have even taught chess to my nieces and nephews and one day my own kids. I learned how to play Chess from a female friend many years ago. Come to think of it, I don't know anyone besides myself that even owns a chess set i don't think. I know chess players are sometimes thought of as geeks, but that's ok with me!   Bad or good , I play Chess and I am so proud!  But i do understand you wanting to hide your book.   When I have company and I am playing here on GK< before i let them in my home, i shut down my PC in fear he/she will see what I was doing before they arrived.  lol So now I will walk with Anne to the nearest wine shop, purchase a huge bottle of wine and we will go play chess at the nearest table and talk and laugh till we are too tired to care about chess.. lol!
aandersen 04-Jun-08, 13:30	Chatting laughing and playing chess with a huge bottle of wine at hand, sounds like a good plan. It might not lead to a great game of chess but I’m sure it would be fun and interesting. I’m not sure what it’s like where you are Savannah but over her, I’m sure that wine bottles are getting smaller. They don’t seem to last as long as they used to! I know that chess is considered to be a mans game but I think that now we all have access to the internet, it gives us (women) more chance to take up or get back into the game. I’m not a feminist or anything like that but I can’t really understand why the best men chess players are better than the best women. Surely this is one game where we should be able to compete evenly. I’m sure that some folk on here will have theories about this and I look forward to reading them. It’s good to hear that you are teaching your nieces and nephews and one day you will teach your own children to play. I hope they will pick up on your enthusiasm and learn to love the game too.
savy1 11-Jun-08, 14:17	they already know all the pieces and will look on while i play here lol
aandersen 11-Jun-08, 14:30	Good idea, i will try to remember to teach my nieces next time they stay with me for the weekend
savy1 05-Aug-08, 14:57	everytime my kids and i play chess the pieces end up missing!

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