Monday, June 6, 2011

All Fun & Games Blogfest

I had to enter this blogfest, since some games have had a tremendous impact on my life. In fact, I believe one of them had everything to do with who I am today. I'm only going to mention two games (though I like many more), since those two had far greater influence on me than any others.

Let's begin with the lesser of the two, so I can save the greater for last. Dungeons & Dragons (D&D: an all-encompassing term I will use to represent all versions I played, including Middle Earth RPG) was the first huge game in my life. It swept me away, along with my younger brothers, for a good several years beginning in my early teens, and its impact is one I can still feel, especially in my writing.

My mother thought it was a terrible waste of time. I know she was wrong. I learned so much from D&D. My vocabulary certainly improved, along with my imagination. I finally found something that allowed me to indulge in the greatest fantasies of my youth, from sword fighting to knights in shining armor. D&D also pushed me a bit out of my shell of shyness, forcing me to actually socialize with other fans of the game. It was something so deeply compelling, almost magical, that we could play all day and wonder where all the time went. I'm grateful for what role playing games added to my life.

The game that transformed my life, however, was chess. I was first given a cheap plastic set when I was about four, but no one knew how to play, so all I did was push the pieces around in mock battles until someone threw the set away. I didn't notice chess again for many years, which is too bad since I later learned that I was quite talented at it.

In junior high school, a friend told me he was in the chess club and invited me to come. I did and I was fascinated to see this game treated so seriously by people. I even saw some magazines with an arcane notation, obviously used to portray moves of games played between professional grandmasters. I never imagined a simple game had a whole world revolving around it. The club required payment of a dollar per visit, however, and my family was very poor, so I couldn't return.

I was swept up in my soccer leagues for the next few years, so it wasn't until my junior year of high school that another friend invited me to the chess club and I got hooked for good. I saw people playing blitz chess, where they have to play the entire game within either three or five minutes per person. Playing so quickly seemed amazing to me, and I knew I wanted to be able to do that.

Sadly, I had joined near the end of the year, and every player in the club was graduating. Would there even be a club the next year? I spent that summer checking out chess books from the library and reading them frantically. When my senior year started, I harassed a teacher into becoming the coach (though she had no idea how to play chess) and advertised in the paper to get more players. We did get around ten players, but no one knew how to play, so I was the best player in the club. We had a blast playing in the tournaments that year, though we stank.

I continued to improve rapidly, though, and soon I joined a real chess tournament for adults. I did very well, scoring five points out of seven, and the only game I lost was one I was winning easily only to throw it away due to inexperience. From that point on I went to a dozen or so tournaments each year, improving steadily from Class C player to Class A.

How did chess change my life? I started college in computer engineering. Three and a half years into college I realized I didn't enjoy my major. I wanted to change to a career that I liked. I tried out a few different classes, and one I picked because of my fascination with the Russian chess grandmasters. I ended up loving that class, so I changed my major to Russian and Soviet Studies. I had no idea what I could do with such a major, but I didn't care. I wanted to enjoy my education.

As I drew close to graduation, a recruiter came to the university seeking Russian language speakers to work at the American Embassy in Moscow. I leapt at the chance, since it was the first sign I had of work I could do using my major, plus it meant perhaps getting to play chess in the heartland of the game.

Playing in Moscow was far more than I ever imagined. Tournaments were completely different than in America, and I was challenged far more by the strong competition. Because of the bad financial situation there, I was able to hire one of former world champion Anatoly Karpov's trainers for a cheap price. Even better, as a member of the embassy, I began receiving invitations to compete against famous grandmasters. Among them, I played against world champions Kasparov, Karpov, Anand, and Kramnik.
Playing World Champion Anatoly Karpov
I met and married my wife there, so I have chess to thank for that, as well as for our two beautiful sons. When I returned to the US in 1997, I was a much stronger player, and it showed. I had some fabulous tournament results, including several undefeated events. I won ten games in a row leading to a tie for first place in the 2001 US Amateur Championship in Tucson.

I rejoined the Foreign Service and moved overseas again. I keep seeking out new adventures in chess, playing in Iceland and Hungary. Now I am moving to Hungary this summer, since they have one of the best chess organizers there, and I hope to play often.

I find the experience of playing serious chess very much like writing a new chapter in a book. My mind seems to vanish into a mystical zone, from which I awake several hours later, hopefully with something quite nice as the result. Thank you, chess, for all that you have done for me!

38 comments:

  1. Excellent post! I love D & D. I am still learning chess.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, chess really has played a large part in your life. And you speak Russin. Ever thought about becoming a Bond villain? You seem to have the requisite abilities.

    mood
    Moody Writing
    @mooderino

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'd love to be in movies. I think I could be a decent actor, and I have no problem playing villains! I'd have given a lot to be in the Hobbit or LOTR or Harry Potter movies.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great story about your games, particularly Chess. My four sons all play chess. My oldest, 17, said he's not playing any sports next year as a senior, but he still likes chess. He says it gets his heart rate up, excited, concentrating. Did you see the movie (out maybe 15 years ago) called "Searching for Bobby Fisher?" It's excellent.

    ReplyDelete
  5. No surprise with chess! And some people just missed the point of D&D. It was a positive experience for me.
    Thanks for participating in the blogfest!

    ReplyDelete
  6. You've talked about this some before, but it's awesome to get the (nearly) full story. This is one of the coolest things about you, Ted. It's like you're a rock star!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mary, I love that movie! Thanks for stopping by.

    Matt, I wish I could be a rock star. I even played guitar until I busted up my left pinkie. Now I can't even make a G chord.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Glad you did what you had to do and make the necessary changes so that you could enjoy your life! I play chess, just not very well. I should get back into it. Have a great week.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Chess is a great game, my problem is that my brain does not work fast enough and I get bored easily :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ha! I knew it would be D & D and chess. Good post. I loved reading how both were so influential in your life.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Stephen, me too!

    Siv, it seems to me that people are either naturally drawn to chess or they aren't.

    L.G., I'm glad you know me so well!

    ReplyDelete
  12. chess and D&D, not all that different.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Budd, they both have knights, clerics, kings, queens, castles, and pawns!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I would love to be a part of a real chess tournament! Great post.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Chess is such a complicated and challenging game, I'm not surprised it has such an impact on your life and the life of many others. Thanks for sharing your story. Cool pic. What an awesome situation.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi, Ted! What a great post. So interesting to read about the chess tournaments. It's great to meet you! :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thank you. It's nice to see new people here!

    ReplyDelete
  18. What a charming story about how a game influenced your life. I loved reading about where it led you. Fascinating.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I think your ability to focus and concentrate must be phenomenal. I never had anyone who knew how to play chess to really teach me, and I've NEVER had enough interest in anything to read 'how to' books. (you heard me. NOTHING. That is how bad I hate How To books) but I would have loved to have a mentor, I think... maybe a real smart boyfriend... that would have worked well. As for D&D, there is a small part of me who wishes I'd come to terms with my inner nerd about a decade before I really did. I think it looks all kinds of fun, but when I was the age where I had the TIME... I was a much different girl. Though I suppose it is good that I spent much of that time immersed in journaling or writing letters--good for the writer in me.

    ReplyDelete
  20. awww ted! i guessed as much for this being your favorite game, but it's so sweet to hear all your reasons and how much it affected your life! awww man! loved this post! :) i love chess but i'm incredibly terrible at it. my hubs wipes the floor with me everytime! :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wow, how cool that your love for chess opened up a whole new world for you! That's completely and totally awesome :)

    I always wanted to play D & D but there wasn't anyone playing who lived near me (we lived in the country), nor were there any girls playing. I loved the whole idea of the game.

    Loved reading this, thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I think it's awesome that you've played against so many grand masters. Very, very cool, sir!

    ReplyDelete
  23. These were great! Very interesting. I was quite the chess afficionado in high school too although not as impassioned as you. Pretty amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  24. My seven-year-old with some special needs is obsessed with chess. He's so excited because he's going to attend Chess camp this summer. What a great story! It's nice to meet you. I'm a new follower from the blogfest.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Thank you all! Sorry that my time zone has me sleeping while you are all most active!

    ReplyDelete
  26. I wouldn't say chess changed my life, but it has given me some great times with my kids who really enjoyed the first time they beat me. Mainly because I never play to lose, but then I don't overdo the victory celebrations either.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I never played much chess and wasn't good at it at all.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I started as a computer engineering major too! I switched much sooner than you did (and switched again and switched again... ;)

    I was fraternity brothers with the #1 and #2 chess players in Missouri while I was in college. One night during a social game, I beat #1 in a 45-minute game. He made me swear not to tell anyone so I promptly told everyone. We played again and he beat me in four moves. (And I mean four in that I took two and he took two and the game was over.) :)

    Another chess movie I love besides Bobby Fisher is "The Luzhin Defence." If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. John Turturro rocks.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Wow, I had no idea that chess has had such a profound impact on your life. That is really awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Very cool post Ted. Your chess experiences in Russia are amazing. Just found your blog this morning-really enjoying it.

    ReplyDelete
  31. I've only played chess a few times, and never really got into it--though I would like to learn more about how to play. It's such an interesting game.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I love chess. Did you ever win against one of the big names? :-)

    Great story, and great blog!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Wow! What an interesting story! Glad I came across this.

    I love to play chess, but methinks you would probably send me home packing in less than 10 moves.

    Good stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Wow. Pretty cool story. How amazing to have one game have such an impact on your life. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  35. My apologies to everyone. I was packing out our house today, so couldn't get online! Thanks for stopping by.

    ReplyDelete
  36. This is a pretty awesome story. I've been playing chess since around five, and at peak I was top 10 teen in the country (Belarus). I came out 9th in the republic-level championship, which really dropped my morale. Nowadays I only grab the big ol' Checkmate-In-2 by Polgar if I feel like my brain could use some picking :)

    ReplyDelete