Chess. I forgot about it.

Thursday, February 13, 2025

When I was a kid, chess appeared to be a game of magic. The mere concept of it captivated me. However, I must admit that this fascination was partly because of my limited exposure to the game, as I had primarily learned about chess through cartoon magicians, old fantasy movies, and this one artefact in my home.

The artefact in question was a small table, far too short to be useful. It was crafted from dark brown wood and had ornate, wavey legs. The top was so shiny that it resembled glass to me—it was a glossy, polished wooden chessboard. I distinctly remember that it lifted up to reveal a green felt lining that held the delicate chess pieces safe.

I have since been assured by my mother that the chess table was an ugly old thing with a loose leg and plastic chess pieces. It wasn’t highly polished at all; it was just slightly shiny because it was plastic on the top.

My dad taught me the basics of the game, although I don’t recall him ever having any interest in it. From what I understand, the table was more of a common early eighties home decoration than a sign of enthusiasm for the game. I had a feeling it was more often used to hold wine glasses it was than used to play on.

I have no idea what happened to that old table. It might be somewhere in the spider-infested loft of my home, but I’m not brave enough to embark on that quest.

I owe that table a lot because it was the catalyst for a promise I made to myself, a promise to learn chess someday. This idea has been lingering in my mind for quite some time now. According to chess.com, I created my account over seven years ago. I believe that it was the last time I reminisced about that table, and my dad trying to teach me how to play.

Over the past year or so, I’ve been playing video games less and less. This has left my mind craving something to occupy a small part of it that demands diversion. I have been writing more, learning to draw and even playing retro video games from my childhood casually, but none of this quite satisfied my craving. Then, a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a chess video on YouTube by sheer chance. One video led to two and two videos led to five hours of chess lessons in the Doctor Wolf Chess tutor app. In these few weeks, I’ve learned more about chess than I ever have, in my entire life, until now.

I have spent time doing puzzles, lessons and games on chess.com and lichess.org and even purchased a cheap physical board to attempt to tempt my daughter into playing with me. I have been watching the currently happening freestyle chess grand slam, video tutorials and reading books on the topic. I’m having an amazing time with something I’ve been certain I would enjoy since childhood, but somehow, before now, I never quite made time for it.

I wonder how many of you reading have things like this in your lives—things you always thought you’d make time for but haven’t done yet. My advice to you is to give it a try. Make time for a new hobby or interest. Years ago, I could have been enjoying chess if I had just made some time for something I was interested in, instead of watching Netflix and playing video games that I can’t even remember the names of now.