Are you any good?
What is your style of play?
Are you ruthless, contemplative, reactionary, cautious, aggressive, or just plain scared?

Me, I can only think about 3 moves ahead or so.
My style seems to be scared, just managing to hang on by the skin of my teeth, always chasing what the other guy is trying to do to me.

I wonder if improving the way you play the game could change the way you deal & play with the very real game of life?

I play a very chaotic game of chess. Some moves I think very deeply about and some I throw off the cuff. And some I don't appear to think about and some I appear to think too hard about.

I play chess the way I play poker. With a straight face and I watch the other player looking for clues and reactions to moves I make.

Does it help me in my game of life? Maybe, but I don't keep track.

I LOVE Chess. My favorite is Blitz.

quote Originally posted by Boondawg: I wonder if improving the way you play the game could change the way you deal & play with the very real game of life?

Not really, there are far too many variables in life. It could change the confidence one might have, but they could just as easily make wrong choices confidently.
IMO

quote Originally posted by Boondawg: I wonder if improving the way you play the game could change the way you deal & play with the very real game of life?

Ya know, Boondawg, chess is just a game and life is serious. Or at least I think it is supposed to be.

I was on a chess team all 4 years in HS and pretty decent at it (mid 1700's rating). I was more of a gambit man, give up some pieces early on to get them out of position then keep the offensive pressure on till they made a mistake. It was more fun to play that style vs. some of the others. At state, I once checkmated a guy with a king and 2 knights.

Speed chess (5 min) was also fun...

The earlier you learn the game, the better you will be. For me it was a game of strategy, preplanning, and assessing risk. I think those skills helped me do better in school, college and in my professional career... need to start teach my daughter (age 6) to play.

quote Originally posted by fieroguru: The earlier you learn the game, the better you will be. For me it was a game of strategy, preplanning, and assessing risk. I think those skills helped me do better in school, college and in my professional career... need to start teach my daughter (age 6) to play.

Good point, the principles could be crossed over into those areas of life.

I was on the chess team in high school and I played a little chess on a local team after high school. I had to stop because tournaments would trigger my migraine headaches.

I play for position early on. If I can't get a good position, then I play attrition to get to the end game. I am very strong in the end game and can usually close the deal. Sometimes I will take a gamble to get better position. I will trade a knight or bishop for a pawn if it exposes the king. I can then press the advantage and force my opponent to play defense the rest of the game if I can force king into the open.

My biggest weakness is the middle game. I run the risk of losing on some exchanges. To get to the end game quicker I will take any even trade offered.

I play Battletech... Chess is not complicated enough.

I try to offset my naturally defensive nature by playing aggressively. I will readily sacrifice pieces in order to avoid losing tempo, and risk my king if I believe I can threaten the opponent's king just soon enough to avoid losing mine.

If I find myself in a defensive position, I tend to play extremely aggressive to try and get back to a point where I can force the opponent's hand. This does however sometimes lead to unacceptable loss of material or avoidable mistakes.

I've been playing A LOT more chess lately. My style? I like to control the board, forcing my opponent to not have choices on what pieces to move. This allows me to think 6 or 7 moves ahead. It's always good to be in control.

If any of you have the phone app "Chess with friends" I will gladly play you. (i'm not very good, I just enjoy to play and learn)

I don't play but my wifes son loves the game. He was and probably is still very good, if anyone needs someone to play a game send me a PM and I will forward your contact information to him.

i like the game but i suck at it. and if i lose several times in a row i kinda just call it quits, but when i do play i try to work the table with my rooks they are my favorite pieces. probably cause they are little castles!

quote Originally posted by Niterrorz: i like the game but i suck at it. and if i lose several times in a row i kinda just call it quits, but when i do play i try to work the table with my rooks they are my favorite pieces. probably cause they are little castles!

I like to keep a rook on the king side so I can castle if SHTF. Its saved me a few times.

I always go on the offensive so that the other guy never has a chance to put me on the defensive. I also try to control the middle of the board and once I'm ahead on points, I go for the war of attrition. My favorite pieces are my knights especially when I get into good positions to "fork" my opponent. I like to push my knights and Queen and keep my bishops back in order to snag a rook if the opportunity presents itself. I started playing my son when he was 4 and by the time he was 13 he was good enough to get me into stalemates. A couple of years later, he was good enough to play me even up. Shortly thereafter, he pretty much quit playing me. For him, the challenge was to beat me; once he had that, he didn't much care to keep playing.

For a quick little game against a computer:

http://www.chess.com/play/computer.html

quote Originally posted by Boondawg: I wonder if improving the way you play the game could change the way you deal & play with the very real game of life?

Boonie, you'd probably find this video (among many others) on Bobby Fischer quite interesting.



I'd say that excelling in the game of chess has no bearing on your ability to deal with day to day life.

quote Originally posted by Patrick: Woo hoo, I won my first game after not having played for at least five years!

I lost 3 in a row.

quote Originally posted by Boondawg: I lost 3 in a row.

Unless you had money riding on it, its all in good fun.

I used to play in college, was hard to beat. It's been so long now i could barely set the board up right

quote Originally posted by 2.5: Unless you had money riding on it, its all in good fun.

if its just for fun, why keep score?

quote Originally posted by User00013170: if its just for fun, why keep score?

Oh it can still be competitive, or practice, you can still learn from it, a winner could still say they have braggin rights. but to me if nothing is really lost or gained, (priactice does gain something though, but never lose anything) its all in good fun.
Still thinking how this relates to real life, or doesn't.

Chess is so simple, a computer can beat people.
Try Go.

I almost never played, so I am terrible at it. I did however watch some people play and it was actually fun when there were two very good players.

There were always some people who were nice and would play a game with me even though I was nowhere close to their level. I would think about my moves, and they would be carrying on a conversation with someone else, then look at the board for a few seconds and move, and still beat me, every single time.

Then their were some that would let you remove 4 or 5 of their pieces (of your choice) right from the start, and they would still win.

oh and my one friend who never played, had me show him how the pieces move, I beat him in the beginning, then gradually he got better, and better, and before I knew it, I couldn't win a game. Only to later on realize, that he was a very good player from the start, and was messing with me the whole time. Talk about feeling like an idiot.

[This message has been edited by Gecko (edited 03-14-2012).]

quote Originally posted by Gecko: Then their were some that would let you remove 4 or 5 of their pieces (of your choice) right from the start, and they would still win.

King?

quote Originally posted by Gecko: Only to later on realize, that he was a very good player from the start, and was messing with me the whole time. Talk about feeling like an idiot.

Check and mate!

quote Originally posted by Boondawg: For a quick little game against a computer: http://www.chess.com/play/computer.html

Damn you, Boonie! Why did you post that cursed link!!!??

I was getting so cocky winning every game I played in Beginner mode. So I turned it up one notch (there's five levels to choose from) and I now get my ass handed to me every freakin' time!

I've wasted too much effort on this stupid game the last couple of days!

quote Originally posted by Patrick: Damn you, Boonie! Why did you post that cursed link!!!?? I was getting so cocky winning every game I played in Beginner mode. So I turned it up one notch (there's five levels to choose from) and I now get my ass handed to me every freakin' time! I've wasted too much effort on this stupid game the last couple of days!

I know, right?