Chess’ Checkered Past

Those random moves aren’t so random

I’m a big fan of chess. I learned to play at a young age and have had a lot of fun playing games with my younger brother. We used to play a version we called “To The Death” — meaning we’d play beyond Checkmate until you took every single one of the other players pieces.



Then there were the classic battles of Good vs. Evil that took place between my art school buddy when we should have been working on our projects. The white and black chess pieces represented Good and Evil (respectively) and much mockery would be heaped upon the loser.



None of my current batch of local friends seem much interested in Chess, (maybe they just don’t know how to play) and I miss the challenge. Computer versions and online gaming doesn’t offer the same feel as the physical board in front of you, and actually removing a piece you’ve captured. (To say nothing of mocking the loser or the mental anguish of completely psyching someone out with game-playing trash-talk.)



I guess that’s why I enjoyed Hugh MacLeod’s GapingVoid.com post today — learning what might be the reasoning behind the movements of the chess pieces makes me hunger for a real-live game!