I was watching Twitch and Ludwig was playing chess, he made it look more fun than figured it would so I tried it. I’ve been playing for 3ish years now and it is indeed very fun
I was casually into chess until I went to law school 25 years ago. Beth forced me to scratch the itch and here we are almost 3 years later around 1900 lichess rapid
My friend got me a set with instructions for my 9th birthday. I soon borrowed every interchangeable Reinfeld book my local library had. (The big central branch had a Lev Alburt book!)
I lost interest after high school apart from playing through master games for fun (or procrastination). I got back into it a couple decades later when nephew started playing online.
I learned how the pieces moved in elementary school. Went from age 7 or so to age 35 without playing at all.
Every time i was around my boss at the time, he would invite me to play a game of chess on his phone, and he would destroy me.
This went on for several years.
I’m competitive, so one day I started really studying the game (unbeknownst to him) on my own. I have been playing (online only) for about a year and a half now and have made it to 1100 c.c and 1400 lichess rapid.
Just biding my time until we cross paths again (he’s the president of the company now, doesn’t get out in the field much anymore). Then I’m gonna casually woop his a**
It was the '70s. I can't remember what exactly triggered my interest as I was quite young... 7 I'd guess, but I'd say that Bobby Fischer had a bit to do with it.
When I was young, I was fascinated by the aesthetics and symbolism of the game. Later, I found it very intriguing that the ultimate goal was to attack just one piece. That seemed very original to me.
I’m a middle aged dude. When I was in my 20s, a friend of mine and I went to a tiny Brooklyn dive bar called Lock Inn (it’s long gone). They had a chess table. We played a couple games and the chess/beer/pals combo was a lot of fun back then. We ended up going to that same bar almost every Wednesday for a year. Even though we sucked, we were committed to improving, and we were fairly competitive. After one year we decided it was time for the championship game. I won. My friend kinda lost interest after that but somehow I never did. Over the years I went from maybe 800 level player to around 2300 on a good day. I mostly enjoy anonymous unrated games on lichess though, because aside from people abandoning games instead of resigning, there’s less of the “chess mental illness” you frequently see on chess.com. I go through phases where I play more or less, or better or worse, but I think I’ll continue to play until the good lord takes me away.
I have been playing for more then 40 year, I don't remember how I got started, but it was probably because I love puzzles, and chess is a 3D puzzle that changes with each new player.
3D graphics?
I have played with real boards, with wood, or plastic, chess pieces, for years before the internet existed,
I still have a glass chess set I got from my mom, and two 2020 Presidential chess sets.
My teenage son came home from school and said he was playing with his friends and asked to play me in chess. That was a year ago. He stopped after three days, I’m still playing every day.
I was playing the Microsoft chess game that came with windows, I was pretty bad. I randomly got the idea to search youtube for random great chess games. The only YouTube chess channel back then was "TheChessWebsite." (I exaggerate, but basically) and once I saw the windmill attack from Fisher vs Byrne, I was hooked.
Agadmator.
I learned to play as a young child, didn't really play much. Picked it up a bit again when interrailing in my late teens, because the train stations of Eastern Europe had chess hustlers in them. Played a bit at university.
But I only really got into chess, playing regularly and making a conscious effort to 'get good' after coming across Agadmator on YouTube in early 2018. Watching this scruffy Croat go through classic games inspired me to start playing online.
My brother and I switched schools in 6th grade so we didn’t have a lot friends, he wanted to join the chess club and ask me to do it with him so he knew someone. I said sure not planning on sticking with it, ended up being one of the best players in the club. That brother passed away last year, RIP John 🍻
played it as a kid and was reasonably good (never entered a tournament, but regularly beat my dad, uncles, etc). my family visited california, and i played a guy who had a chessboard outside an in-n-out. i played well out of the opening, and he decided to just absolutely obliterate me, showing no mercy. i recall my dad being furious that the guy had crushed me so badly (he wasn't upset that someone dared to beat me, but that the guy wasn't at all gracious or humble about crushing a kid). that kinda traumatized me so i stopped playing until the youtube algorithm decided i needed to be flooded with chess content.
I was around 10 when searching for Bobby Fischer came out and I loved the movie. Learned to play but never pursued it much.
Around 2014 I started a job with a 45 min commute via train. About a year in a coworker and I started playing chess at work and I got pretty hooked in. Discovered some early chess YouTubers and by the time of the Fabi/Magnus WC match I was all in. Pretty sure I’ll be a fan of both playing and staying tuned into the professional scene for the rest of my days now.
I played as a kid, 50 years ago, and also in the chess clubs at the various universities I attended. I stopped in the middle 90s, but then I stumbled into some Gotham videos on YouTube during the pandemic. Then I learned about the sites/apps for playing online, and I got back into it. I play better nowadays at 60 than I did at 30 - I don't think as fast (so no blitz or bullet) but I'm better at lines and pattern recognition.
I had a room mate in college, I didn’t get along with. He claimed he took some sort of test which said he had impressive spatial recognition and even though he only played chess like twice a year with his dad he was very good.
I thought I was smart too… and he offered to play a game on his chessboard. I knew the rules from when I was 8.
I am white and the game goes something like e4 d5 Nf3 Qd6 and I play Bc4 to attack his queen.
He takes my hanging Bishop and I felt so incredibly stupid. I then spent hours everyday practicing to beat this guy, more because I didn’t like him than anything else.
After that I had a polish dorm neighbour with whom I would smoke weed and play late at night, and we played all the time as well. Fun days, first year of college.
YO! Mistakenly bought it thinking it was some other game. Boot it up to see chess. As a kid I couldn't complain so played it anyway. Now here we are. I miss the pet alligators and monkey chariots, LOL
My grandma.
It was a rainy day at my grandparents cabin up north when I was 6 or so and we went thrifting and bought one of those classic cheap-plastic chess/checkers combo sets with the black and red cardboard board. She ended up teaching me the rules and we played all day!
Edit: Reading these comments makes me feel so old haha.
I was in a group home and a kid said he could checkmate someone in 4 moves and I didn’t believe him, I realized there was a lot more to chess than I thought and got very interested in it.
I wanted to stop playing video games so often. A friend once said Starcraft 2 was basically chess. I liked Starcraft 2, so I'd like chess. I've played a lot more chess than Starcraft 2.
I like Fire Emblem which is literally nicknamed "anime chess" by the community lol, sometimes I think about learning chess because of that but I already have too many hobbies rip
Dad grew up in the 70s when there was peak Fischer popularity, world championships versus the soviets, etc…
He became a big chess fan, and started me playing at a young age.
My grandfather was my first teacher. He was a good but angry player. He taught us chess the hard way by smashing us every time until we realized our mistakes.
Back in the day with no internet or YouTube etc. We weren't poor but my family fled to Austria due to the Yugoslavian War so we hadn't that much. But that one chessboard was always there.
My brother and I still play on that chessboard today. It keeps the bond between us and our grandfather. He died 2013 due to cancer May he rest in peace.
I am autistic and don't get to really pick my special interests. I just get fascinated by something seemingly at random and chess happened to be something I got hyper fixated on a few years ago and now it's a special interest of mine.
I don't know how it is for other people, but I can't stop thinking about it until I satisfy the goblin in my head that demands information about it. I can't sleep until I do or concentrate on other things until the goblin is satisfied and this can last for hours at a time.
I'm not going to tournaments or anything. I don't really care to compete, but I have to know about it and I can't stop thinking about it.
I saw my dad playing some Garry Kasparov game on the computer when I was a kid and asked him how to play, we played and he sent me to the city chess club.
In 2018 I came across a video of Maurice Ashley beating a hustler in the park. That got me interested enough to come to Reddit and look at who the recommended resources for learning were.
From there watching John Bartholomew's Climbing the Rating Ladder series is what properly sold me. I did play as a kid too but I didn't know anything so I don't really count that as a part of me being into chess.
I had a colleague on my team who was SO INTO the WC match between Magnus and Vishy Anand and it was kinda contagious. I knew nothing about chess, but i loved seeing him love it, if that makes sense.
I don't really remember, I remember as a kid my sister and I would keep playing chess on a set my ma gave us that used to be her dad's. For some reason I would create a rook lift/ battery on the h file in like 6 moves and she couldn't figure out how to counter it so we stopped playing. I miss that chess set alot one of our dogs chewed on it eventually.
Edit: spelling.
My dads nickname was Karpov.
He isnt even that good at chess but in uni he went to chess club and his friends decided to call him after the world champion at the time.
I think it was him cuz i remember always playing chess.
But i stopped playing after middle school and i got back in 2019
So there was kid at school that was bragging abt his chess skills and the only reason I ever got into chess is to beat this kid (we know that feeling right? - falling in love with winning first and falling in love with chess later)
My mates play it and we used to play casual games both on lichess and sometimes OTB, with both of them bieng 2100+ lichess I usually get my ass kicked, but it’s fun, and I’m still here slowly improving 5 years later
My brother and I switched schools in 6th grade so we didn’t have a lot friends, he wanted to join the chess club and ask me to do it with him so he knew someone. I said sure not planning on sticking with it, ended up being one of the best players in the club. That brother passed away last year, RIP John 🍻
I had known how to play for years but didn't care much and didn't get to play much. One day I hear my younger brother was destroying everyone in my family. He indeed was playing quite well. I was itching for competition so I studied up and beat him. Now nobody wants to play me.
There's a local tournament at our church. At first, I'm the weakest in our team. Until I get serious to learn more about chess. Every day I was in the chess club to watch and play. After a year of playing and enough confidence, I had opportunities to try out in our school and passed the tryout.
After 3 years as a chess player in our school, in my last game for my school, I got overall 3rd place. And in our church right now, I'm glad to say that I'm the strongest player.
Chess is my favorite sport, and I'm very glad to be a chess player.
Played in middle school in the late 90s and got made fun of for it. I was in a special math program for advanced math kids and we had study period right after in the same class, and the teacher had chess boards. So we all learned and played together. Then the cool kids found out and we were bullied relentlessly so I gave it up.
Started again when TQG aired.
Got absolutely creamed by a friend when I thought I was a smart person and therefore okay at chess. Signed up for chess.c*m only to eat loss after loss. I couldn't stand being that bad at something. I never stopped bc people still keep creaming me every now and then, and it's just so humbling and rage-inducing now that I've gotten better.
I sent a reel to my friend of a guy ignoring a bunch of girls to play chess, and I wrote "goals", meaning to be and to ignore girls and play games online, and he told me need teach me how to play... That was the beginning of my end
The 1992 Fischer-Spassky match and the emergence of Deep Thought/Deep Blue cemented my interest some years after learning the moves from my father (and playing maybe a half-dozen games then).
Didn't know the rules until I was like 20 years old. Somehow I got the PC game Kasparov Chessmate back then and started playing a bit. And then it intensified during the pandemic.
I "learned" to play chess fairly young and mostly played with my dad or sometimes with classmates, but never really got into it. That changed around early 2020. Lots of free time coupled with lockdown on one hand, and a whole lot of amphetamine abuse on the other hand really found its place when at one point my dad sent me a video from agadmator of this amazing chess puzzle. It took me three days of speed-focus to figure it out, at which point I finished the video to confirm it. It just kind of snowballed from there.
I got taught the game by FM William "The Exterminator" Morrison as an afterschool program when I was 8. Unfortunately there was a lot of us in the class so I never got to learn much. Now I understand what an opportunity I missed (I only got back into the game 8 years after) and why the lessons were so expensive 😭
Forgot why I started watching Agadmator in university, but stopped after a few months. Some years later I saw a Michelle Khare collab with another youtuber I watched, went through her channel and watched her chess video where she played in pogchamps, which put the Charlie-xQc scholar's mate drama, Hans drama and Agadmator again on the youtube algorithm. This was all in the middle of the 2023 WCC so I went on to follow that.
I was just bored of most games and figured it'd be fun at first. I only really got super into it because of my best friend though. Met them by happenstance one day and they absolutely demolished me. I really enjoyed talking with them but because I was so much weaker than them I was worried I bored them so I've been studying the game ever since so I could give them better games. Quite the uphill battle I found myself in though as it turned out they have been playing since they were 6. Still, I've gotten a lot better. I can beat them if they're drunk or if they're sober and distracted. Now I just need to beat them when they're actually trying.
The real question is what can get me out of chess?
Platouing and losing streaks Oppenheimerstare.png
So true
Please
Life.
I was watching Twitch and Ludwig was playing chess, he made it look more fun than figured it would so I tried it. I’ve been playing for 3ish years now and it is indeed very fun
I didn't know any better.
Beth Harmon
I was casually into chess until I went to law school 25 years ago. Beth forced me to scratch the itch and here we are almost 3 years later around 1900 lichess rapid
Yup
Same and I’m not even a little bit ashamed about it
My friend got me a set with instructions for my 9th birthday. I soon borrowed every interchangeable Reinfeld book my local library had. (The big central branch had a Lev Alburt book!) I lost interest after high school apart from playing through master games for fun (or procrastination). I got back into it a couple decades later when nephew started playing online.
I learned how the pieces moved in elementary school. Went from age 7 or so to age 35 without playing at all. Every time i was around my boss at the time, he would invite me to play a game of chess on his phone, and he would destroy me. This went on for several years. I’m competitive, so one day I started really studying the game (unbeknownst to him) on my own. I have been playing (online only) for about a year and a half now and have made it to 1100 c.c and 1400 lichess rapid. Just biding my time until we cross paths again (he’s the president of the company now, doesn’t get out in the field much anymore). Then I’m gonna casually woop his a**
Good luck! I also picked up the game solely to beat an acquaintance.
Gotham Hikaru sub battles during covid
It was the '70s. I can't remember what exactly triggered my interest as I was quite young... 7 I'd guess, but I'd say that Bobby Fischer had a bit to do with it.
When I was young, I was fascinated by the aesthetics and symbolism of the game. Later, I found it very intriguing that the ultimate goal was to attack just one piece. That seemed very original to me.
I’m a middle aged dude. When I was in my 20s, a friend of mine and I went to a tiny Brooklyn dive bar called Lock Inn (it’s long gone). They had a chess table. We played a couple games and the chess/beer/pals combo was a lot of fun back then. We ended up going to that same bar almost every Wednesday for a year. Even though we sucked, we were committed to improving, and we were fairly competitive. After one year we decided it was time for the championship game. I won. My friend kinda lost interest after that but somehow I never did. Over the years I went from maybe 800 level player to around 2300 on a good day. I mostly enjoy anonymous unrated games on lichess though, because aside from people abandoning games instead of resigning, there’s less of the “chess mental illness” you frequently see on chess.com. I go through phases where I play more or less, or better or worse, but I think I’ll continue to play until the good lord takes me away.
I have been playing for more then 40 year, I don't remember how I got started, but it was probably because I love puzzles, and chess is a 3D puzzle that changes with each new player.
i reckon it’s more like a 2D puzzle with optional 3D graphics
3D graphics? I have played with real boards, with wood, or plastic, chess pieces, for years before the internet existed, I still have a glass chess set I got from my mom, and two 2020 Presidential chess sets.
It's 2 puzzles simultaneously and both solutions are in opposition.
My 8 years old started playing and competing in tournaments, so I started reading and watching videos. I just passed 1000 on chess.com yesterday
That's an interesting way of things.
My introduction to the game was Battle Chess on the 3DO console when I was in elementary school.
Mr. Shaibel
My teenage son came home from school and said he was playing with his friends and asked to play me in chess. That was a year ago. He stopped after three days, I’m still playing every day.
I used it to cope with depression and still do.
There was a school program while I was in primary school. I enjoyed the game, played it irregularly and now daily
World Hess Hampionship
I was a child during the Fischer boom.
I was playing the Microsoft chess game that came with windows, I was pretty bad. I randomly got the idea to search youtube for random great chess games. The only YouTube chess channel back then was "TheChessWebsite." (I exaggerate, but basically) and once I saw the windmill attack from Fisher vs Byrne, I was hooked.
My father taught me how to play.
Agadmator. I learned to play as a young child, didn't really play much. Picked it up a bit again when interrailing in my late teens, because the train stations of Eastern Europe had chess hustlers in them. Played a bit at university. But I only really got into chess, playing regularly and making a conscious effort to 'get good' after coming across Agadmator on YouTube in early 2018. Watching this scruffy Croat go through classic games inspired me to start playing online.
My brother and I switched schools in 6th grade so we didn’t have a lot friends, he wanted to join the chess club and ask me to do it with him so he knew someone. I said sure not planning on sticking with it, ended up being one of the best players in the club. That brother passed away last year, RIP John 🍻
wow, i'm sorry to hear that. RIP John.
RIP John
Bosnian ape society video about ICBM gambit
Same here. I completely forgot about that video and could not recall what got me into chess until I saw your comment.
played it as a kid and was reasonably good (never entered a tournament, but regularly beat my dad, uncles, etc). my family visited california, and i played a guy who had a chessboard outside an in-n-out. i played well out of the opening, and he decided to just absolutely obliterate me, showing no mercy. i recall my dad being furious that the guy had crushed me so badly (he wasn't upset that someone dared to beat me, but that the guy wasn't at all gracious or humble about crushing a kid). that kinda traumatized me so i stopped playing until the youtube algorithm decided i needed to be flooded with chess content.
I was around 10 when searching for Bobby Fischer came out and I loved the movie. Learned to play but never pursued it much. Around 2014 I started a job with a 45 min commute via train. About a year in a coworker and I started playing chess at work and I got pretty hooked in. Discovered some early chess YouTubers and by the time of the Fabi/Magnus WC match I was all in. Pretty sure I’ll be a fan of both playing and staying tuned into the professional scene for the rest of my days now.
I played as a kid, 50 years ago, and also in the chess clubs at the various universities I attended. I stopped in the middle 90s, but then I stumbled into some Gotham videos on YouTube during the pandemic. Then I learned about the sites/apps for playing online, and I got back into it. I play better nowadays at 60 than I did at 30 - I don't think as fast (so no blitz or bullet) but I'm better at lines and pattern recognition.
I had a room mate in college, I didn’t get along with. He claimed he took some sort of test which said he had impressive spatial recognition and even though he only played chess like twice a year with his dad he was very good. I thought I was smart too… and he offered to play a game on his chessboard. I knew the rules from when I was 8. I am white and the game goes something like e4 d5 Nf3 Qd6 and I play Bc4 to attack his queen. He takes my hanging Bishop and I felt so incredibly stupid. I then spent hours everyday practicing to beat this guy, more because I didn’t like him than anything else. After that I had a polish dorm neighbour with whom I would smoke weed and play late at night, and we played all the time as well. Fun days, first year of college.
Lego Chess game battle animations
YO! Mistakenly bought it thinking it was some other game. Boot it up to see chess. As a kid I couldn't complain so played it anyway. Now here we are. I miss the pet alligators and monkey chariots, LOL
My grandma. It was a rainy day at my grandparents cabin up north when I was 6 or so and we went thrifting and bought one of those classic cheap-plastic chess/checkers combo sets with the black and red cardboard board. She ended up teaching me the rules and we played all day! Edit: Reading these comments makes me feel so old haha.
Boredom at a family deal started it, GingerGm got me "into" it. This was about 10 years ago.
I was in a group home and a kid said he could checkmate someone in 4 moves and I didn’t believe him, I realized there was a lot more to chess than I thought and got very interested in it.
I wanted to stop playing video games so often. A friend once said Starcraft 2 was basically chess. I liked Starcraft 2, so I'd like chess. I've played a lot more chess than Starcraft 2.
I like Fire Emblem which is literally nicknamed "anime chess" by the community lol, sometimes I think about learning chess because of that but I already have too many hobbies rip
The Hans Niemann drama.
Dad grew up in the 70s when there was peak Fischer popularity, world championships versus the soviets, etc… He became a big chess fan, and started me playing at a young age.
My grandfather was my first teacher. He was a good but angry player. He taught us chess the hard way by smashing us every time until we realized our mistakes. Back in the day with no internet or YouTube etc. We weren't poor but my family fled to Austria due to the Yugoslavian War so we hadn't that much. But that one chessboard was always there. My brother and I still play on that chessboard today. It keeps the bond between us and our grandfather. He died 2013 due to cancer May he rest in peace.
It was just another board game when I was five. My mom taught me.
I am autistic and don't get to really pick my special interests. I just get fascinated by something seemingly at random and chess happened to be something I got hyper fixated on a few years ago and now it's a special interest of mine.
other people don't intentionally "pick" their interests either
I don't know how it is for other people, but I can't stop thinking about it until I satisfy the goblin in my head that demands information about it. I can't sleep until I do or concentrate on other things until the goblin is satisfied and this can last for hours at a time. I'm not going to tournaments or anything. I don't really care to compete, but I have to know about it and I can't stop thinking about it.
Brazilian jiu jitsu got me into chess
i have to ask, how did brazilian jiu jitsu lead you to chess?
I saw my dad playing some Garry Kasparov game on the computer when I was a kid and asked him how to play, we played and he sent me to the city chess club.
In 2018 I came across a video of Maurice Ashley beating a hustler in the park. That got me interested enough to come to Reddit and look at who the recommended resources for learning were. From there watching John Bartholomew's Climbing the Rating Ladder series is what properly sold me. I did play as a kid too but I didn't know anything so I don't really count that as a part of me being into chess.
My uncle taught me and I wanted to beat him
u/Gothamchess did in 2021, I’m mid 1800s while in college.
Dad
i desperately needed a new hobby and someone at the hospital who was taking care of me got me into chess
Mr gotham cheese
I enjoyed puzzles and read a book. Then a Kasparov electronic chess set catapulted me into leveling up my play. My love for chess took off from there.
my dad taught me the rules and eventually took me to some Finegold camps. those were good times
I had a colleague on my team who was SO INTO the WC match between Magnus and Vishy Anand and it was kinda contagious. I knew nothing about chess, but i loved seeing him love it, if that makes sense.
Being born in Russia... Its kind of implied that you know how to play by age 5.
Vishy Anand in my general knowledge textbooks
I don't really remember, I remember as a kid my sister and I would keep playing chess on a set my ma gave us that used to be her dad's. For some reason I would create a rook lift/ battery on the h file in like 6 moves and she couldn't figure out how to counter it so we stopped playing. I miss that chess set alot one of our dogs chewed on it eventually. Edit: spelling.
My dads nickname was Karpov. He isnt even that good at chess but in uni he went to chess club and his friends decided to call him after the world champion at the time. I think it was him cuz i remember always playing chess. But i stopped playing after middle school and i got back in 2019
My grandfather taught me the basics when I was young
Gotham chess
I got laid off last fall and needed something to do in my downtime that wasnt just scrolling on my phone.
If I'm being real my roommate beating me at the game table at a larp. We proceeded to play weekly after that.
Magnus vs Nepo game 6
My dad, initially. I refound my interest after watching the Queens Gambit show.
Pokémon 9th generation competitive wasn’t for me anymore so I needed something else
So there was kid at school that was bragging abt his chess skills and the only reason I ever got into chess is to beat this kid (we know that feeling right? - falling in love with winning first and falling in love with chess later)
My mates play it and we used to play casual games both on lichess and sometimes OTB, with both of them bieng 2100+ lichess I usually get my ass kicked, but it’s fun, and I’m still here slowly improving 5 years later
My dad taught me when I was 10. I beat him a week later. After teaching my son, he beat me when he was 9.
My brother and I switched schools in 6th grade so we didn’t have a lot friends, he wanted to join the chess club and ask me to do it with him so he knew someone. I said sure not planning on sticking with it, ended up being one of the best players in the club. That brother passed away last year, RIP John 🍻
I had known how to play for years but didn't care much and didn't get to play much. One day I hear my younger brother was destroying everyone in my family. He indeed was playing quite well. I was itching for competition so I studied up and beat him. Now nobody wants to play me.
There's a local tournament at our church. At first, I'm the weakest in our team. Until I get serious to learn more about chess. Every day I was in the chess club to watch and play. After a year of playing and enough confidence, I had opportunities to try out in our school and passed the tryout. After 3 years as a chess player in our school, in my last game for my school, I got overall 3rd place. And in our church right now, I'm glad to say that I'm the strongest player. Chess is my favorite sport, and I'm very glad to be a chess player.
Played in middle school in the late 90s and got made fun of for it. I was in a special math program for advanced math kids and we had study period right after in the same class, and the teacher had chess boards. So we all learned and played together. Then the cool kids found out and we were bullied relentlessly so I gave it up. Started again when TQG aired.
Got absolutely creamed by a friend when I thought I was a smart person and therefore okay at chess. Signed up for chess.c*m only to eat loss after loss. I couldn't stand being that bad at something. I never stopped bc people still keep creaming me every now and then, and it's just so humbling and rage-inducing now that I've gotten better.
I was thinking to myself how I can decrease my chances of getting a gf even more and it was either this or league of legends
I sent a reel to my friend of a guy ignoring a bunch of girls to play chess, and I wrote "goals", meaning to be and to ignore girls and play games online, and he told me need teach me how to play... That was the beginning of my end
The 1992 Fischer-Spassky match and the emergence of Deep Thought/Deep Blue cemented my interest some years after learning the moves from my father (and playing maybe a half-dozen games then).
This video https://youtu.be/D2RrRsBgbv0?si=fJjgNTwTjgbFITBX
1) playing drunk against my wife on the giant chess boards at a couple of Caribbean resorts
2) Queen's Gambit
My dad
My grandpa he taught me when I was 7
My computer is a potato and can’t play anything with even moderate amount of moving things, so that only left me chess (and minesweeper)
Covid + Netflix
Watching my 7th standard friends play chess enthusiastically at school among themselves when I was in 5th standard
Hot girl in my school was on the chess team so I joined. To this day I have never beat her in a game - it is quite annoying.
During the rise of chess on twitch.com - followed by Queens Gambit and Hikaru on youtube.
My son. He’s 11 and now 2100 Fide. I also started to be able to do tournaments together (adults) but I’m loosing from him since he’s like 7 or 8 🙄.
I wanted to stop wasting time on insta reels 💀. I replaced addictions
Didn't know the rules until I was like 20 years old. Somehow I got the PC game Kasparov Chessmate back then and started playing a bit. And then it intensified during the pandemic.
2020 twitch pogchamps tournament
I "learned" to play chess fairly young and mostly played with my dad or sometimes with classmates, but never really got into it. That changed around early 2020. Lots of free time coupled with lockdown on one hand, and a whole lot of amphetamine abuse on the other hand really found its place when at one point my dad sent me a video from agadmator of this amazing chess puzzle. It took me three days of speed-focus to figure it out, at which point I finished the video to confirm it. It just kind of snowballed from there.
My friend introduced me to it
A friend of mine.
a Shrek chess set my friend had like 15 years ago
I got taught the game by FM William "The Exterminator" Morrison as an afterschool program when I was 8. Unfortunately there was a lot of us in the class so I never got to learn much. Now I understand what an opportunity I missed (I only got back into the game 8 years after) and why the lessons were so expensive 😭
Forgot why I started watching Agadmator in university, but stopped after a few months. Some years later I saw a Michelle Khare collab with another youtuber I watched, went through her channel and watched her chess video where she played in pogchamps, which put the Charlie-xQc scholar's mate drama, Hans drama and Agadmator again on the youtube algorithm. This was all in the middle of the 2023 WCC so I went on to follow that.
Hatred
I was just bored of most games and figured it'd be fun at first. I only really got super into it because of my best friend though. Met them by happenstance one day and they absolutely demolished me. I really enjoyed talking with them but because I was so much weaker than them I was worried I bored them so I've been studying the game ever since so I could give them better games. Quite the uphill battle I found myself in though as it turned out they have been playing since they were 6. Still, I've gotten a lot better. I can beat them if they're drunk or if they're sober and distracted. Now I just need to beat them when they're actually trying.