Online, playing Chess VS Sven at Chess.com. It beats the endless well of Reddit.
I learned Chess in my early 20's from a friend, Milan. Which is to say I learned the basic moves, the "rules", and was largely self-taught.
A flaw which I passed on to my own children.
There was a reasoning I applied - that I should be able to "think it through" - but the game after only a few moves offers exponential outcomes and consequences, and the "think it through" requires a level of prodigal thinking that so far eludes me. Even after the first three pair of turns the game offers 121 million possibilities, and this number quickly expands to more possibilities than there are atoms in the universe.
I'm playing against a robot, "Sven", 1100 ranking, and it brings to my attention how poor my strategies are.
Nine, even Ten times out of ten I can beat him - but I am blindsided by how often I don't. How many "Blunders" - missing obvious consequences to stupid moves - "Mistakes", poor moves when better were available, the number of turns it takes me to finish up what should be a straightforward execution.
It's not about winning - in the right mood that's not the issue, it's about getting quick enough that these obvious stupidities are overlooked in the advancement of the game. That certain openings should be routine - and they for the most part are - but vary from the script, think for yourself and you're quickly in over your head. A missed fork, a straightforward "seized your queen", it's rare the game at this point that passes without some inadvertent or unplanned sacrifice - rare that I can see that the game developed without my helping stupidity, rare that it passes without a mistake or blunder or missed win.
It's good, it makes me think, and what I think most of all is that by teaching my children - simple enough - I probably inculcated a lifetime of prejudice against the game - I didn't go through and teach the advantages of setting up defenses, looking over the whole board, the unconscious recognition of better and worse moves, the ability to predict advantageous outcomes over trifling exchanges, in short, I taught them the rules and told them to think it through when - in fact - this can only take you so far, which is not very at all, you need to master established strategies without thinking, most of the game is wrapped up in memory and repetition of moves designed to advance and free your pieces, very little of it involves thinking - certainly at this level.
Anyways, my thoughts on Chess, the goal to defeat Sven without thinking or committing blunders, mistakes, 100% of the time, before advancing to play Nelson, who I can beat perhaps 50% of the time but who's wayward queen still forces me into dumb moves and entirely predictable outcomes, the overall goal to play a respectable game with a human opponent, practice, practice, and maybe time to watch a few explanatory videos...