The story so far…
I started playing chess as a kid at about the age of 8 at the school lunch time club. It wasn’t serious, and we just played chess - no coaching or anything. I didn’t play much after the age of 11, and most of my time was spent playing cricket (I was good at that!). I was beating my Dad consistently and my only remaining opponent didn’t seem willing to play chess anymore (Dad was more of a Go player anyway!).
Apart from the odd game during my teens, my chess life dried up. I went to Bristol Uni to study Chemistry and then started a PhD in structural chemistry in 2002. In early 2003 I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and later in the year I was forced to abandon all hope of returning to my studies.
Unable to work, concentrate or doing anything for more than a few minutes I found myself with plenty of time, but not much energy. As part of my rehabilitation I chose to take up chess again to help build up my concentration. As I was unable to focus for more than a few minutes the obvious choice was correspondence chess and I joined ChessWorld.net.
With my health slowly improving, I started work again, only part-time though. Later in the year someone on ChessWorld.net suggest that I played over-the-board (OTB) for a local club as it was a completely different experience than playing over the internet. I gave it some thought and it seemed a good idea as it would push me physically and mentally, though at first I found it extremely difficult with the CFS to concentrate for a whole game and I would often blank out somewhere in the middlegame unable to concentrate any further.
I’m now in my 4th season of playing league chess and I’m able to cope with the majority of matches, but those which go the whole distance (3 hours) are still a struggle. I still work part time, but I’ve regained a good proportion of my health and with careful management I’m able to cope with most things to a degree.
The last few years have been all about learning to live with my limitations and chess has been a very useful aid on the path to recovery. I’m now at the point where I don’t need to worry too much about my energy (still have to be careful though) and now looking to concentrate on improving my game.
There are plenty of blogs out there aimed at the good chess player and above, but not a huge number for the novices like me. I won’t be able to offer much to those who have already mastered the game, but I hope to share some of my experiences and hopefully we can encourage and help each other along the way - so please comment, register and contribute!
