Chess

I used to play chess very well.  When I was 12, I beat my Dad at it, and he never played me again.  I found a neighbor kid who also played and we had great games.

Wen I went to Univ of MD, it turned out the President of the Chess Club was 2 rooms away.  We played for hours.  I got pulled into the rated chess world.  When my friend the President was in an accident and became permanently (how do I say this) "not himself anymore", I took over.

Not that I was ever going to challenge Bobby Fisher, but I got a trophy or 2. 

Years later, I learned that some of the people on a discussion board also played chess (better than I did) and we formed an online team.  We did great.  I organized and they played.  I played some and won most games.

But there suddenly came a day when I couldn't play worth a damn.  I could defend perfectly well, but I couldn't arrange an attack at all.  I had just lost that. 

I quit the team and passed on the leadership to an other.

But I kept trying to rediscover the attack with books and chess apps.  I couldn't.  And AFAIK I didn't have a stroke. 

So I have been playing the chess app on my mac while waiting for things to process or download.  And I discovered that if the app was set to thinking 3 moves ahead, I could never win.  But if it was set to 2 moves ahead, I won every time.

I'm a 2.5 player, LOL!

There was a day when I thought I was still creative at things like chess, and I was.  And then, one day snuck up on me and whispered "you aren't anymore" and proved it.  I have some old written recorded games from years ago.  I replayed them. I don't even know what I was thinking in those attacks, but they worked wonderfully. 

Getting older sucks!

I don't feel dumber, but I have proof.  Dad lived here with me for 2 years, and went from slightly confused to totally demented.  One thing you can learn from aged parents is what to expect...  Well, at least if I follow his path, I have 20 years to go before that. 

Unless CoVid19 gets me.

I'm a downer today, sorry.

Cavebear