If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try, try, try, try, try again.
March 15, 2014 7:10 AM   Subscribe

In his series of blog posts How to Make Master in 300 Difficult Steps, John Chernoff, with humour and modesty, recounts his numerous attempts to surpass 2200 USCF and become a Candidate Master in the game of chess. (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8)
posted by Quilford (4 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
Things were grim.

And then I moved to Baltimore.

posted by mikeand1 at 10:29 AM on March 15, 2014 [1 favorite]


These are very entertaining articles, but the built-in game/puzzle player that even works on mobile browsers elevates them to great. Also, I'm sorry I ever gave up playing a lot of chess.
posted by ob1quixote at 12:59 PM on March 15, 2014


Chess can be a fun game without all the competition BS, the science, the opening-book memorization, the endless films pimping various has-been prodigies (with their triumphal wins in Washington Square and tragic errors) and idiot-savant wonderboxen.

Maybe we need a movement to liberate games from being SO SERIOUS alla time. I can remember when chess was just fun to play. Imagine Monopoly being treated like that - and you'd need a Coach and a Broker to keep you in top form, with the whole world watching your every move. They ruin math the same way.

Me, I enjoy it when a dog wearing a hanky beats me at frisbee.
posted by Twang at 5:46 PM on March 15, 2014


These are wonderful.

I have played numerous games where I say to myself, "Ah, I have a good lead. The position isn't complicated, and solid play will take this into an endgame that I can easily win!"

The tone of these articles successfully captures the resigned disappointment I feel when I then say to myself, "It'll be interesting to see how I manage piss the game away in the next few minutes."
posted by Avelwood at 6:13 PM on March 15, 2014


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