Confessions

"In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king."

There is a big difference between casual chess dabblers and hardened tournament players. When I lived in West Virginia, I did not find anyone who played chess seriously. I was living in a place where there was only one stop light in the whole county. I loved it there and the people were wonderful. Dwight Diller possibly the most gifted teacher I have ever met, was kind enough to teach me how to claw hammer banjo, and start up on fiddle. But when it came to chess I was a one eyed king.

I moved from West Virginia in 1990. Living near a small city, I registered with the USCF, and entered a local tournament. I had the black side of a Ponziani the first game and got a draw. Every game after that was a crushing defeat for me. It was not a matter of time management. For me punching the clock and writing down moves was high class sexy stuff. Basically my chess up to that point had been, stay solid, and the other guy will self destruct. Only here I faced people who knew more than I did about chess. It was an education.

So I went on with my work and my family. I continued to study chess, and play off and on in local coffee houses, and on line. I figured I would study enough, then return. But I was so busy. My three children grew up. My work changed. I was divorced then re-married. And like Rip Van Winkle about twenty years passed!

So now I am fifty. My kids are out of the house. And I am preparing myself to play again.

Sometimes I play so well on line and in club chess that I think I'm pretty good. Other times I blunder and feel that I will be a Patzer for life.

We will see.