At the age of 7, I was introduced to the game of Chess.
Initially, the game appeared to be very complex. However, as I played more, the concept began to click more and more to me. I have taken several Chess classes, including a class called Advanced Chess, which really helped me improve drastically. Even though a lost almost every game in that class, it has taught me how persistent I have to me in order to win a game in that class. The truth is, I was not even supposed to take the Advanced Chess class, but it did anyways, which eventually lead me to the rewarding experience of trying to navigate myself in this class to improve my chess game, even though I was not as good as other the other students in my class. But of course, it did win one game, which made me feel really good.
Even though some people argue that chess is merely just a game, in fact, it is more than a game, because you learn important lessons in life when playing chess. Of course, when I was younger, it did not realize that, because I was too focused on trying to understand the fundamentals of the game. Playing chess has taught me to never give up, always try your hardest, learn how to have a plan, and most importantly, how to have fun while learning social skills as well.
The most important part of any chess game is strategy and planning your moves. If you only have one plan in the game, and your opponent ruins your evil plan, then you have to change your plan in order to win the game, hence you need to have many plans ready. The amount of thought that it takes to create many plans might take a while, which is why chess games sometimes take hours.
It has now been 11 years since I began playing. Chess has taught me many life skills and as a Chess player, there are certain terms and things you become very familiar with, such as:
1. Saying, or in some cases, screaming checkmate.
The ultimate phrase to win the game.
2. Trying to decide where to move your piece.
The immense amount of time it can take to make your move without not regret it.
3. Brainstorming a master plan to conquer your opponent.
There's no better satisfaction than watching your master plan succeed and your opponent fail.
4. Spending so much time memorizing chess strategies.
Chess is a strategic game and memorizing the strategies you come up with is also brain stimulating.
5. Learning life skills in chess.
You develop perseverance, managing skills, controlling impulses, verbal and non-verbal communication, decision making, and working hard.
