Answer: in both, you’re going to get your ass kicked by kids when you start, so get used to it 😀
What’s the matter mister? Haven’t you ever been beaten by a six-year-old before?
Went along to the local chess club last night, which made it my first time going to a chess club in exactly 20 years (the last time was in 1993 in first year of college). For those who’ve never done this and who play chess, do it. If you don’t mind the point that you’re probably going to get the mandatory ego thrashing, it’s a bundle of fun. Live kibitzing and trash-talking during live bughouse games are things you just can’t replicate on the internet.
I did have a fair amount of difficulty in coping with the chess clock though, because I don’t normally play with one (I normally play correspondance chess on chess.com where you could take up to three days to move; or informal over-the-board chess in work at lunchtimes, where we don’t bother with a clock). So I’m going to have to practice with that a bit I think (and probably buy a chess clock soon enough), but ten minutes per side was only just outside what I could cope with (though all the others were merrily blitzing away on five minutes per side, so I’ve a ways to go yet).
So yeah, I’ve seen chess clocks being used… in the movies. It’s not quite the same thing in real life 😀 I’d be okay for the first six or seven minutes, and then I’d be spending more time thinking about the clock than the game; and with one game I genuinely, no-kidding, we-went-through-it-afterwards-to-find-a-way-out-and-there-wasn’t-one, had mate in three (with a sacrifice of a new queen in one variation) in the bag and then the clock went to zero and I lost on time 🙁
And I’m still stinging from a knight triple fork which left me choosing between giving up a rook or a queen in order to get my king out of check. D’oh…
But it was fun, and I’ll be going again next week, and this time, Pinky…
