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May. 4th, 2002 10:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnpalmerMemories...
I went to the national high school individual chess championship for the first time in my freshman year. I had just started playing chess, and, though I was showing some promise, my initial USCF rating was 954. That's not *HORRIBLE*... but 1000 is starting out. A person who really deserved an under-1000 rating probably shouldn't waste time in chess tournaments.
Now, this rating was almost deserved. I was just learning that chess had planning to it. It wasn't just random moves, followed by an unexpected result. (Yes, I knew that you could plan chess moves out... but I didn't yet know how. This tournament was where I started learning.)
Really, it's not surprising that I took home the top prize in the "Under 1000" category.
Of course, people saw me with the trophy, and asked what it was for. I, of course, told them, with an appropriate "I know it's not a big deal, and I know YOU know it's not a big deal" smile on my face. The response was universal: "Your mother will be real proud of you."
You can guess, I'm sure, the first words out of my mother's mouth when she heard what the trophy was for, right? I don't think she'll ever *REALLY* understand why I started laughing when she said that.
I went to the national high school individual chess championship for the first time in my freshman year. I had just started playing chess, and, though I was showing some promise, my initial USCF rating was 954. That's not *HORRIBLE*... but 1000 is starting out. A person who really deserved an under-1000 rating probably shouldn't waste time in chess tournaments.
Now, this rating was almost deserved. I was just learning that chess had planning to it. It wasn't just random moves, followed by an unexpected result. (Yes, I knew that you could plan chess moves out... but I didn't yet know how. This tournament was where I started learning.)
Really, it's not surprising that I took home the top prize in the "Under 1000" category.
Of course, people saw me with the trophy, and asked what it was for. I, of course, told them, with an appropriate "I know it's not a big deal, and I know YOU know it's not a big deal" smile on my face. The response was universal: "Your mother will be real proud of you."
You can guess, I'm sure, the first words out of my mother's mouth when she heard what the trophy was for, right? I don't think she'll ever *REALLY* understand why I started laughing when she said that.
