In the Beginning . . .

Back in my Jr. High and High School days (late 1960s) I hung out with Eugene and Mark. We occasionally played pool, Risk, etc. in the basement of Eugene's house. Sometimes the game of choice was checkers, but Eugene wanted to teach me how to play chess. On multiple occasions he offered to teach me the game of kings and queens. My standard reply was that chess was too complicated.

Finally, one day Eugene caught me in a moment of weakness and I gave in. Shortly thereafter I bought my first chess book, Fred Reinfeld's The Complete Chessplayer. Determined not to lose at the new game (Mark, Eugene, and I were pretty competitive when it came to games), I soon managed to make my way through the entire (rather fat) book. Within a few weeks or months I was able to hold my own in our friendly competitions. Thus began my (sometimes) obsessive involvement in the wonderful world of chess.

Thank you Eugene and Mark for your positive influences!