Chess

I have been playing chess on a casual basis for about as long as I remember. I mostly played with family as a kid, though I have some vague memories of playing in a small club at my elementary school as well.

Later, in high school, I carried a pocket-sized magnetic chess set which I would bring out at lunch (alternating with Magic: The Gathering and various traditional card games). I would also challenge my band director on exam days (read: no playing instruments), though I never won against him.

In college, I attended a few meetings of the Go & Chess Club (previously there had been two clubs, but they were forced to combine due to dwindling membership). However, the remaining members were much more interested in Go than chess, and I fell away from the game.

Years later, I watched The Queen’s Gambit and decided I ought to get into competitive chess… just as soon as the global pandemic was under control.

The remainder of this page chronicles my progress in USCF-rated chess. I am presently in rating class F, around the 64^th percentile.

Early on, I was in the habit of digitizing most of my games and organizing them by events, but this grew tedious. In 2023, however, I briefly revived this practice to commemorate my participation in the 123^rd US Open. You can find more recent results on my USCF member page.

Timeline

2020

November: Watched The Queen's Gambit on Netflix.
November 16: Joined Chess.com (rdnlsmith).
November 29: Joined Lichess (rdnlsmith).
December 29: Purchased a tournament chess set.

2021

February 27th: Purchased nicer, weighted pieces for my tournament chess set.
March 14: Joined the USCF.
July 6: Purchased a fancy wood chess set.
July 20 (International Chess Day): Joined the Grand Rapids Chess Center and attended my first meeting.
August 4–31: Played in my first tournament.
August 6: Purchased a chess clock (DGT North American).

2022

April 30: Tied for 2^nd place (out of 15 participants) in a U1000-rated rapid tournament; my first time on the proverbial podium. This event also marked my graduation from a “provisional” rating to an “established” one, thought it occurred too late to become official in May’s rating lists.
June 1: My first non-provisional rating (954; class F) became official with the publication of June’s rating lists.

2023

July 29–August 6: Played in the 123^rd US Open Championship.
September 30: Tied for 1^st place (out of 6 participants) in a U1200-rated action tournament. This marked my first time “winning” a tournament, and my first time earning prize money (a whopping $35! Of course, I also paid $35 to register for the tournament, but that’s not really the point).