Chess

In my teenage years, after I was done playing baseball, swimming around and doing tennis, somehow I joined a chess club called Vegtlust (Nowadays found via https://www.schaakclubvegtlust.nl/), and here I learned how to play this old board game.

I learned the basics; the values of the pieces, the openings, the tactics, the strategies, and eventually attempting to play mind games and look ahead in long term as to what possible moves could be done next between each round.

Eventually I obtained about 5 or 6 diploma's, each representing a piece of the chess board. In between, not only would I get homework every week in order to solve certain chess situations and answer questions, we would play competitively each week as well, 1 on 1.

Occasionally, seniors would be playing against juniors like me on certain nights, and I remember how overwhelmed I was by the skill gap at some points. However, I did pretty well in general against teens from my age, and eventually I reached a high position or score at the club.

Someone at the club would also be reviewing each match being played out, and they would publish this then as a little newspaper, which would be distributed among members. I remember how fun it was to read back what they wrote about me and the tactics and skills they saw in me.

Finally, the chess club would also collaborate with my school back then to organize tournaments against other schools. We would form up as teams of 4 or 5 people and go up against others then. I don't remember much about that period, I'm sure it was exciting and thrilling, and the only thing that sticks out is that we were told that 1 chess player is better suited against another depending on the way he or she plays out the game.

Chess is a thinking board game which is centuries old, accessible from young to old, from beginner to master, and apparently, the possibilities between each round are uncountable as to how they will end each time.