Why should I play organized Chess?
or
What newcomers should expect from a chess club.

If you are new to organized chess, there are some good reasons why you should play at the Williamson County Chess Club. You can...

Pit your skills against real people instead of machines.
There’s a big difference between sitting in front of a machine and sitting across from another person. When you play another person, it’s like having a long conversation without words. When the game is over, you can discuss what happened and what might have been. You can learn much more from playing a person than just getting a pass or fail in your test against a machine. There’s another whole dimension to the game as well. The machine usually plays to it’s potential, people seldom do. When the machine makes a mysterious move, you’re generally the one in trouble. When it’s a person across from you and they make a mysterious move, someone’s probably in trouble, but it’s not necessarily you. Now you have to figure out if a mistake was just made or if you’re about to make it. No matter how bad things may be going for you or your opponent, the game is never over as long as someone can goof.

Wander among the games in progress.
You can watch opponents of various skills play each other. It’s kind of like flipping the channels on the TV when every channel has a different baseball game on it. When you spot one that’s got something interesting going on, you can stay there a while and see what happens. Even better, at the end of the game, you can ask the players why they did what they did.
Enter tournaments and start racking up points for an official United States Chess Federation (USCF) rating.
There are over Eighty-four thousand (84,000) rated players in the United States. Just because these people have a rating does not necessarily mean they’re better than you! A USCF rating is simply a system to let you know how your playing strength compares to everyone else who has a rating. Ratings go from 0 to about 2800. You’re considered a master when you have a rating of 2200 or greater. The majority of people are in the middle of the range at about 1500. All it takes is 20 rated games to establish a regular rating. Once you have a rating established, every win earns you points on your rating. Of course, losses take your rating in the other direction. Get a rating and find out where you stand. You might be one of the greats, but the world won’t know it until you have a rating.

Most people who haven’t played organized chess are fearful of "jumping in". Many of our new members started out this way, but after hanging out at the club, playing some casual games, watching what’s going on and getting some pointers on their game, they make the jump. They come to realize that the best way to improve their game is to play and learn. It does take some time to get used to playing with a clock, writing your games down, and actually playing at your potential, all at the same time. At first, all this stuff may be distracting, but after a while, you will be able to focus sharper on your game than ever before.

We have a wide range of skill levels at the club. Each month we usually have someone, such as you, who has never played a rated game before, joining the club to play. There is no such thing as "not good enough to play at a club". Everybody is at some level of skill. Many have started out at the bottom and worked their way up. Others have found that they were much better than they thought. All you need is the desire to play and learn and you will have an enjoyable experience at the club.

Dynamics of Chess
Hasan Hasan
1st V.P. of California State University Long Beach Chess Club

Chess is a game for people of all ages: You can learn to play at any age and in chess, unlike in many other sports, you don't ever have to retire.

Chess and Science: Chess develops the scientific way of thinking. You explore new ideas, try to predict their outcomes and interpret surprising revelations. You decide on a hypothesis, then you make your move and test it.

Chess and Liberal Arts: The best chess players possess vast knowledge and are well equipped for our dynamic world. In chess, you don't only think like a king, but also like the pawn, bishop, knight, rook and the ever powerful queen piece. Knowledge is power . . . use it wisely.

Chess and Mathematics: Chess involves an infinite number of calculations, anything from counting the number of attackers and defenders in the event of a simple exchange to calculating lengthy continuations.

Chess and Art: Chess is defined as "an art appearing in the form of a game." Your imagination will run wild with endless possibilities on the 64 squares. You will paint pictures in your mind of ideal positions and perfect outposts for your soldiers.

Chess and Psychology: Chess is a test of patience, nerves, will-power and concentration. It enhances your cognitive skills. It tests your sportsmanship in a competitive environment.

Chess in Business & Economics: In chess, you are the savvy businessperson/social scientist. It's your responsibility to create opportunity and capitalize from it. You must efficiently allocate resources and employ all of your skills to obtain your company's goals.

CHESS IS FUN: In every game you are the leader and you alone determine the destiny of your team. You can sacrifice them, trade them, pin them, fork them, lose them, defend them, or order them to break through any barriers and surround the enemy king. You've got the power!

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