Like many Queen’s Gambit fans, I went on from that TV series to chess movies, of which there are plenty of lists online, like this one. All are great and inspiring, although Rocky-like stories of triumph predominate, so don’t watch them all at once. It was the French-German production, Queen to Play, that gave me the tip that became an important early turning point in my chess learning. The protagonist of the film is a maid, and when her family learns of her chess-playing they give her a computerized chess set as a gift. The gadget lover in me couldn’t resist this, and I soon acquired the DGT Centaur. From where I am in my journey a year and half later, I see that, given the existence of lichess.org, chess.com, and others, there isn’t a strong argument for investing in one of these, but I wouldn’t trade the many early mornings I spent playing with it when I was first falling under the spell of the game. It also eased my husband and me into playing against each other. He, too, hadn’t played in many decades, and hadn’t begun studying as I had. Instead of just floundering and choosing moves at random when we got stuck, we relied on the Centaur’s “Hint” feature. It suggests and rates the many possible moves available from any position. We don’t rely on that feature much anymore, but we still enjoy using the Centaur as a nice-sized over-the-board set that logs our moves for later analysis. Despite the wonderful online sites, which I will discuss next time, I’m waiting eagerly for the ChessUp , which, after seemingly interminable delays, should be available soon. It promises to be able to connect to one’s online chess activities in interesting ways.
Starting Chess at Age 63