I wonder, how many of you GOGs play chess in real life? How did you learn? How good are you? Do you like it and why?
I was taught the rules by my father, we've spent many hours playing, learning different tricks and strategies. I even belonged to a chess club for some time when I was in primary school. How nerdy can that be! When I mention this fact to my friends today they think I'm joking, but hell, it was fun to use my head in a man-to-man strategic game in times when most people haven't heard about games played over internet or lan :-)
What about you guys? What are your memories of chess when you learned it first?

I would play it against some family members (who taught me the rules, but not how to play). And have played occasional games in the 1990s at the school chess club.
I eventually stopped though, as either I would win against an opponent who did not know the game, or have my own pieces obliterated by an opponent far more skilled than I, both leading up to me giving up on the game. Shame really, if I found more people at my level of skill back then I would probably still be playing today.

I do play, but not as often as I'd like. That's why computerized chess games are great! They kick my butt, however.
BJ

Well I do play a bit every now and again. a few of my freinds are pretty competive so its nice to see them desperately try to turn the tide if i've got the upper hand :P
I learned how to play from my freinds at school, at about end of summer term time, out on a field in the lovely sunny Welsh country side. I was being taught as we played and i was picking it up pretty quickly. then to my mates suprise I took his queen with my pawn and asked "is that right?" lol. his expression was great :)
A week later we were off to austria by bus on a jazz band tour, so a few good games of chess helped the 26 hr journey go alot quicker :D

Like most things I basically taught myself (read a few books about the basics & went from there). No chess club when I was in school so most games were against relatives or friends, so didn't really get to play much. Had original Battle Chess years ago which was heaps of fun, & the only one PC chess game I recall that allowed 'en Passant'.
Btw, I also have a 3D chess set (like on Star Trek), which adds some interesting strategy as the boards overlap & there are some small section that are moveable. Haven't seen a PC version of this yet, which is a shame.

I used to play over ten years ago. My last ranking was something around 1500 elo as far as I remember, but I stopped because it was getting too time-consuming.