This chess book is an ongoing project for those who have falsely heard that chess is hard to learn. It will be updated as needed for the most effective teaching! This book, Chastity's Chess Chapters, is the official guidebook of what my business, Chastity's Chess Challenge, is all about. I will be a chess teacher to the LGBTQIA+ community and people with disabilities.
By meeting in person, recording videos, or through some Creative Writing, I will do my best to make sure that nobody goes through life never learning how to play chess, the world's most popular board game sport!
I learned to play chess when I was 9 years old. My friend Patrick taught me, and I won the third game. He said he created a monster. Up to that point, I had always heard that chess was complicated. After learning the game, I struggled to find other people to play with. You have to remember that at that age I didn't have the internet.
The internet changed the game because you no longer need to wait for another human in your town to play with. You can set up matches with random people on lichess.org, chess.com, and even Facebook. If all else fails, you can download a chess program and play against the computer using some of the best chess engines available.
However, I will warn you that playing against a computer comes with pros and cons. Most computer programs will tear apart a player new to the game unless they are set to the lowest level AI. It can be discouraging to new players who lose twenty games in a row and then think, "I guess I am really bad at chess," and then get discouraged and quit playing.
Chess is a game where you are going to lose half the time because it's a game of pure skill where anyone can win if they can outsmart their opponent. You don't need to be a genius to play chess, and you certainly don't have to know math or memorize opening theory to get started playing today. You only need to know the rules of chess, which can be learned in less than half an hour.
The book you are reading now is meant to teach the rules and be a reference to look back on if you forget. I will also include some common suggestions on a few good ways to get started playing and what your first moves should be as a beginner.
In Chapter 4 I provide a list of the best Free and Open-Source Software that allow you to play Chess against your computer by training against Stockfish or manage databases of your games.
In Chapter 5, I list my favorite websites where I play Chess and its many variants almost daily. I am very active on there and it is quite possible that you will find me under the username chastitywhiterose on most of the websites listed there.
