I started playing chess when I was five.
Not competitively. Not for trophies. Just… because I loved it.
Chess was one of the few safe spaces I had growing up. It was quiet, structured, and full of possibility.
You could make something out of nothing—if you could see the right move.
That idea stuck with me.
I’ve played on and off ever since—never in a tournament, never with formal study.
To this day, I don’t even know how to write chess notation properly.
I don’t have an official ELO rating.
I just started a new chess.com account, and right now, I’m sitting just under 1000.
But lately, I’ve been playing more.
Not to chase a number, but to reconnect with that part of me—the intuitive player, the quiet thinker, the kid who could sit still and see.
My goal is to eventually reach an 1800 rating and finally play in official tournaments. But right now? I’m just enjoying being a beginner again.
And this week… I had my first proud moment in years.
The Setup
It started with a classic mistake from my opponent—they brought their queen out on move 2.
I’ll admit, it felt like a gift.
I got to chase their queen around the board while calmly developing my pieces, gaining tempo with every move.
And then came move 14.
The Forklift Special ♞🏗️
In one move, I found something that made me pause and smile before I played it.
It wasn’t flashy, but it felt right. Like the board opened up and said, “Go for it.”
I offered up a knight sacrifice.
But this wasn’t just a trade—it was a fork, a discovered attack, and a positional shift all wrapped into one.
My knight hit both the queen and the rook. At the same time, it uncovered a discovered attack on the queen. My opponent had to move the queen—and I got the rook for free.
There was something poetic about it.
The knight moved in, made a mess, cleared the way, and left the board changed.
So I gave it a name:
The Forklift Special. (A fork. A lift. A clean-up job.)
Was it a grandmaster-level tactic? Of course not.
But for someone who’s never studied chess theory, who’s just now learning how to properly read notation—it was a moment. A breakthrough. A small win that was super-satisfying.
Why This Matters to Me
I’ve played a lot of games lately.
But this moment felt different.
It reminded me that creative thinking isn’t just about art, or music, or writing.
It’s about seeing possibility under pressure.
It’s about making something out of your current position—no matter how limited it looks.
Chess is helping me build that muscle again.
Not through hustle or hyper-optimization—but through play.
Through presence.
I talk a lot about growth mindset, about building systems that align with your energy.
Chess has become part of that for me.
It’s a way to slow down, think deeper, and enjoy small wins that aren’t tied to output or productivity.
This game didn’t make me a better chess player overnight.
But it did remind me: I can still surprise myself.
What I’m Building Toward
- Learning to write chess notation
- Studying openings and tactics
- Getting my first official ELO rating
- Playing in my first over-the-board tournament
- Reaching a goal of 1800 (even if it takes years)
And maybe, just maybe, sharing the journey along the way.
If you’ve ever thought about picking something back up—something you loved before the world told you to “get serious”—I hope this inspires you to start.
Even if you’re not great.
Even if you don’t know where to begin.
Even if you don’t know the rules.
Start anyway.
Because there’s something beautiful about being a beginner on purpose.
PS:
If you want to see the full game, go here: https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/141328307378/analysis
Just don’t bring your queen out on move 2. 😅
And if you wanna keep tabs on my progress, go here.
