A few months back, I learned that my elder brother was diagnosed with a serious illness. I was shattered and could not handle it well. Thankfully, he is now on the road to recovery. He is a chess player, and I remember he had tried to teach me chess when I was younger, but I did not take an interest in it and now regret it.
I kept thinking about his passion and, on impulse, tried to play with a free account on chess.com. Meanwhile, I also started following the ChessBase India channel on YouTube and how the team encouraged chess in India. This was all for my brother, and I also learned how a player should get a FIDE rating. I hope that one day soon, I can witness my brother get a rating. He could not pursue his chess dreams when he was young because of life problems. He still plays chess daily on his mobile. I also hope to teach him how to open an account on Lichess and chess.com.
As for my playing, I soon learned that not all players are honest on online chess websites. So, I keep playing against the bots. On chess.com, I have defeated all the beginner bots and two of the intermediate bots.
I find the seasonal bots also interesting. The Christmas bots were very tough. The trash talkers were easier, and now the Valentine's Day bots have arrived on the scene. I was able to defeat the bachelor bot, but the ghosted bot did not allow me to win. Two draws and a loss. I will keep trying, though.
I am only a beginner in chess, and I know that I can never be a rated player. I would be too scared to play real-time chess with an advanced player. However, learning chess has been like therapy for me and it has helped me overcome my anxieties and fears.
I was happy to find that there is a beautiful chess community on Hive and that they conduct regular tournaments on Lichess. I hope I can be brave enough to participate one day.
