My interest in chess began in junior high school when I was twelve. There was a Chess Club after school let out, sponsored by a very nice mathematics teacher, Mr.Milner.
Through his coaching, and largely by dint of sheer practice, my skill level, as well as those of my friends, improved. Remarkably I noted a high correlation between who became good players, and who was better at math, versus, say, English and Social Studies. In light of what we now know about left- and right-brain dominant people, this correlation no longer surprises me.
By by senior year, ninth grade, I was rated number one player on our chess team, which competed throughout Los Angeles County for the title of best Junior High School chess team.
Our team gained this title for all three years time I attended.
On occasion I played blindfold chess with some novice players... but Mr.Milner was certainly better at this than I.
On occasion I play speed chess, wherein a clock is punched after each move with a fixed total time for the entire game, e.g. five minutes. A one minute game is madness itself, pieces flying all over the board.
I never got rated on an absolute scale, and I wish I had since I no longer am active playing chess. Most of my mental energy now goes into work and two hour long chess games would detract from other mind-intensive activities.
In High School a chess team did not exist and I elected to enter mathematics competitions. That, however, is another story.
Click here for a link to the Internet Chess Club, including a listing of additional chess links, games in realtime on the Internet, and more.