An Erickson Adventure: Checkmate

Growing up, we played games all the time. I remember playing Twister, Hungry Hungry Hippo, Clue, Candy Land, Checkers, Guess Who and so many other classics. We also have a giant Sequence board up at our lake cabin that we loved playing-and still do! Card games are something both of our families enjoy playing and there's nothing that gets blood boiling quite like a fierce game of spoons. Games have a undeniable way of bringing everyone together and either 1. causing fights 2. making it a laugh filled afternoon. Adam has a love for games too, which is why we registered for several of them on our wedding registry. Last summer, Michael and Alyssa went to Bolivia to visit his family. They bought all of us gifts that reflected some aspect of Bolivian culture. They got me a beautiful sweater and Adam a really neat chess set. I thought the chess set looked wonderfully unique and pretty, but figured it would end up being more of a decoration piece. Chess was one of the few games that my family never played growing up and because of that, I viewed it as this mysterious game played only by superior intellects. The summer we started dating (2011), Adam attempted to teach me chess while we were up at my cabin. We only had a checker board and had to use left over candy for the pieces. The rooks were chocolate eggs, pawns were checker pieces, king/queen were Crunch eggs and bishops were Hershey kisses. It didn't go well, and we never attempted chess again until roughly three days ago. I noticed Adam was playing chess on the computer and asked him about it. He had registered for an online chess site that allowed him to play games against other people. I instantly felt guilty that he had a perfectly capable playing partner (and an amazing chess board) right in front of him, who just hadn't given chess a chance. I read up on it that night and learned what each piece did and how the rules worked. Once I figured out how it worked and became more comfortable, I was hooked! Call me nerdy, but it now consumes way too much of my free time. I love the strategy behind it and how every move is made with the next three in mind. I now see why my over-analyzing husband loves it so much ;) I officially played my first ever game of chess on Tuesday night during dinner and can finally check it off my (imaginary) bucket list. I feel as though this is something Adam and I will enjoy playing until the end of our time.