Chess & Apples to Apples

Chess — the most frequently played strategy game in the world.  Apples to Apples — one of the silliest, most fun games ever invented.  We bring them together for an afternoon of friendship, laughs, and friendly competition.

What to Bring

Food and Drink

Please bring some food to share.  We will have access to an oven to heat up some food.  If you have a standard size chess set, please bring it as well.

Time & Directions

The event runs from 1PM-5PM.  We’ll be playing in Alexandria, VA near the gym.  Directions to the event will be emailed to you after you register.

Free Chess eBook

When you check out, you’ll get a free PDF copy of the Rules to Standard Chess, Omega Chess, and Musketeer Chess.  The included eBook also includes the basic chess strategies covering elements like the fork and the pin.  If you are new to chess, you’ll want to bring these with you.  You can always access them from your website account.  For those who haven’t played Omega Chess or Musketeer chess — think of them as Chess Expansion Packs, adding some variation to an already stellar game.

Learning Chess

Chess is not a hard game to learn if you are learning from someone who is a good teacher.  In the first hour of Gameday (so 1PM-2PM), Paul (the host) will teach everyone how to play.  If you already know the basic rules, Paul will help you improve your game by providing some in-game strategy sessions.

How Do You Start to Learn Chess?

Where else?  Youtube.

Chess Tips

I saw this video on Chess Tips while looking for the above video, and it’s pretty accurate as well.  Think of this video as chess suggestions that are usually right (95% of the time.)

Apples to Apples

Apples to Apples is a super fun and hilarious game.  Chess for the most part is a serious, strategy game.  You match wits against your opponent and attempt to outhink and outplay them.  Apples to Apples has some strategy too, but it’s more about reading people and reading the room than anything.   It is always fun to play and provides excellent dessert after a chess match.

Paul’s History With Chess

Chess is a very special game to me.  It was the game that my father and I played every day until his unfortunate and untimely death in 1997.  That and Star Trek were two of the most favourite things we did together.  The Rules and Strategy of Chess was one of the first books I ever published.  As a teenager, I was the chess king of Long Island and that was something special to my father.  He was a highly ranked chess player and an excellent teacher.

I gave up playing chess 24 years ago.  Chess was a family game to me.  It wasn’t about competitions or winning — it was about love and friendly competition.  And while it’s a hard thing for me to do, I want to bring my Sand & Steel family into that same space where so many important memories still live.  And yes, they are sad memories, because I still miss my father to this day.  But I know he would have wanted me to share this knowledge with my Sand & Steel Family.  It’s time I paid that forward and shared what he taught me.  So thank you all for coming.