As the "smart guy" in the shop, my compatriots sometimes assume I've got skills that I don't. In this case, I mean chess skills.

I am probably the best chess player in the shop, but that's not saying much. I can beat Titan Chess on the computer about half the time on level four, while most of the guys can only handle level two. But there are plenty of real chess players out there that can trounce me.

With the guys talking on my behalf, today I was challenged to a chess match by the gunny of the other squadron that shares our room on the boat. He's not a master either, but he still mopped me up. I need to call in my father as a cornerman; while he's not exactly an international champion either, he's substantially better than I am.

On a related note, last night there was a boat-wide Halo 2 tournament. Teams of two, team killer mode, first team to 25 kills, random map selection, single-elimination ladder. Several people tried to recruit me on the assumption that I'd be good at Halo. They'd be wrong. While I'm pretty good at first-person shooters on the PC, I'm wedded to the mouse and keyboard interface. I'm just not good at playing FPS with a gamepad.

Posted by: Boviate at 11:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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