I never learned Backgammon.

But I've played one heckuva lot of chess. I attended a chess club in high school that met once a week, and I did the same thing at the University of Washington. I enjoyed it very much, but I didn't get into the fanatical state that some people did.

One afternoon in high school, I told a fellow chess club member that I wouldn't be at the meeting that afternoon because there was something else I wanted to do. He concluded that I was nothing but a dilettante and not sufficiently dedicated to the game—even though I regularly whupped his ass!

In 1973, when I was in Pasco, WA working at a radio station, I entered a local chess tournament that was being held on my day off. I was mowing them down right and left until I ran into a seven-year-old named Gary. He came across the board like a phalanx of Sherman tanks and I got royally sliced, diced, and creamed! Gary won the tournament. He was the youngest player there.

That evening, I went back to the station and put the story of Gary's win on the sports news.

On my current laptop I have a pretty good chess program. I usually play a few games every week for enjoyment and to keep my hand in.

Don Firth