# How good is your chess game?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-is-your-chess-game/288572>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 5, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-is-your-chess-game/288572 "2005-02-05T21:54:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-is-your-chess-game/288572/81 "2005-02-16T11:56:01Z")

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> [@Lazlo](#):
>
> Well, I talked to one of my friends and he said his rating was 1320. Is that below or above average?

I don’t know what the average US rating is.  
A few years ago, somebody calculated that the average of 25,000 English players with a rating was 110 (English), which is roughly equivalent to 1460 ELO.

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**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-is-your-chess-game/288572/82 "2005-03-21T13:36:39Z")

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> [@Duck Duck Goose](#):
>
> For anyone who wants to learn to play chess in the humiliation-free privacy of their own computer, I can hardly say enough good things about a nifty piece of software called “Learn To Play Chess With Fritz and Chesster”, available at places like Best Buy and [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com). I had wanted for years to learn to play chess, and it wasn’t until I started working with this game that I finally “got” it. It’s designed to teach children how to play chess, there are kewl tutorials to play with besides the main chess game, where you have to defeat King Black to save the kingdom’s honor, and it’s just a really, really neat game, the best $19.95 I ever spent on software.

Just wanted to pop in here and thank **Duck Duck Goose** for recommending this. Got around to buying the software about ten days ago. Both of the Shibblets love it, although at first they were a little reluctant. They especially like the scale that measures their ability as they progress. I sometimes have to explain to them a little about what the software is trying to teach them and help them “see” some things, which has helped me think about chess in a different sort of way than just how the pieces move. One of the best parts is that the software works on both Mac and PC platforms, which makes it useable for us. I can’t wait to see how the sequel is, and hope to eventually get around to reviewing the other ongoing games and also challenge **Glee**.

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**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-is-your-chess-game/288572/83 "2005-03-23T16:55:21Z")

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I’ve played chess since I was a child, but I’m not all that good at it.

However, lately I’ve been playing a little bit more because I got a copy of Battle Chess. BC plays a decent game, but I am just entranced with the fights between the pieces. But at least I’m playing again…

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