The chess culture

I lovingly recall the times when I used to go in chess tournaments. The trip, the accommodation, regathering with the friends and colleagues, getting to know more people, exchanging addresses in order to keep in touch... Eating together, laughing, talking about the games, why I chose that move, what would have happened if I played differently etc. Visiting around, buying presents and souvenirs, having long walks, long conversations and admiring the surroundings. And the games! Oh, getting nervous or keeping the cool, playing smoothly or managing tough situations, creating a piece of art or ruining everything with a blunder, preparing traps and hoping the opponent will bite the bait :) Through smiles and crying, sometimes going for the medal and sometimes not, mostly rejoicing in victories and eagerly awaited prizes, the years of childhood, the adolescence spent from travel to travel and from one accomplishment to another left many sweet memories and many times a feeling of nostalgia, a desire to start it over, to do it again, to reconnect... Yes, chess culture is a lifestyle, the life of a chess player: a dreamer, a thinker, an achiever. You know?!...