I learned to play at in 1967 at 12, and fell in love with the game immediately. My first USCF tournament was in Los Alamos N.M. I won a game against James Tuck, one of the physicists who contributed a vital part of the development of the Plutonium based A-Bomb, and won my last game in 7 hours (86 moves) with a B and N mate. Haven't equaled that performance since!