My journey in chess started with my family. My cousin Rohan, taught me the basics of chess. My mother learned chess herself so that she could play with me. Then my father trained me for local tournaments. My other Cousin Swapnil played hours of chess every day with me and together we learned the basic tactics.
I started playing in local tournaments when I was in 3rd standard. Scored 35th rank out of 36 players in my first tournament. Later went up to play in state-level tournaments. Won few, lost many and learned a lot. When I reached IIT Ropar for my graduation, we started a club for Chess. Later went to 50th Inter IIT sports meet to represent our institute and secured 5th Rank. Ended up starting my own chess academy called Aptonic in Pune, India.
After all this journey, I can assure you that I am not a great player. But I have gained a lot of knowledge over the years. With this book, I want to honour that knowledge and all those who helped me in achieving that knowledge. Hoping that this will help you in understanding the game and skills it teaches us for life.