The name of the game is CHESS

Yes CHESS!
A competitive game played between two players, believed to have its origins in India, yet not so popular in its home, guess what! Its more about brains than brawns. Anyways I am not here to discuss the history or poularity of the game, its not my cup of tea, TEA?? milk would be a better alternative for me-its mild.
Ok lets cut out the bla bla...I have been exposed to a lot of chess lately more than ever before, NO! I am not learning the game but my mate has a thing for it. Let me profile him a bit for you..hes an IT techie; and when I say Techie, I dont mean like the thousands we have now a days, flocking around..hes the real deal. Hes married, has a child, works nearly 12 hours a day and yet has time for chess, YES he has - the time you and me would be relaxing (TV, music, and lots of other stuff but Chess? naah!). Trust me it used to bother me initially but I learn that it was relaxation for him (realxation can you belive it by making your mind work after a long and asking day).
I had the chance to go to a Tourni (I use this term for a tournament on a small scale) with him, he had been looking forward to this for a while, it was the first time I was to experience this game being played at a professional level. For the 36 tables that were laid out (72 players that is) I could see more than 15 kids (of the age group to 7 to 12). The way these kids played; I ain't sure anymore if I should use the word KID for them. I had expected a quick exchange of armour at each table the way I would do it when I would play the game, if ever, once in a blue moon. Ahh I was disappointed, the game was slow, very slow (there are the BLIZZ-fast paced variants of the game too-this wasn't one of those), I wasn't to witness any exchanges for the first 1o minutes atleast, not that none was available - the way a layman like myself would see it, at least 5 points each side were ready to jump off the board.
I learnt its not just about the number of points you have on the board (that does make a difference sometimes however), but also the logistics (the position your points are on and the area of influence they have). There are even computer programs (not plain games but high end algorithm) that are available to challenge the human intellect, Chessmaster is one, Fritz is the most competant available these days with an average of 30 million moves calculated per second- can you believe.
Makes me wonder about the capabilities of the human mind and the power of imagination we have and where it can take us.