When I joined chess.com, it didn't take me very long to realize how poor my chess skill was.

Well, I am no ace now. I still blunder a lot. I still can't foresee my opponent's strong moves. I can't do without the analysis board. I still play more by gut-feel than concrete analysis.

But I've come a long way. I know I have a long way to go, but I feel what I've learnt in the last 1+ years is quite a bit for a part-time player. For this, I am thankful to chess.com and all the people who've helped me along, each in their own way. Here are some of them:

Heinrich (mauerblume): It was sheer good fortune for me to stumble into the "Learning with Fun" group. He has been a great source of inspiration and a teacher of chess and patience.

linksspringer (linksspringer): Another great teacher. After a period of flattening out of the learning curve, his cogent analysis has helped me pick it up again.

likesforests (likesforests): The author of the first set of articles/forum-posts I started reading on this site... for sheer value of the content and the wow-factor. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be active here these days! :(

Titus (titus26) & Chandra (jbchan07): These guys just kept playing with me and beating me often enough to make sure that I keep working hard.

Darren (Terminus_Est): He showed me with his fortitude that the game itself is a companion in fun and in adversity.

Chessy (Chessy4000) & Lynn (Knightguy): Their perseverance at improving their game will remain an inspiration for me for times to come.

Rani (INAR): She motivated me to join chess.com in the first place.

Thank you all.