Describe a game or app you enjoy using

The app I want to talk about is a chess app on my phone. You can play against other people from all around the world, and every day there is also a puzzle which you have to find the best move.

I started using it about three years ago. At Christmas our whole family went to Cebu for a reunion, and my cousin Paolo challenged me to play chess. He beat me in maybe ten moves and everybody was laughing on me. I felt so embarrass, so on the ferry going home I downloaded the app because I wanted to revenge.

Now I use it every day. In the morning I play one quick game of ten minutes on the jeepney when I go to work, and at lunch time I do the daily puzzle. On Sunday I play longer games, sometimes thirty minutes for one game. But I try not to play more than one hour in a day, because it is easy to become addicted.

I enjoy it because it makes my brain work hard, not like social media. After every game the app shows you which move was a mistake, so you can learn from it. When I started my rating was about six hundred and now it is fourteen hundred, so I can see my improvement. And the best thing is that last Christmas I finally beat Paolo twice.

The app I use most, apart from messaging, is a chess app. You can play rated games against strangers from all over the world, and there's also a daily puzzle where you have to find the winning move in a position.

I've got into it about three years ago, and it was all down to my cousin Paolo. Our family had a big reunion in Cebu over Christmas, and he challenged me to a game in front of everyone. He checkmated me in about ten moves, and my aunts still bring it up. I was so embarrassed that I downloaded the app on the ferry home, mainly out of a desire for revenge.

These days I'm on it every single day. I play a quick ten-minute game on the jeepney on my way to work, do the daily puzzle over lunch, and on Sundays I'll usually play a few longer games. I do try to keep it to about an hour a day, though, because it's surprisingly addictive.

What I enjoy most is that it gives my brain a proper workout, unlike scrolling through social media, which just leaves me feeling drained. After each game the app analyses it and points out exactly where I went wrong, so I'm always learning something. My rating's gone up from around six hundred to fourteen hundred, which is really satisfying to see. And at our last reunion I finally got my own back by beating Paolo twice in a row.

I'd have to say the chess app on my phone, which I probably open more than any other. It's nothing fancy: you can play rated games against people anywhere in the world at almost any speed, and every morning there's a new puzzle where you have to spot the one move that wins.

How I started is slightly humiliating. Three Christmases ago my family had a reunion in Cebu, and my cousin Paolo, who's insufferably competitive, challenged me to a game in front of about thirty relatives. He wiped me off the board in ten moves, and I've never heard the end of it. I downloaded the app on the ferry home that same night, purely to plot my revenge.

It's now woven into my day. On the jeepney to work I'll squeeze in a ten-minute game, I do the daily puzzle over lunch, and on Sunday afternoons I indulge in a few long games. I cap it at roughly an hour a day, because I know from experience how easily "one more game" becomes midnight.

What keeps me hooked is that it's a genuine mental workout, the opposite of mindless scrolling. The app dissects every game afterwards and shows you exactly where it slipped away from you, which is brutal but incredibly instructive. I've climbed from a rating of about six hundred to fourteen hundred, so the progress is visible in a way it rarely is with other hobbies. And, I'll admit, the sweetest moment so far was last Christmas, when I beat Paolo twice and had the satisfaction of watching him ask for a third game.