This text wont make much sense for people born in rich countries or young guys who dont know what the thing below is ;) Just a joke but you will see in a second.
So when i was around 10-12 there was not much to do at home other than watching TV so kids/youngsters were drawing, building lego etc.
Luckily my father was playing chess with me and when my mom visited USA she bought me a chess computer.
Whats a chess computer? An app? Well back then almost nobody had computers but i got a nice toy. Here is pictures.
The way it works - there is lights and the computer tells you how to move "for him" ie A6B6 and counts how you move. This way you play for yourself but also for him and learn both sides. After some time i was pwning the bot on top skill levels and believe me its hard. Right now i cant do it ;) Sadly i dont have much time to play anymore...
So there was some competition in my school, i won it easily. Then neighborhood again.. city. And again won it. How? Because i had this genius computer playing with me and others just had their fathers/grandfathers to try with.
I still have this little machine despite over 20 years just to remind me how cool things were back then. No apps, even a computer you could touch and feel. Chess on screen aint as fun as touching figures imho.