Man, I get the cradle part.

I’m grateful for the way my uncle taught me to play chess as a kid.

He won, every game for roughly a year and then I got lucky he misplayed and I won, then lost for years. (I learned to play very young)

Then I got good enough where I beat him frequently, and then others were easier (my family played competitively in tournaments, etc.)

I asked him the first time I lost, most adults let me win games because I’m a kid, why didn’t you?

His response was, you’d never really get better in meaningful way. Look how happy you were improving yourself and winning, I’m mildly agitated I lost to a child, but made sure I didn’t again for years after.

I treat the vast majority of the games like that. I strive to play against people better than me so I can improve.

Trial and error may feel painful at times, but once the skills acquired it’s there.