Ernest Gary Gygax was born on July 27, 1938 in Chicago Illinois. The son of German Immigrants, he began playing games at the age five, starting with card games and then chess. First taught to play by his mother, his discovery of fantasy and science fiction through the works of pulp authors such as Jack Vance and Robert E. Howard would ignite in him twin obsessions that have defined his life from that point onward -- fantasy and gaming. Those loves would eventually combine in the creation of Dungeons & Dragons, the father of role-playing games.