My Boys and Chess

I don't exactly remember when it started. I'll start here. My wife bought me a chess set from Kenya through her sister and brother in law who lived in Kenya as missionaries at the time. This was several years ago. They brought it back with them when they came back to the states on furlough. It's a beautiful set made from some sort of clay that is hardened and painted. Even the board was made out of the hardened clay. It looks similar to the set in the picture to the left, except my board is square. It's just too beautiful to have in a box in the closet. So, we keep it out on display in our living room. I've always wanted to learn how to play chess. I played my step-father once before he passed away. He beat the crap out of me. I'm not a very good player. I know how the pieces are supposed to move, but I have no concept of strategy yet. I played my brother-in-law when they came back from Kenya for good. He beat the crap out of me, too. But, I'm not giving up.

At one point, my son Garrison asked me to teach him about chess. I explained a little about what the pieces do and how the game works. We played a test game so that he could see the concepts in action. I figured that it would be too complicated for him and that he'd lose interest and come back to it later when he was older. Shortly after, his cousin Dylan (who is a few years older) was taking a chess class at his home-school enrichment program. He came back from the class and challenged everyone who was willing to play so that he could try out the new strategies he was learning. Most of the time, he beat me too. Garrison would watch these games and started picking up the little nuances of the game. At another point, Dylan started teaching Garrison how to play and they would sit at our house and play games. You wouldn't expect to see a 7 year old and a 10 year old playing chess, but they were serious about it and were in it to win it. Garrison started to get pretty good. I even started thinking that we should put him in a chess club or something.

The other day, Garrison challenged me to a game of chess. He's now eight years old and a darn good chess player. He has actually mastered the art of thinking a few moves ahead (something I'm still working on). Well, long story short, he beat me....twice. And it wasn't even a close game. Within a few moves he had my King trapped and proudly stated "Check Mate". My ego was bruised, but it fired my determination to really start to learn some strategy. A couple days later Garrison and I played a heated game which I eventually won...but it was close. He's a smart cookie, that Garrison.

Yesterday, while Joi and I were watching the Lakers beat the cream out of the Utah Jazz (without Kobe and Bynum, no less)...I watched Garrison and Gavin (my five year old) play chess. Garrison has been teaching Gavin the rules of the game. I asked Gavin if he knew how the pieces moved and he explained to me a couple of pieces and how they move. I was impressed. They played a game and Garrison kept giving Gavin pointers. It was so cool to see my five year old and my eight year old play such a heady game as chess together. It was a proud Daddy moment for me. I've got some smart boys.

While this chess game was going on, my middle son, Gage who is more interested in music and art than chess was drawing me a picture that I could take to work and hang on my wall. It's a beautiful drawing in crayon with him and I walking in the mountains with a beautiful sunset making the sky appear blue, green, orange, and yellow. I loved the picture and it's already pinned to the cork-board in my office. It's great to be a Dad.