It seems like anyone who’s got any brain at all knows how to play chess. It shows up in television shows all the time where one of the main characters just happens to be a master in chess and casually beats someone which gives the good guys some advantage they need to beat the bad guys and save the day.
I’m not sure how I missed the chess boat when I was a child, but no one I was around played. We did other things like building exciting forts and tree house escape routes, but sitting at a table playing chess was never on our list of fun activities for our minds.
And yet just like people who are successful in business but have a residual level of shame because they never got a college degree, I feel I’m somewhat of a less-intelligent, less-accomplished human being because I don’t play chess.
If this is the case, why haven’t I taken the time to learn chess though? Ever since the first Nintendo system when I was in high school, there have been chess games. I could download a dozen free on my iPad tonight and get some good lessons in game play and strategy—and yet I’ve never made the effort.
Chess doesn’t seem interesting to me. Is it because I know how challenging the game is and to be reasonably proficient at the game I’d need to invest significant time learning game play strategies?
I just saw a ten-year-old play chess with his mother this evening, which prompted this post. Should I be teaching my children chess? Is it an important skill or is it simply a game that builds critical thinking skills?
The Big Boy Update: We went to a zoo today. The children were all looking at the pigs together when my son said out loud to one of them, “thank you for the bacon this morning.” We have told him bacon comes from pigs, but we have not been specific about how.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter told me, “when I grow up I want to be a tooth fairy.”
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