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. . . and I’m fine with that!
Back in my running days, I used to love to read the article that was on the last page of every Runners World magazine called “The Penguin Chronicles”. It was written by a guy named John Bingham (aka “The Penguin”) who knew he was always going to be in the back of the pack at any race but loved it just the same. He celebrated the camaraderie of being out on the course early in the morning with like-minded folk and having a grand day out even if he came in last. Well, that about sums up my chess tournament life.
I love going to chess tournaments even though I know I’m most likely to end up near the bottom of the rankings sheet on day 3. First of all, it is one of the rare opportunities I have to spend several hours away from my phone. Playing a game in a tournament is a straight-up meditation. The room is almost completely silent except for the soft click of pieces being exchanged and you are staring at the board for hours thinking of nothing besides, “How can I improve my position while protecting my pieces?”
Also, losing is all a matter of perspective. One of the things my adult chess playing friends often complain about is losing to children. And I do mean children. Go to any serious tournament these days and you will see competitive players as young as six tearing up the boards. But I will tell you that I’d rather lose to an 8 year old any day than some Grumpy McGrumpface grownup. The last time this happened to me I lost to a girl who was about 9 and she was delighted when I resigned. There was no question I had just made her day and she couldn’t wait to tell her family she had beat that “old man” over there. I smiled right back at her happy to have been a part of someone’s good day. We all need more of those.
I will, of course, continue to work on my game. I love to study openings (c4 anyone?) and read about clever tactics. I’m not opposed to winning now and again, I am just not going to make my enjoyment of the game, and especially tournaments, dependent on it. So if you see me in the lobby of a cheap hotel drinking bad coffee and chatting with someone holding a funny looking clock, I probably just lost my morning session game and am speculating as to who I might be paired with in the afternoon. After lunch!
