The one trauma of the summer was the loss of my Chess Camp teacher. It wasn't anything tragic. He helped me start our Chess Club (I know, original name) and taught the first summer. And then, he remarried. Wife #2 was not happy with all the time he spent on chess (in his divorcee days, he would spend 6 hours on a Sunday memorize moves) and 1 week before the start of summer reading, he e-mailed me his resignation citing a need to spend more time with his family. Now before you get all upset, he had 9 months to make this decision but every time I talked to him, he would tell me how excited he was about this summer. You can't tell me that his wife made this request one week before the launch of Chess Camp.
As a result, I was left with no chess teacher. I play chess myself, but playing and teaching are two different animals. I tried to find a substitute to no avail. In the end, I did it myself.
Tonight, I had a newbie chess kid and discovered that this summer not only made me a better chess player but also a pretty good teacher. Not as good as Henpecked!Chess Guy but I actually enjoy it now. My newbie is playing in a tournament this weekend and I can't wait to hear how he fairs.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
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