#1 – Be a Graceful Loser
Chess has always been a favorite game of mine. I remember when I was seven
years old and on vacation visiting one of my aunts and my grandma and dad
sitting me down to teach me the game of Chess. That was great. At that same
house I remember discovering tomato worms in the garden of the back yard but
that’s a whole ‘nother story.
Over the years my dad and I would play. On average we would play a game
about every six months. I remember one time getting frustrated and crying that
I couldn’t win. My dad told me not to come back to play him chess until I was
able to lose without crying. It was about a year later when I came back to play
him chess. He wasn’t going to take it easy on me. I had to earn the right to
beat him. He was not just going to let me win to make me feel good.
As a child, there was only two times that I beat my dad and I can’t tell you
how happy I felt. To be honest, my dad was falling asleep between moves and he
didn’t have much concentration but it still felt good to win.
#2 – Challenge Yourself
I have found that one of the best ways to get better at a game is to play
someone who is better than you. I realized this at the end of the summer of
1985. I had hurt myself during the summer while at work and I was laid up for
about a month. I gave my mom some money and asked her to buy me a computer
chess board. I must have played a hundred games on that thing and only won 6. I
still have that chess board and until a year ago couldn’t find a new one that I
liked as much. Playing that chess board taught me a lot about chess and
strategy and I realized that just because I couldn’t beat the game it helped me
improve my game because it challenged me. It’s hard to improve if you’re not
challenged.
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