several years ago, i made a deal with my older kids that if they ever beat me, i would buy them a prize. this motivated the two older kids for a while, but they never got close to beating me. i made the same deal with my 10 year old, and he got to work! he wanted to beat me.
when we first began to play, he would move quite fast. but more recently, he has been taking his time and really thinking about his moves. this week, we were playing our usual nightly game. i was surfing the internet on my tablet while playing him. but i was still trying to make good moves. before i knew it, he had forked my king and queen. i still wasn't too concerned, but then i failed to defend my back row and he was able to notice and deliver the checkmate. it was over. i was honestly stunned, but extremely happy at the same time! he is a very modest ten year old and wasn't overly excited, but he was undoubtedly proud of his accomplishment!
now the fun begins! i hope he continues to improve and continues to make our games more challenging.
coincidentally, this week my son and i worked on his pinewood derby car. his idea was to make the car into a chess piece. naturally, we decided to make it a rook and call it "ROCKYROOK"!
the derby is tonight; we doubt he'll win the whole thing, but it's always a fun event!
