Emily’s First Chess Game
posted December 12th, 2005 by George
Emily wanted to use some of her Christmas money from Granny (Shannon’s grandmother) to by a Chinese checkers game. She had never played Chinese checkers before, but I guess a board shaped like a star with marbles on it looks pretty fun to a 4-year-old. So we shopped around and finally decided on one of these sets that comes with Chinese checkers, regular checkers, chess, backgammon, mancala, etc. We have enjoyed several rounds of Chinese checkers, and she is learning well. Nathan, of course, wants to play too, so that makes for an interesting game. This weekend I played two colors so I could be opposite both of them. After a while I completely gave up trying to get Nathan to make legal moves. I just let him pick up any of his pieces and place it wherever he wanted to on the board. Talk about throwing off your strategy.
Anyway, Emily has been asking me to play “that game you play on a checker board that isn’t checkers”, commonly known as chess. I just wasn’t sure if she was ready for it, but today I finally broke down and decided to give it a shot. So, tonight I sat her at the bar and explained the moves and rules while I cooked dinner. She has a way to go, but I think she picked up on it fairly well. She even managed to beat her old man after dinner. And to make matters even worse for me, Shannon caught it on video (watch below).
Click to Show/Hide Media Content: ChessGame or Download File.Filed under: Family on December 12th, 2005
Oh, that’s great!!
I think it’s been said before, but it sounds like Emily & I have more in common than the fact we both have a 5-letter first name & 4-letter middle name.
Thanks sharing the stories & uploading the video, I got to show it off to Clint & another friend as they were both here as I viewed it.
Well, George, you’re already a good player and I think Nathan’s strategy of keeping you on your toes will only aid you in improving your skills.
George,
You should be ashamed… Losing to a four year old?
That is just too cute – I love it! It was good to see Emily in action. I always think, “Wow, she looks/acts so old!” Then I remember that I have a daughter that age and feel really old myself! But I’m pretty sure Kaelen wouldn’t sit for a chess game – Emily is one smart cookie! Your family does the funnest stuff.
PRECIOUS story and video!
Laura’s comment is so interesting about her and Emily’s “love for games”. Sweet memories flooded my head of LB when she was Emily’s age and her “LOVE for playing games.”
Hmm, Emily is already successfully playing the adult version of chess. Guess the “Quick Kids Version” that is under the tree should have the name switched to Nathan!
See you soon!
Emily asked if I would play chess with her today at lunch. I agreed, but I only know enough about chess to move my own pieces, not help anyone else. Therefore, Emily did not get any help from me. But I did remember enough about chess to win – and to do so fairly quickly. So I think the Quick Chess game under Gran’s tree should still have Emily’s name on it! She will really enjoy it though.
That was so very sweet. I also loved it. Thanks for sharing the video and story. It was so neat to see Emily and George playing together. See you at Christmas.
check and mate, man. check and mate.