Three classrooms of students. Two gatherings of friends. One. Hundred. People.
That’s the number of people I was challenged to teach chess to within a year. I was at the closing ceremony of the Haring National Tournament of Girls State Champions. The Haring runs concurrently with the Irwin (Senior), the Denker (High School), the Barber (Middle School), and the Rockefeller (Elementary School). Each state holds a qualifier tournament for each of the sections, and the winner gets to go to their respective championship. In Oregon, this qualifier usually happens at Seaside.
To be honest, this wasn’t my first time receiving the challenge. One year ago, at the Barber in New Jersey, I was also given the same goal; to teach chess to 100 people who had never played it before. At the time, I thought it seemed impossible. After a few half-hearted attempts, I completely forgot about my mission, and I returned with my count teetering dangerously close to zero.
But this year, I’m determined to try again. To spread the knowledge, the love, the passion of chess is a hobby and a duty in itself. After all, who would any one of us in these championships be if nobody had thoughtfully taught us chess? I hope to start to give back to the community and hopefully teach 100 new chess players with Puddletown Chess.
Let’s flash back to the opening ceremony of the championship, which was held in the very hot city of Palm Springs, CA (I’m speaking as an Oregonian who’s used to 50s all year long here). There were lots of familiar faces from the US Girls Junior, so I was prepared for some rematches and hopefully some revenge games.
Time passed, difficult rounds flashed by (including many against my friends, but I’ve gotten used to that by now), and soon, it was time for the last round. You can see it, along with my analysis, here. And I would strongly recommend that you check it out, because it’s the only way you’ll know how I did :D.
Overall, I am happy with how the tournament went. Given the strong field, second place is a pretty good result for me. But it’s not over yet. My goal of 100 people is still in front of me, waiting for me to give the gift of chess like I received many years ago.
Thanks for reading!
