Lost a game to a 14-year-old last week...

...and I couldn't be more proud!

For the past +/- 2 years I've been a volunteer chess teacher at a primary school in a very poor suburb of my city. Most kids' grasp of the game (and even the rules) is tenuous at best, but they are super keen, very competitive, and love to crush each other's hopes and dreams over the board. They play much too fast and I'm frequently called to adjudicate disputed positions that could not possibly have arisen through legal moves, which is exasperating but also very funny, and I have to be somewhat lenient. It's a learning process for everyone, but quite a joyous one.

Anyway, last week one of the most promising boys won a game against me. (In my defense, it was a rapid game, I was pretty tired, and had been vaping a lot of weed.) But I applauded when he gave check and forked my queen with his knight, and stoked to see him convert it to a win. He's 14 and has been playing the game for about 18 months, so beating my middle-aged, 1800-odd self is a major scalp. Legitimately very impressed.

So yeah, just wanted to share with y'all. Teaching the game to kids from very poor backgrounds has brought me a lot of joy.