So, Ceci regularly bugs me to play chess with her. For a little while, it worked for me to say, "Mommy doesn't know how to play chess." Well, yesterday afternoon, it worked no more. "I'll teach you," she said. So we sit on the floor, and she tells me to set up my pieces. We are playing for a few minutes, and every time I want to move a piece, I ask her how I am supposed to move it. At this point, my problem is that I still don't know how to win at chess. Like, what the goal is. And she won't tell me. She will say, "Mommy, you are in check." I ask, "What does that mean." Her answer: "Well, you can be in check or checkmate." Doesn't help me. Every time she takes a piece of mine, she chirps out, "Thank you!" with a rather smug tone to her voice, reminding me slightly (so much) of her father. When I move wrong, she is sure to correct me. Towards what I assume was the end of the game, she is bopping her little pawn down to my side. She says, "Mommy, you can move your pawn there; I won't take you." I said, "Why not?" Like her mother, she is merciless, so I did not think this some grand gesture on her part; rather, I assumed there was an ulterior motive. Knowing neither the rules nor the point of chess, I was curious as to what she was planning.
"Because I want to get all the way across."
"Why?" I asked.
"I can't tell you."
"But what happens when you get all the way across? I don't know," I say.
"I can't tell you because then you'll block me!"
Ah, so all along, her goal was not to teach me, but to beat me. I should have known.
Shortly thereafter, Aunt Stephie called. I made some mindless moves and let Ceci win, which is all she really wanted.
I still don't know what happens when you get all the way across the board.
2 comments:
It means she can turn her pawn into any piece she has lost up until that point...usually a queen or a rook...which will be placed on your back like...bad news for her opponent.
Thank you! That explains a lot...
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