I played in a chess tournament this weekend. My first game was against a 10 year old girl who looked like she was from Indian decent. I had to look up the spelling of her name. Due to cultural and religious differences, I was not sure if a) I was allowed to shake her hand before the game starts, as is customary, and b) if I am allowed to shake the hand of a child without being accused of being the local pervert. In anycase, I did and probably broke a million rules.
It was a close game and she played very well. It came to the endgame and I had a won position. But one thing became apparent. During the scramble to get the moves done when short of time, her mind was working at hyperspeed while mine was like the slowest kid in the class, wading through a vat of treacle. I was aware of this as she banged out the moves, whilst probably enjoying the fact that I was the snail in the race. I lost. Took the pawn on the left (wrong choice), while taking the pawn on the right (right choice) would have easily won me the game.
Lesson learnt. I hate playing juniors!
It was a close game and she played very well. It came to the endgame and I had a won position. But one thing became apparent. During the scramble to get the moves done when short of time, her mind was working at hyperspeed while mine was like the slowest kid in the class, wading through a vat of treacle. I was aware of this as she banged out the moves, whilst probably enjoying the fact that I was the snail in the race. I lost. Took the pawn on the left (wrong choice), while taking the pawn on the right (right choice) would have easily won me the game.
Lesson learnt. I hate playing juniors!
