Chess tournament and parenting thoughts

I took Alyssa to her second chess tournament this afternoon. Despite the fact that she didn't win any game this time (first two were a tie and she lost the last one), we had a great time going out together. She enjoy the games and the chance to play with her classmates outside of the school, and I simply enjoy being with her.



I can't exactly describe what I experienced today, but somehow I got a deep feeling of pride watching her. It seems like a blink of eye, and she is almost full grown. I always have some self-doubts about whether I have been doing a good job as a father. Seeing that all three of them turn out to be such great kids seems like a perfect verdict for our success. More importantly, by being close with them, I feel that I somehow made up the regret of having a distant relationship with my dad.

Not so fast young lady

I took Alyssa to her first chess tournament today. She really enjoyed the event and seemed to learn a lot from playing with other kids. After the final match, I decided to buy her a new chess set as an encouragement. Having the chance to pick out the bag/board/chess set made her really happy, and to my surprise, she also asked for a "I Beat Dad at Chess" sticker to go with the new chess set. My answer? "Not so fast young lady!"

Because they are friends

Watching Alyssa and Vivian play chess can be a quite entertaining experience. Given the choice of

(1) take one of Alyssa's pieces, and
(2) group her own pieces together,

Vivian would go for option (2) most of the time. The reason? "Because they are friends."

Surprisingly, this seems to be an effective way for preserving most of her pieces to the end and sometimes even helps to secure a win.

The mighty kangaroos

Recently Alyssa is becoming very interested in chess because she is learning it at school. To encourage her new-found hobby, we try to play with her at home whenever we can.

In a funny twist this evening, we learned a new rule that is not in any book: The most powerful piece is not queen; instead, it is David's mighty kangaroos.


The kangaroos can move in any way they want (who cares about those funny squares?) whenever they want (no more waiting for your turn), and can take out two armies in one thunderous move.