Checkmate. Refueling my mind with chess.

Chess. Five years old at the beginning of the pandemic and everything is pretty much closed down for summer.z. What’s a mom to do to keep her son active and engaged during the summer months? Summer is not my strong season with my heat intolerance, but what else can we do to stay indoors and at home where it’s safe?

A lot of kids programs were popping up virtually and than one in particular caught my eye: it was a chess camp for kids run by NYC Chess. The online ad said it was for kids ages five and up so I thought I’d give it a shot.

Sean took to it like it was meant for it. I watch the way the instructors would have the kids learn and it was fascinating. In the beginning, they tried to teach them whatway was the quickest to capture a pawn using a particular piece. It was beginning puzzles they would be using on the platform Lichess, a free online chess website. His brain would see the patterns and how the pieces would move before I could even begin to try. It’s just how his l Yuko

 Little did I know that a five year old could teach me how to focus my brain on a challenging task like chess strategy. Chess is a lifelong learning process, thinking of ways that you can use strategy to check meet your opponent, as opposed to just capturing pieces.

The instructors would use lichess for their valuable training tools, like puzzles and lessons. Sean talk to it and I was very surprised at how bright he was. I had really never seen him learn with the help of an instructor, and it was interesting to see how he handled zoom, the platform that hosted the online lessons. He never wanted to have his camera on, because he did not want the other children to see him. The instructors were OK with it, but always asked him if he would turn it on to see if he would, to no avail. It wouldn’t be until he was about 6 ½ that he was OK with it. By that time the pandemic was a bit more under control, and he would be back in school this year at the age of seven.  

So here’s this kindergardener at five years old having to go back to school with a face mask halfway in the school year. I kept him home doing virtual classes until the spring when I felt it was safe enough and more under control.

The principal used chess to encourage him to come to school every day by playing a correspondence move with a chessboard on his desk. Then Sean would make his move and the principal would come back at the end of the day and make his move. There was a Chess Klub at school that wasn’t running currently but I hope that someday he can join it.

So now you have some background on how Chess came into my life. I had no idea that I was going to learn chess and such a valuable way to keep my mind fueled every day.

I always felt that I needed to keep one step ahead of him, especially to encourage his play when he would be finding other things that would interest him. He has become such a gamer, and I feel that I need to open up a quick game on my phone to have him just throw down a move or get a check made for me. In truth I learned Chess because of him. He is my muse.

So when I’m not listening to an audiobook or thinking of my next blog topic or focusing on my breath while I’m on the elliptical or handbike, I will open up a chess game with the computer. I only play rated games when I am sitting down focused, and not eating. I hope to move up to level three, but at least I know that I have come along way. And it keeps my brain fueled. Before I go to sleep at night I will open up a chess game to just get my mind focused and in order. It’s like I see the chessboard and my brain just focuses on one thing. It’s not all over the place like my brain usually seems to be.

So whether it’s sudoku, crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, I highly recommend finding something to focus your mind on while being mentally active. It makes you feel pretty damn good about yourself. You have the power, you just need to find the activity that’s right. Checkmate.