Check mate. ♟️

I have told the story before. When I was in sixth grade, my teacher had the ingenuity and patience to teach our class chess. I had no idea how to play the game when I entered Mr. Jared Hoadley’s classroom but when I left for the summer I knew how to navigate a chess board with confidence and basic strategy. What a gift!

The game has come in handy over the past 27 years. Chess is truly a universal game and I have been able to play with many people over the past few decades. In fact, lately I have found myself face-to-face with a truly formidable opponent: my daughter.

We enrolled Sloan in Chess Club at St. Mary (Spokane Valley) and it has opened up another opportunity for me to bond with her.

We enrolled Sloan in chess club at St. Mary. Every Monday for just an hour after school, a professional chess coach from the Inland Chess Academy visits the campus and gives a lesson. After he finishes his lesson, the enrolled students play each other.

So far it has been a great experience for Sloan. She has found that she enjoys chess and looks forward to the weekly lessons. The enthusiasm doesn’t just extend to Monday afternoons—she likes to play at home too.

As part of the enrollment fee, the Inland Chess Academy gave her an oversized chess set to bring home. So far it has received a lot of use as she challenges her old man. Yep, Sloan and I are playing chess on pretty much a nightly basis.

It has been fun to match wits with my daughter. At this point, my skill level is still above hers, so I have tried to do more coaching than just trying to achieve check mate in as few moves as possible. However, I know for certain that the day will come when she will wipe the board with me. To be honest, I don’t think that day will be too far off.

Sloan isn’t just playing me in chess. With Sidney’s parents in town from South Carolina, Sloan has went head-to-head with my father-in-law.

A year ago, I ran into Mr. (now “Dr.”) Hoadley at a high school football game. I told him how much I appreciated the effort he made to teach my class chess. He responded in a very interesting way. His main goal for teaching us chess wasn’t what I envisioned. Although critical thinking and strategizing were both reasons for helping us learn the game, there was something else that drove him to teach us chess. You want me to tell you what he said?…

He told me it was to give his students an outlet to be social with each other.

As Sloan pleads with me to play chess with her, I remember Mr. Hoadley’s motivation for helping us to appreciate the game. Although it is fun to compete against Sloan and teach her maneuvering/tactics, at the end of the day she views it mostly as a way to spend time with her dad. That’s something I can’t take for granted. Don’t Blink.