I have a long and odd history with Chess. This is a quick sketch I did minutes before my Wednesday evening Chess game with J.W. tonight.

       J.W. is a good player, plays often via internet with players he’s never met. Games with me are his first games on a real Chess board in real time. We are a good match, and I am confident that, soon, I will win a game. We sit together  and drink tea or beer, and talk casually about what we’ve been up to in the last week, or we dwell on crucial moves in the game, thinking aloud and enjoying the suspense of each and every move.

      I shared with J.W. my Chess history: My Dad used to play Chess with the late Walter Tevis (author of The Hustler and The Man Who Fell to Earth). They played often, late into the night before I was born, and, as I understand, Tevis won most of their games. Tevis had played a World Chess Champion in the 70’s, apparently, and so when my Dad beat Walter at a game, the thrill was well-deserved. Walter died of cancer in the 80’s, leaving my Dad without a  friend and worthy Chess adversary.

     My Dad taught me to play Chess as a child, but, as with the piano, I resisted my Dad’s teaching methods. Only now, as an adult, do I relish our games of Chess together, once or twice each week. (Our agreement is this: For every ten games he wins, I treat him to a lunch. If I win a single game, he treats me to a lunch.)

      Thus far, I’ve yet to win a lunch.

      While in Seattle, my interest in Chess was rekindled, briefly, when Matt and I met at night to drink whiskey and smoke; That’s when we played our most enjoyable games of Chess.

       My sister’s son, at age eleven, is now a masterful Chess player, taught by, among others, my Dad. My nephew has now won many Chess trophies and more than a few games of Chess with my Dad; (A notable triumph, by any standards).

       With so dominant a Chess gene in my family, I find it irksome that I haven’t yet beat my Chess Partner, J.W. He has beaten me yet again tonight.

      Consistent with my new interest in Chess, I have, in the past year, created  a few pieces of unlikely creative Chess Art: For my nephew, I compiled an entire book of Chess cartoons. Then, on a whim, I used my video camera and chess board to create a most improbable theatrical  video composition: “Chess: The Musical.”  Nobody, including my Dad, fully appreciated the silliness of the project.

      The greatest (and only) Chess Trophy I have ever won, was during Christmas this past year. My nephew decided we would, as a family, play a Massive Chess Tournament, pitting family member against family member, regardless of our Chess skills. The winner of the Tournament was to be the recipient of a trophy that I suspect my nephew believed he’d take home himself. At  the onset of the Family Tournament, I declared that I would take the trophy myself! My nephew responded: “You’ll have to win every game you play, Uncle Steve!”

      The Challenge was on!

      Not surprisingly, I lost every single game of Chess I played against every single member of my entire family that Christmas. (Even my Mom!) EVERY  SINGLE GAME! And yet, as I predicted, I won the Trophy. According to my nephew, I was the Best Sport, and therefore, deserved the trophy he imagined he’d already won. I now display this Trophy of my Chess Mastery on our mantelpiece, and am often moved to tell the tale of how I won it. I am a Good Sport, as is my Nephew.

       One day soon I will win a game of Chess against J.W. And possibly, just possibly, I may win a lunch from my Dad. (Unlikely.)

     But my proudest success at Chess is my Trophy from my nephew for being a Good Sport.

     I look forward to next Wednesday. Watch out, J.W.!