I think that homeschooling is turning me into a verifiable nerd.  That or I have always been shallow and I am acquiring a well-rounded education in my old age —  I’m getting culture-ated.

I bought a chess board.

Famous People Play Chess

While I am sure a lot of people play chess, I always thought . . . only geeks played chess.  (Oh contraire Jodi!  There is a HUGE list of famous people who played chess!)

Please don’t shoot me.  As you will recall, I had my come to Jesus moment over Guess Jeans and Gap clothing.  I can be shallow.

However, I discovered that the person I define as the coolest person on earth (the Engineer) knows how to play chess.  How could I have not known this odd fact after dating nearly 20 years?

But if my memory recalls, I used to think he was a nerd because he rode the school bus toting his saxophone.

Learning to Play Chess

All this to say, I’m learning to play chess alongside the boys and it is as addicting as Settlers of Catan.

Why Do We Need to Learn Chess?

So, while I was at the homeschool convention last week, I crept into the Championship Chess booth.  I secretly wanted to grab the goods and run – so as not to be seen by anyone.  But I soon discovered that was difficult with a vinyl chess board sticking out of my Apologia bag.  Everyone knew that I was entertaining ideas of pawns, queens, check mates, and who knows what else. 

I opted for the blatant approach.

Please convince me why I need to teach my kids chess and why this is an important game.

I don’t think my new friend, Jan, was expecting this. I wanted to be convinced.  Because somewhere it had been implanted into my brain that, like guitar, this was important to learn.  Thinkers play this game. 

And it just seems like an international game – universal – across cultures – like guitar.

Chess is Valuable

Chess is thought to raise IQ scores.  But I don’t care about that.  I don’t want my children to feel defined by their smarts – but more by their relationship with their Savior. 

But chess does offer us

• critical thinking skills,
• strategy,
• patience,
• a game that can be played anywhere,
• a skill to be learned.

I Bought a Chess Set

So I bought the vinyl chess board that rolls up with a complete set of plastic chess pieces.

Jan threw in the carrying bag, Color My Chess World sticker book for Gabe, and Chess Basics for the older boys and myself.  (You can find all of this at Championship Chess.)

And we’ve been playing.

The kids surprisingly beg to play.  I find myself lured to the chess board too.

I even considered asking the Engineer if he wanted to play chess on our date this weekend.

Do you play chess?  How did you learn to play chess?  Do you think it is a female or male sport? 

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