Fri Feb 03 2012
by Tim Troglen, reporter
The thought of a column on chess crossed my mind a few days ago.
I was getting a bit frustrated at the lack of chess aficionados in my circle of friends.
It began when a good friend of mine, originally from Glascow, Scotland, gave me a hand-crafted chess set as a gift. He molded the pieces out of lead and painted them himself.
They depict medieval pawns standing in protective service of the royal house of king, queen, bishop, knight and rook. Each piece is on a round-wooden base -- 16 dark and 16 light.
As friends admired the pieces being spread out on a small table, I would ask, "Do you play?"
The answer was routinely, "no."
I had a new chess set and no one to play with.
I was a bit down. Chess is a very special game to me. My favorite opponent and the person who taught me to both play and love the game, my dad, died about five years ago. And each time I see a chess piece, play a game or set up a board, I feel a bit closer to him.
I remember learning to play chess with my dad's favorite set. It was a black and white set of Staunton pieces which were about 4-inches tall. Dad had taken the felt from the bottom of the hollow pieces and filled each one with melted wax and BBs. He did that so the pieces would be heavier and less likely to tip if the board was bumped by his young son, me. After the felt was carefully replaced and the wax cooled, the pieces were placed on the faux marble board.
To me, it looked amazing.
Dad, like me, loved to study the game.
He would cut chess games from the local newspaper and save them to be studied and worked through later. Dad could, unlike me, keep chess notation in the old school style, which was changed several years ago.
Dad would even watch televised games. In 1997 I remember sitting down with him and watching then reigning World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov lose to the IBM-created chess computer Deep Blue.
Chess was a deep bond we shared most of my life.
That's why it was sad for me to think interest in the game I love, played by castled royalty and humble peasants, was waning.
But, thanks to my editor, I found out where the chess players are -- in Hudson.
The boss sent me some information on Hudson-related chess activities for the column.
I was impressed.
I knew the high school had a chess club, most do. But I had no idea chess classes are offered for children as young as 4. Did anyone else know there are HCER classes offered on chess, taught by a master level instructor?
I didn't.
Nor did I know, until I got the info from my editor, about a local chess teaching program, Vivacity Inc., offers both online and in-person lessons, along with equipment and tournament information.
Dad would have loved these sites. I do.
It seems, to my delight, the game has not been put away on a dusty shelf in Hudson, but polished and allowed to thrive.
That's good.
In these tough times with an uncertain economic future, it does me good to see a game that has brought me so much joy and formulated a bond which still draws me close to my dad, is still being taught to sons and daughters by Hudson parents and instructors.
As I'm finishing this up I'm looking at a chess piece paperweight siting on my desk. It was given to me by my mom, who had given it to my dad.
It's a simple piece, a white knight and pawn encased in a clear cube.
But it's a continuing reminder, like the game of chess, of the bond I forged, over the simple game we loved -- chess.
Thank you, Hudson.
E-mail: ttroglen@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3146
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