Day 110: The game of Chess

Dad taught me to play chess. He would let me choose any three pieces to take off of his side and we would play. As I learned to play a little better the number decreased to two and then to one and finally we each played with a full set of pieces. Dad told me that if I could beat him three times in a row that he would give me twenty dollars. This was all the motivation that I needed and soon had dad playing chess with me quite often in an attempt to win twenty dollars. It took a long time and many many games but I finally beat him three times in a row and got the twenty dollars. As a kid I thought that the real prize in this was the twenty dollars. Now that I'm older I realize the real value wasn't in the twenty dollars but rather in the time that I was able to spend with Dad and in learning a skill that would help me in life. No, playing a game isn't the skill, but playing chess requires a lot of thought and analytical skills that I use now.

Thanks for taking the time to play and teach and for knowing how to motivate me.