Recently, someone unknown to me told someone else known to me, "Why do you allow your son to play Chess?! It's a complete waste of time! It will take all his mental space. He is not going to become a world champion! He is not going get jobs like a couple of decades ago! Make him study well at school. Let him learn his academics. Send him to IIT*! Let him get a professional degree. He will earn well!"
The future IIT-ian in question is about 10 years old. Of course.
The parent in question asked for advice. "What do I do? Chess does take up all the mental space with my son. He has lost interest in everything else indeed. He had finished all the volumes of Harry Potter just a few months ago. He doesn't touch any fiction anymore. He had an interest in music, but we have to force him to practice his scales now. He used to show a little aptitude for Badminton, but this wretched lockdown has ended all that. We had thrown out our Television a few years ago, hoping to turn ours into a 'Model Home'. Where all of us (a Grandparent included) would talk to each other, improve our reading range, play board games before bed time... you see, just live our lives better! But the tragedy is, all that free time is now occupied with chess.com videos, chess24 live commentaries, LiChess tournaments, and reading chess books! HELP!"
(The forgotten Hero)
I was, of course, overjoyed. But the guy's last word was a cry for assistance, making it clear which way the wind was blowing in his mind. But I didn't want this conversation to end short. After all, we chess players know how to reason with, aren't we?! We trainers are good at explaining, aren't we?!
