Let them play!

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?!

I kept a concerned face, and asked him, "How bad is his craze for chess?"

He looked back with exasperation, "Today, at 5 AM in the morning, this fella blurts out in his sleep, "Ding, Giri, Hikaru and Carlsen!" 

I was taken aback. Such glory to hear a child so possessed! Nevertheless, wanted to fish around a little before throwing the hook in.

"What was that about?"

"There is some 'Break tournament' or such weird event going on right now. Must be the semi-finalists of the event".

(The Sleep Wreckers)

 

Okay, the harassed mind must be confused between Clutch & Break. I could feel how hot the water was!

"So passionate about a chess tournament, is it?!"

I stared dramatically at his eyes. Hoped the words would come out in bold letters too.

"I told you! Absolute madness".

I took a deep breath. Now, losing patience is definitely not an option here.

"You said your family plays board games in the evenings?"

The man's face lit up. "We enjoy ourselves, yaar! We taught the little fella many card games this summer. Kazuthai (Donkey), Theen Paththa (Three cards), Bluff, 28... the whole range! We also play stuff like Sequence, Ludo, Game of Life, Carrom Board.... Life was much more enjoyable before he decided to play Chess all the time".

 (Sequence - unlike Chess, a game)

The waters looked to be forming currents too.

"But isn't chess a game, too?"

"That's the problem, yaar! Unnecessary waste of time with a game, which has replaced everything else now!"

The waters looked too diluted to catch any subtlety.

I tried to half-close my eyes and nod slowly. After all, this is the act Tamil movies have taught us to look wistful.

"Remember when we both were 10 year olds. We used to get beaten up by our mothers for reading all those wretched comics all the time!"

"Haan, yaar! Amublimama, Balamitra, Ratnabala, Champak, Gokulam, Kannan, Tinkle, Muthu Comics, Rani Comics, Panchatantra... The complete range!"

(That which stopped us from the IIT) 

I suddenly saw bright pebbles in the water.

"And all that only in Tamil. We didn't know any English those days! We had so much fun."

Again with the half-closed eyes, slow nodding head. All in vain.

"I tell you! Our moms used to shout that we were wasting our time gloriously. And now the irony is that we hardly speak any Tamil day-to-day, leave alone read or write!"

Exactly. The Moron! I tried to change the oar.

"And we used to play football every day in the evenings. For years. And our fathers used to shout at us for not studying and playing games!"

"Of course, yaar! It helped that our fathers and mothers didn't even knew IITs existed!"

It broke.

"STOP IT! Blithering idiot! Have you completely lost your marbles?! Muppet!!"

We chess players can throw grenades too, when we want! Water or ground...

"Wh....whaat! Why did you say that?!"

I smiled. "Let the kid play Chess!"

(*IIT - Indian Institute of Technology, the institution of Indian middleclass dreams)