Grandpa Farnsworth brought out his nice chess set he received as a Christmas present a couple of years ago, and proceeded to teach Elizabeth the classic strategic game. Given Elizabeth's attention span of about 10 minutes, I was surprised how well she picked up on it. She has proved to be a good competitor and almost beat Kevin once. Now, whenever we go to Grandpa's house there is sure to be a game going on in which Elizabeth has part. I'm hoping that one of these days I'll get a chance to play Kevin and to humble him a little bit.
I remember many years ago, I was a little older than Liz, when my father taught me the game. I was never really that good, but my dad made me think that I had the ability to keep up with the best of players. Chess will always remind me of my dad. I have fond memories of bonding with my father over a game of chess. If you've never played or it's been a while, you should! Pass along the knowledge, you may be surprised at how well your child can learn the game.
