Bobby Fischer-ing in the Motherland

In early elementary school I learned how to play the game of chess. I loved it from the get-go. I’d play every chance I’d get. My nerdy friends and I would even bring little travel chess boards to school and play during free time and during lunch (and I’d like to take a moment to publicly declare that as cool as Steven Lowry may have become years later by growing dread locks, liking rap music before any of the rest of us, etc. etc, he was in fact one of my nerdy chess friends). I can still remember around the 4th grade when I started being able to beat my dad consistently and thus emasculate him on a regular basis. Ahh, those were the days.

I first saw a chess set out at the Namumu boys’ dormitory sometime last year and was immediately intrigued. The boys have a fair amount of free time outside of school, but all I had seen them play before that had been soccer, UNO and crazy eights, so to see them playing chess made me very happy.

I was immediately challenged to a game by Kebby, the boys’ caregiver, and I immediately accepted. After all, while I hadn’t played in years I had been a young chess master, and surely I could hold my own against a young, rural-dwelling Zambian guy. I didn’t think twice. I sat down and went at it.

What followed was a slaughtering of epic proportions. Kebby proceeded to beat me like a red-headed step-child in three straight games, including one in where he pulled one of those BS tricks and managed to checkmate me in about six moves. The worst part was, a big group of boys was watching and shouting, “Ohhhhh!” every time Kebby made a good move or I made a stupid one. It seemed the emasculation had come full circle and I was now the victim. Ouch. Very ouch.

While I haven’t gotten back in the game and tried to restore my good name since this incident, I’ve done my best to encourage the boys to play as much as possible. Playing chess is good for them. It’s a game of strategy and logic and will help with their problem solving skills. And it sure beats what a lot of kids their age in the village are running around and doing (chasing girls, drinking, etc. etc.). I’ve tracked down a few chess boards in town and they now have three out at the dormitory, which is enough to keep them busy for now.

So now, along with a small army of computer hackers, Namumu will soon be producing a small army of chess masters, and I’d be willing to bet there aren’t too many sub-Saharan African orphanages that can say that.