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Friday, April 16, 2010

Bow and Chess

This morning at breakfast Sword mentioned that at the school MAP test dance today, in addition to dancing and refreshments, there will also be board games.

"You mean like monopoly?" I asked

"Yeah. But there'll be easier ones," she said, "like checkers and chess."

I wonder why she thinks chess is easier than monopoly, I thought. As I was pondering this, Bow took my hand and spelled: "They gave me chess once."

"What is he talking about?" Sword asked, not really trusting that Bow had anything important to add to the conversation. (They are going through a rough patch in the sibling relationship.)

"What do you mean, Bow?" I asked.

"Bow played chess once," Bow spelled in Hebrew.

"Oh, that's right," Sword remembered. "You weren't any good at it..."

When Bow played chess with me, if I took one of his pieces, he insisted that we change sides and that my side of the board should be his. When he played with Sword, he tried to copy every move she made. Then when these strategies did not work, he gave up.

Bow is plenty smart enough, but he needs to stop being so fixated on winning.

5 comments:

  1. I am not sure whether you have seen Chinese chess before. The Chinese chess gives me the idea of Bow being in a real war. His strategy wouldn't work if he was in a battle(Like, World War Two). He would have too many choices and run between different camps.

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  2. June, I'm not so sure. In a real war, changing sides is one of the strategies that can help you emerge as a winner, no matter what side you started on. Take the Soviets in WWII as an example!

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  3. Hi Aya, I was so glad to find your blog. I'm just realizing all that you've told me about Bow and Sword by your stories here. I'll link your blog on twitter and facebook as well. I think there is incredibly important stuff here. Looking forward to more.

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  4. Dan, it's great to have you following this! Thanks also for the plugs on Twitter and Facebook. Every bit helps!

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  5. I found this old post and thought it was interesting. I really got tired of monopoly after playing it for one whole day with my sister, and the game was still not at an end when my dad pointing out she was winning anyway. I really should learn how to play chess, but I do not own a board at the moment. Every time I suggest playing a board game with someone these days, no one is interested. I own several, but it seems like no one wants to play anymore.

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