Well, I've been pretty pre-occupied since the end of July and there's only a short respite before I travel down to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow for the weekend. One programme after another in Penang, starting with a request from an ex-colleague to coach her group of five players in chess.
Now, chess coaching is something that I have never attempted in my life, which is very surprising since almost everyone knows how closely associated am I to the game. I've always taken a hands-off approach to this aspect of my life as I had never considered myself good enough to teach anything, least of all, chess.
But my ex-colleague friend was very persistent. Even though I was keeping quiet most of the time when she messaged me. I suppose that exasperation (or desperation) finally got hold of her and she called me. How was I to turn her down now as she spoke to me?
Eventually, I relented and agreed to five sessions with her office colleagues. Five sessions lasting two hours each. All except one had utterly no knowledge of playing chess. The one who knew how to play had originally played at his school district level. So as far as I was concerned, he was okay. The other four were plain beginners in the game.
So over five lessons, I tried to coach them to the best of my ability. Surprisingly, it was fun. Good inter-action between me and them. And I hope that I have really achieved something with them. But ultimately, if they want to remain in the game - or give up their knowledge altogether since their tournament's over - will depend solely on them alone.
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