A new hobby?

So I recently came to the conclusion that I was working too hard and not having enough fun. I felt like I needed a new hobby to lighten my load, and when I saw the chess set positioned in the Oman's living room last Saturday night, it seemed to call to me with a fresh new appeal. I've always been hesitatingly interested in learning to play chess, but the game intimidates me and I didn't know who I could get to teach me, or when, or with what set.

Two days later, I saw an advertisement for "Chess Club" at BYU and took note of the time and location for their next meeting. This evening, having the day off from nannying, I decided to go and see for myself if I could learn to enjoy such a challenging game.

At 7:30pm I arrived in the WILK where, to my dismay, the chess players were stationed in front of the area that consistantly recieves the most traffic. I saw them hunched over their chess boards, considered stopping, then walked right by. Call it my pride, but I didn't want to play chess where everyone in the world would have the chance to walk by and see how nerdy I was. It's one thing if I was going to be a talented nerd but it's even worse to be on display as a nerd getting her rear kicked. I circled the Terrace once, gathered my courage, introduced myself to a total stranger and sat down to play.

My opponent was very patient in explaining concepts such as castling and basic strategy. The game lasted approximately half an hour and I forgot all about the people that were walking by.

And then I won.

I'm perfectly willing to admit that beginner's luck was the only way I got checkmate, but it gave me hope. I'm not saying I'm ready to sign up for a full fledged Chess Club membership or anything, however, I do think I'll have to go again sometime...