Preface: When I was diagnosed with Cancer I was off work and had spare time to do things I had neglected for years. Playing chess for fun was one of them. Like any organized event, having help (even free and bewildered help in some cases...) can make the event a better experience for everyone. This is my account of my biggest Volunteer Experience in over twenty years.
The Volunteer Experience
Two years ago I found myself revisiting a favourite but long-neglected pastime, that of playing Chess. I wandered down to a local Saturday tournament to check out what had changed in the Chess scene since I last played some three decades earlier. While I did not play in this tournament, I had an opportunity to play a few ‘fun’ games against some of our local stars. So I played a National Master (I lost) and a young man who was four decades my junior. Lost that one too.
While at this venue I met some of the folks who arrange tournaments, and found that Windsor Windsor Brazil
My contribution to this process would be quite modest, but daunting nevertheless: I would be an Arbiter for the Chess Challenge of 2012. This year I would volunteer for the honour of overseeing tables of kids bent on destroying their opponent. Plus I would have to deal with “Chess Parents”, teachers with their own ideas of how to pair the opponents and ‘n’ people with ‘n+1’ ways to interpret The Rules Of Chess. It would be fun. I hoped.
First off with nearly 80 schools and with no more than 8 kids per grade permitted for each school, things get very complicated very quickly. Fortunately the Tournament Director (TD) is quite experienced at running tournaments, and more importantly, in not letting his Volunteer Help hinder the process too much. The CC itself has close to 1500 kids registered over two days. I would be an Arbiter of one of the rooms assigned to the CC for Tuesday, February 28th.
However the 27th proved interesting: one school decided they did not want to play on their previously assigned-and-registered day, but preferred the Tuesday. A last minute change that had all the Arbiters burning the oil as schedules were changed, room assignments rebalanced and pairings assigned. Once again the TD had this covered. I had not even started and I was already overwhelmed!
Tuesday was a beautiful sunny, almost spring-like day. I arrived at and was soon put to work with the registration process. Busloads of kids began arriving, and I was slated to have 184 kids in my room. That’s 184 kids, plus parents, plus teachers, and fortunately, a Lot More Volunteers! I would be one of the four or so ‘official’ chess arbiters. There would also be a number of local High School students who would serve as the official scorekeepers for the various sections for each grade. Eventually everyone was assigned their official Name Tag which designated their Grade, Section and School, and each was paired for the first round. Ninety-two pairs of kids shook hands, and round one of eight began.
“The room was eerily quiet, 184 kids with their heads bent over a chess board, fiercely concentrating on subtle strategies, seeking to annihilate their opponent. “
I wish. In reality a Children’s Chess Challenge has a decibel level somewhat above a shout and below a jet engine revving for take off. In my room that day, there were184 personalities that range from ‘Chess is Cool’ to ‘Hey, a chess tournament, I can get a day out of school!’. Just to add some zest to this experience, the Arbitration portion of my volunteer role commenced almost from the time the first piece was moved.
Touch move is the golden rule in ‘official’ chess tournaments. You touch it you move it: so long as there is at least one legal move. Saying “check” is a courtesy, not a requirement. Absolutely you CANNOT take your opponents king. No how no way, taking the king is NOT checkmate! So it went. The rules of chess were blasted, dematerialized, re-assembled into fanciful interpretations. My role was that of an Arbiter, not a referee. I was to rule only upon a dispute, i.e. only when someone (a player, not a parent or teacher) complained. I would spell out the rules of chess, how a piece could move. I could indicate the legal squares a piece could move to, but I could not suggest any particular move. Chess Arbitration is the only venue when you can truly say you deal with things en passant (I won’t explain it, Google it!). I dealt with kids who would pick up their pieces and thunderously bang them down on the board, dramatic as any 7 year old could be.
That’s when I made the discovery that my casual suggestion to the 7 year old God of Thunder/chess wizard to play pianissimo instead of forte would introduce me to the Chess Parent. Chess Parents are like Hockey Parents, just without skates. Every Chess Parent sees the essence of Bobby Fischer within their child…. Humour and coffee were my staples during the day. Eight rounds with a lunch break of Pizza and Pop for the kids. And I thought they were energetic in the morning…
The day went by in a blur. I ruled about illegal moves and etiquette of chess. I resolved the case where one young person kept saying ‘checkmate’ after each move (it wasn’t) and I felt for the kids who lost in six moves. I’m sure there were brilliances I did not see, though I saw many entertaining games. And most importantly, everyone seemed to have fun. Eight rounds, at roughly 25 minutes per round, …did I mention the day went by in a blur?
By four that afternoon the boards were packed away, medals awarded and the equipment stowed. I was exhausted. The TD said it didn’t go too badly, and he still had to do all the final score sheets to give to the schools. When I arrived at home I would crash and “nap” for four hours.
There were medals for the kids and pennants for every participant. Everyone seemed to get something from this event. What did I get? Beyond the simple satisfaction of helping out my friend the TD, I got to relieve the memories I had forgotten when I first learned about the enigmatic game of Chess. Even though my volunteer experience took me far outside my comfort zone (184 kids!), I was made to feel part of a community. Finally I can look back and say I truly had fun!
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