Chess, anyone...?

As I'd mentioned in an earlier post, Julie took the kids to the Austin Children's Museum on Friday evening. Aunt Kim went with them. Benton really, really, really wanted someone to teach him how to play chess, as there was a board at the museum. Julie claimed that she did not know the rules, so Aunt Kim took on the task. In their first game, they played to a draw. In the second game...they ran out of time.

On Saturday, Benton asked if he could spend his remaining birthday money on a chess set, which he did. And...that's pretty much all he wants to do now. Carson, of course, wants to be just like Big Brother Benton, so he is insisting that he learn to play. Benton is not keen on the idea, but, when given no one else to play with him, he has taken on at least teaching him the moves. So far, that has lasted for about 15 minutes with Carson doing really well -- learning and remembering how each of the different pieces can move -- before Benton knocks off one of his pieces and Carson disintegrates into a fit of, "I'm stupid! I always lose!" Julie, I think, has some books that she's hoping will help her figure out how to handle that. Let's all hold our collective breaths!

So far, I've managed to beat Benton twice, but, in both cases, I made some blunders of which he quickly took advantage. And, he definitely had me on the defensive in both games for a while. I was never all that big on playing chess growing up, so I'm definitely at the Adult Beginner level. I may find that I have to increase my skills to keep it interesting for Benton!