Chess traditions in Chartres. Day 2. Part 1.
C for Chartres, Chess, connection… and also for creative expression, critical thinking, the list goes on, I guess :)
On the second day of the traditional tournament organised by the C’Chartres Chess Club the pursuit of mastery was put at the heart of the event.
I stepped away from the competitive chess world many years ago, this move allowed me to start appreciating other dimensions of chess: introspection, awareness of one’s own thinking patterns, and a safe space to test hypotheses.
Yet during this event I found myself once again listening to conversations about professional preparation for some upcoming tournaments. The tone of these exchanges was truly inspiring since the focus was on deepening understanding of the game and not on results.
I am always moved when refinement of one’s skills (rather than achievements measured in points or rankings) becomes the driving force behind discipline and disciple’s steps on one’s own way to mastery :)
I’m equally grateful to the young players who came to Chartres to take part in the regional championship, striving to earn the right to play in national level. This kind of motivation and aspirations awaken warm memories of my own childhood, when the game of chess gave me the chance to see the world.
Sometimes I still think that a chessboard can turn into a kind of magic carpet — when one puts heart into learning its strategic and tactical language the famous “six impossibilities” in which, according to the White Queen from the “Alice in Wonderland“, one has to believe before the breakfast, might miraculously come true.
