Just kidding about the chess stuff, but listening to the ladies at the end golf tournament reminded me of the types of things we chess players feel when we're playing kids, or dealing with their parents.
My sister is an avid golfer and had been playing in the Kansas Woman's Amateur for the past three days. There's an Open and Championship section. Anyone can play in the Open. The Championship tends to have a lot of Division I college golfers in it along with very good women amateurs. My sister was playing in the Open. After the second day of the tournament I went out to dinner with my sister and a couple of her friends who were also playing. They got talking about a girl whose father was caddying for her, and kept telling her where to stand or where to aim. At that level they're not supposed to be getting advice. A number of times the girl told her dad that it didn't feel right, and that she wanted to do something a little different. He would back off and let her make her own decision. My sister and her friends felt that was good that she felt comfortable enough to disagree at times with dad, and that he just let her decide. Sometimes she'd end out saying "I guess maybe you were right." Other times she make a good shot, and say "I think I was right."
On the last day another woman had a young girl in her group. It seemed the father and the girl needed a few lessons in golf etiquette. He kept coming up to the tee box and putting his daughter's bag down close to where the other person was getting ready to tee off. Sometimes the girl would be standing on the green doing small practice swings with her putter. The woman playing with her after a couple of times of this happening asked her not to do that, and asked the father not to stand so close in the tee box when she was teeing off.
At the end of the round the father was yapping to the officials about how the other women in the threesome were bullying his daughter, and that it affected her play. I was listening to all of this and thinking to myself "Why does this sound so familiar?" A number of my sister's friends and other women from the tournament were talking about how somebody needs to explain to these young girls about etiquette and some of the rules that apply at this level. I guess I can't complain about hovering chess parents since at least they can't hand their kid the piece that they should move. Though I'm sure some of them would like to be able to do that.
I guess it doesn't matter what the sport is, there will always be parents who feels the whole world of ____ (fill in the blank) revolves around their child, and that their child can do no wrong. Puleeze. Get a life.
I'm off to Lindsborg this afternoon, and will be playing in the quick event tonight. G/10. At least I don't have to worry about keeping score, and I can have a little fun. I don't know if I'll have internet access at the collge or not. If not, you'll have to wait until Sunday night or Monday to hear how the weekend went.
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