Checkmate.

I remember getting so excited when I knew that my dad would be home for the evening.  Yes, it was one of those, "I'm so glad when daddy comes home, glad as I can be!" things, but there was always something else--always a possibility that I might get to play my dad in chess.

Yeah you read that right--chess.

I remember watching my dad play my older sisters in chess all the time.  I just sat there patiently waiting until it was finally my turn to play too.  I remember learning what strategy was, what the Knights did, and always wanting to be the Queen with all the power.

After dinner, I would always beg my dad to play a game of chess with me.  After he agreed, I'd run to the game closet in the Family Room, find the special chess set (it was a chess set that my dad has had since his childhood), and set in up on the kitchen table.  My dad always got to be white.  No questions asked.  No trying to sway his mind--not even once.  Thinking back on it, I have no idea why he always wanted to be white (maybe so he could always go first?).  According to Lauren, it was probably just some psychological thing to psych his little girls out.

Nevertheless, we would spend the next hour playing one game.  No, I never won, and yes, there were always tears involved. Always.  But I always thought that there was some small chance that I'd win.  I would think that I finally got the hang of it; caught on to a strategy that my dad had never seen before.  Obviously though, nothing could fool my dad and no matter how hard I tried, I never beat him.

I haven't played chess in ages.  But to this day, I always think fondly on those nights when I'd get to play my dad in yet another game on chess.  And when I saw the first Harry Potter in the movie theater, it made the Wizards chess match all that more exciting!