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Sleeping in EQ · 10-09-2008, 12:35 PM

I'm the faculty advisor for the school's chess club. We have a nice, friendly club and haven't had any problems. Until last night, that is.

As advisor I play fewer games than the students do. After all, it's their club and I'm just there to help. I give group lessons to the less experienced players and play at a board whenever there's an odd number of people.

I am yet to lose a game at the club, and have, despite my casual manner, become the person to beat. Last night I got roped into a bit of a circus stunt: I played two games simultaneously against our 2nd and 4th board players. I won both games, but immediately afterward an observer threw down the gauntlet.

It felt like I was at a bar in Big Whiskey, Wyoming, circa 1868, and he wanted to see how fast I was on the draw. He told me he was a transfer student from a university where he had been the captain of the chess team.

He played a nice Queen's Indian and will beat our current 1st board player probably 9 out of 10 tries. I beat him, though, by pretending to hang a knight on the 32nd move. When he took it I checked his king that had aggressively, but not all-together soundly, castled queenside and had a mate in 3. He resigned in a huff.

He was really hacked off. Our friendly chess club was disturbed by posturing and invective like never before. And now, this morning, he's e-mailing the club about how he's going to "take me down," and that he's "serving notice" of an "A** whipping."

I'd love for the guy to play as he's our best player. Truthfully, he'll probably beat me about 40% of the time. We'll be playing a round robin match against another school in a few weeks and he'll be great. But he's toxic in that hyper-competitive chess dork way and could ruin the friendly, fun atmosphere of the club and I feel like I've become part of the problem. I stepped on his ego.

What should I do?

Levin · 10-09-2008, 01:35 PM

Invite him over to your house, which he'll turn down b/c you're Mormon, and then go to his office and call him a religious bigot.

landpoke · 10-09-2008, 03:00 PM

I see a sissy boy slap fight in someone's future.

MikeWaters · 10-09-2008, 03:03 PM

I like this kid. It's a shame his the club advisor is so stuffy!

YOhio · 10-09-2008, 03:08 PM

Ridicule and mock.

Sleeping in EQ · 10-09-2008, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by landpoke

I see a sissy boy slap fight in someone's future.

I didn't mention that the guy's on the wrestling team.

Brian · 10-09-2008, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sleeping in EQ

I didn't mention that the guy's on the wrestling team.

now I really don't believe this story.

5.9483

Sleeping in EQ · 10-09-2008, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian

now I really don't believe this story.

5.9483

It is all true.

SeattleUte · 10-09-2008, 03:41 PM

Great story. Don't let that kid get away. Your task is tough--maintaining the reserved distance of the instructor/master while raising the ante, whetting this kid's appetite, hooking him. He's testing you.

RedHeadGal · 10-09-2008, 03:44 PM

I am so sorry I opened this thread.

10-09-2008, 12:35 PM	#1
Sleeping in EQ Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: The People's Republic of Monsanto Posts: 3,085	At the chess club I'm the faculty advisor for the school's chess club. We have a nice, friendly club and haven't had any problems. Until last night, that is. As advisor I play fewer games than the students do. After all, it's their club and I'm just there to help. I give group lessons to the less experienced players and play at a board whenever there's an odd number of people. I am yet to lose a game at the club, and have, despite my casual manner, become the person to beat. Last night I got roped into a bit of a circus stunt: I played two games simultaneously against our 2nd and 4th board players. I won both games, but immediately afterward an observer threw down the gauntlet. It felt like I was at a bar in Big Whiskey, Wyoming, circa 1868, and he wanted to see how fast I was on the draw. He told me he was a transfer student from a university where he had been the captain of the chess team. He played a nice Queen's Indian and will beat our current 1st board player probably 9 out of 10 tries. I beat him, though, by pretending to hang a knight on the 32nd move. When he took it I checked his king that had aggressively, but not all-together soundly, castled queenside and had a mate in 3. He resigned in a huff. He was really hacked off. Our friendly chess club was disturbed by posturing and invective like never before. And now, this morning, he's e-mailing the club about how he's going to "take me down," and that he's "serving notice" of an "A** whipping." I'd love for the guy to play as he's our best player. Truthfully, he'll probably beat me about 40% of the time. We'll be playing a round robin match against another school in a few weeks and he'll be great. But he's toxic in that hyper-competitive chess dork way and could ruin the friendly, fun atmosphere of the club and I feel like I've become part of the problem. I stepped on his ego. What should I do? __________________ "Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; " 1 Thess. 5:21 (NRSV) We all trust our own unorthodoxies.

10-09-2008, 01:35 PM	#2
Levin Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 1,484	Invite him over to your house, which he'll turn down b/c you're Mormon, and then go to his office and call him a religious bigot. __________________ "Now I say that I know the meaning of my life: 'To live for God, for my soul.' And this meaning, in spite of its clearness, is mysterious and marvelous. Such is the meaning of all existence." Levin, Anna Karenina, Part 8, Chapter 12

10-09-2008, 03:00 PM	#3
landpoke Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: North Central God's Country Posts: 1,534	I see a sissy boy slap fight in someone's future. __________________ I see a hobo. And when I see the hobo, I think to myself, "This man is poor. His monetary value is low, and my monetary value is high, and it's a shame that he is himself. What can I do?"

10-09-2008, 03:41 PM	#9
SeattleUte fairlds.org Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 10,665	Great story. Don't let that kid get away. Your task is tough--maintaining the reserved distance of the instructor/master while raising the ante, whetting this kid's appetite, hooking him. He's testing you. __________________ Interrupt all you like. We're involved in a complicated story here, and not everything is quite what it seems to be. —Paul Auster

10-09-2008, 03:03 PM	#4
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	I like this kid. It's a shame his the club advisor is so stuffy!

10-09-2008, 03:08 PM	#5
YOhio AKA SeattleNewt Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 7,055	Ridicule and mock.

10-09-2008, 03:44 PM	#10
RedHeadGal Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: DC Posts: 995	I am so sorry I opened this thread.