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After the calm of Easter Island we landed in Santiago, the 6th busiest city in South America but we eased into it quickly enough. Overall the city is pretty cool with a laid back vibe. As we drifted through the shopping area we stumbled upon one of the main city parks and within the park was a large bandstand construction milling with activity. Futher inspection was necessary and to my delight it was filled with locals playing chess. There was about 30 games going on. It should be pointed out that since the start of our trip I having been getting quite into the game. I am not brilliant by any stretch of the imagination but I not that bad so I watched the locals play for over an hour trying to pick up tips. Some players were just amazing - speed playing against the clock, a move every few seconds very cool, while others were making some pretty basic errors. I was thinking it would be quite good fun to play a local, and it should not be that embarrassing I might even win. Then a local asked if I wanted a game, let the contest begin....
I took my seat opposite a young lad in his early twenties who spoke only basic English. Normally I feel relaxed playing but I felt quite tense, trying to formulate my attack strategy. The first few moves went well, I took a few of his pieces, I was deeply focused but could feel a growing presence around me. I then noticed a few locals milling around my table but thought nothing of it. But the crowd kept multiplying, I starting to relax, my game plan started to come to fruition, I was winning. A local passed me a beer, and I turned round to see two local hunnies standing behind me like in the casino´s, I was obviously now their property. The moves now started to speed up, he took my queen but I took his, I still had the innititive, I was playing textbook chess - bring on big blue computer. The crowd was now massive I must be playing someone important I thought. I was passed another beer just as I got him into checkmate, a cheer went up, as I was lifted up onto peoples shoulders and carried through the park with people screaming my name. Even a pair of ladies draws landed on my lap, and then reality set in, this was all happening in a parallel universe I had not even started the game. It really went like this.....
I took my seat feeling quite confident, I thought at the worst I might loose but not badly, hey I might even win, to beat a local on his own turf, that would do my chess confidence some good. To be fair my first say 5 moves were not bad I was pleased with the situation. Then he took a piece, then another, he was playing with me and I was a helpless fish on the end of his fishing rod, this was not how it was supposed to go. Sonja was sitting next to me and asked him if he plays a lot. It turns out he has been playing since age 4, is a chess teacher and plays in regular competitions through out Chile and has won some of them. The result I lost both games, and know my place in the chess world.
previous travel blog entry
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