Why do I do this?
There are days I really wonder why I do this. The following story is true (I have the documentation to support it). But I’m removing all identification because, well, you’ll see why.
The story begins when a friend contacts me wanting a special arrangement for some tournament experience for some of his students. I agree. There’s an odd number of players in the event, but even so, I call in a few favors and get the students some games under real tournament conditions. We even concoct an excuse to give one the students a trophy. It’s a bit of an effort, yes, but you do things for friends.
If the story ended there, I wouldn’t be writing this. But …..
I like to bring pieces of chess history with me to tournaments. I enjoy connecting players today with the heritage around them. This tournament was no different. One of the students showed interest in the item, but (due to youthful inexperience) started to damage the item, so I took it back and placed it back at the TD table, where I keep things like that under normal circustances.
Later that night, the item wasn’t where it was supposed to be. So, I asked if the student had succumbed to temptation and picked it up again to look at, and left it somewhere else. (Note please the student was not the only one I asked about.) If I can’t find it, I’ll have to report it to the police as stolen (the object does have monetary value, as well as sentimental value to me personally).
I was hoping to find a more innocent explanation than theft (and I said specifically I didn’t think the student *had* stolen it). I’d hoped that perhaps the student (or someone else) moved it somewhere I hadn’t looked. It happens. For example, I sell used chess books at tournaments, and at this same tournament I had a chessplayer (one of the top ones in the state, in fact) pick up a book from my sales table and walk away with it without paying for it. (He brought it back, later, I should add, as I expected he would.) People do these sort of things without thinking; I’m used to it by now. I’m pretty laid back about it, as long as I don’t end up losing things.
For the last two days now I’ve had to put up with threats by the student’s mother to sue me because I dared to suggest her noble offspring might have done such an unthinkable act as pick something up and not put it back where it was supposed to be.
And I sit here wondering why any sane person would ever voluntarily run chess tournaments.