I almost played Hikaru

Last week, I was lucky enough to attend the Chess.com annual meetup in Cancún, Mexico. We were even more lucky as a team because International Grand Master Hikaru Nakamura came along to join us! 

One afternoon, a table was set up outside of our conference room and Hikaru played all the members of Chess.com staff who wished to play. To even the odds a bit, Hikaru played a one minute time control to five minutes for the staff.

Watching my fellow co-workers play, a rush of emotions surged through me, should I play too? As one of my fellow co-workers said at the decision time, it would be like a turtle playing a bus!

I decided not to play.

I thought, "I can write about that moment, the decisions racing through my strains of thought, the perception of the on-looker!"

But I knew that I would regret it. 

C'mon!! A chance to have fun at the game of Chess with Hikaru Nakamura! 

One of our developers decided to have fun knowing that he would be smushed! He even asked Hikaru if he would pretend to be stressing about the game for a photo op. 

Returning home, I have a new focus. I intend to have fun with Chess. I intend to make friends and have more conversations.  I also intend to get better at playing! 

With all the horrible happenings in the news, it's so important to be kind to one another, why not start across the virtual chess board?

Peace, Love, & Chess,

Amelia