The Passion of a Broken Heart

Saturday evening I hustled down to the Carl's Jr. on Bethany and 19th Avenue in Phoenix, Arizona to catch the end of the weekly 25 minute Game with 5 second delay tournament there put on by Rick Smouse.  I was able to witness tragedy strike two young chess players, both 14 years old and twin brothers.

One of the young men had the Arizona Senior Champion from the last two years in dire straights with only 1 (one) second on his clock.  Digging deep into his bag of tricks and experience the senior realized that a swindle was his only hope, and he pulled of the robbery of the tournament.

When he realized what he had done, the young teen was so distraught that his heatbreak shattered his brother's concentration and he resigned a very good position in order to console his brother.

It was the first time in a long time that I witnessed the passion and pain to such an extent...

It is only one game in a long future for these young men, but for that moment, it was everything...