I went for a walk to Dupont Circle to warm up (my office is freezing). I sat on a bench and watched two men play chess. The older man with a bushy, white beard caught my eye. He had just won the game and gave a silent and respectful nod to his opponent. As he walked away from the table, passing me, I spontaneously asked him how he learned to play. His face lit up and he flashed me a toothless smile. He guaranteed he could teach me how to play in 30 minutes. Deal.
He explained the game wonderfully.
Toward the end of our “class,” he shared that he didn’t win a game for the first three years he played. I told him that was discouraging.
His response: “You don’t learn anything from winning, you learn from losing.”
– Lyssa