Swiss Chess

We have recently returned from a great family holiday in the Swiss mountains.  Every day we were thrilled by the stunning scenery of snow capped peaks, rushing waterfalls and sweeping meadows filled with Alpine flowers.  Yet...one of my most precious memories of the time we spent together is of a damp afternoon in the village where we stayed, Wengen, the day our train passes ran out as we tried to fill a few hours playing chess.

Chess became something of a feature of our time together - we played it at night in semi-serious family tournaments and there was a giant set next to the table tennis and volleyball in the centre of the village.  Last Friday we played it in full public view and soon a little crowd gathered.  Our family game came to an abrupt and humiliating end (it was parents verses teenagers - so you can guess which side was triumphant!)  As we went to walk away a Chinese girl, just eight years of age, indicated that she might like a game - so our youngest son, all six foot three inches of him, took her on!

For the next hour they thrashed it out - each time she moved a piece she made the most beautiful smile to her dotting dad as if to gain his approval and encouragement!  Although nine years separated them the truth was they were actually quite evenly matched and it was a great game.

Slowly other people gathered to watch so that by the end the crowd consisted of English, Chinese, Arab, Swiss and German onlookers - a truly wonderful international moment.

We didn't speak each others language - the only language being used was the game of chess and many smiles.  It was, in my view, a very beautiful moment - binding people together in friendly, peaceful competition - and a spirit of great fun and interaction.

At the end our two competitors (and the bidding of both their proud fathers!) shook hands and stood for a photo.  So on either side of the globe this moment of international chess is commemorated in a couple of photo albums!

We saw many wonderful things in Switzerland over those ten days but nothing inspired me more than watching these two young people engage together in a game of chess - something so small yet containing the essence of all we long for: a world in which different cultures and traditions live side by side in mutual respect, peace and friendship.

With all good wishes,

Ian