Beyond the Board: A Podcast on Chess, Life, and Learning

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:18:06
Unknown
I said this back then and I think it's becoming true. You all made it. We made it. They made it cool to be a chess geek. Yeah, that's. That was going to be the key is when it was going to be cool. And we can put energy and effort into being a chess player as much effort as we put into football or basketball.

00:00:18:08 - 00:00:40:21
Unknown
Right. We turned that dynamic around and like, yeah, I'm a proud chess player. Konchesky Yeah, see, this is like a multitude of skills within chess. yeah. This is a game that gives you so many. Yeah, it people look at it and go, chess. To me, that was also a very important element. Is abiding by the rules.

00:00:40:21 - 00:00:59:10
Unknown
Yeah. Game right And learning how to be defeated and learning from your mistakes. And that's a big part of chess. It's a great tool for learning to make decisions for life skills. People look at it and go, chess. I don't know how to play it. I would tell them, you know, what, have you come and I'll let the kids teach you.

00:00:59:10 - 00:01:29:05
Unknown
Yes. Because that's more valuable. More kids, more families should be involved in chess. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Teevee show podcast. Today we're talking to Miss Pena. Hello. She is was my daughter's teacher at in, say, grade school. Like I'm really old in elementary school and I still struggle. In fact, I, I had to actually look to see what your real name was on Facebook.

00:01:29:07 - 00:01:53:22
Unknown
That's okay, Yolanda. Yes. Correct. Yes. Miss Yolanda Pena, before I say anything, if you would, wouldn't mind saying a little bit about yourself, a short intro as to who you are. Okay. Sure. Yolanda Pena I am an educator and I have been in education for 30 years, but I started. Wow. Yeah. Erving Estee. And then I came over to Dallas.

00:01:54:03 - 00:02:16:05
Unknown
And in Dallas is where I met Mr. Aguirre and his children is two daughters. And they played in my chess club, which was a big revelation. I never knew I was going to have a chess club. I was doing board games. That's what it was. Yeah. So the focus of today's conversation will be to get to know Ms..

00:02:16:05 - 00:02:43:06
Unknown
Pena, Yolanda, but also to share the story of how and I've shared the story on other pieces of content and how the girls and I accidentally started a chess club. Well, we wouldn't have been able to do it without Ms.. Fania. Ms.. Pennington's involvement, encouragement and motivation throughout the process. We wanted to really share that story because chess for me has been just monumental to this day.

00:02:43:06 - 00:03:04:02
Unknown
It's something that I still talk to with the girls when it comes to different life lessons, not because they ever became chess champions. They didn't, but it was just such a useful tool that I feel like any parent, any father could really benefit from. And so I wanted to share our stories because there are probably hundreds, if not thousands of small stories embedded in this.

00:03:04:04 - 00:03:28:00
Unknown
And why and why chess just hit and it became such a hit with the kids and it took off. And I know how much it took off is actually incredibly hard to believe, but I can't wait to share that story. So stay tuned. Okay? Yeah. So let's start at the beginning. Ms.. Pena, when you were running a game club, how often was that running?

00:03:28:00 - 00:03:46:23
Unknown
And when I was Afterschool Club and it was just a game club board games, I did not want the kids to be involved in any technology I wanted them to even then. Yeah, even then at that time, yeah, because technology was taking off and that's all the kids wanted to do. So And that was what, 15 years ago?

00:03:47:00 - 00:04:15:20
Unknown
Yeah, like maybe 2012, I want to say 12 years ago. That sounds about right. Okay. Yeah. A 2012. And so I offered to have that extracurricular activity after school and it took off. I had a lot of kids interested in coming, and then before too long somebody started planting these little seeds and saying, Hey, did you know that you could be competing competitively within tournament's chess tournament?

00:04:15:20 - 00:04:41:03
Unknown
So I'm like, what? Before we get there. Okay, you are. You have this game club. And for me, it was on a Tuesday. Okay. Was it? It might have been. I believe it was a Tuesday. Okay. And the reason I'm pretty certain was because for me, I was freshly divorced a couple of years out and I was doing this business and I was looking.

00:04:41:03 - 00:04:58:03
Unknown
And the reason that I quit was and we started the business was to be involved in the girls lives and do more stuff. So they told me about the game club. Yeah. And that, hey, you can come by. And I'm like, okay, great. That's another reason for me to another excuse to to see them get involved. Get involved.

00:04:58:05 - 00:05:18:03
Unknown
Right. So I started to come out and I just I didn't know what to do. Obviously, I'm just there to be present for them. Kids are playing. They're doing all types of things. Right? Right. Playing because you have four or five different kinds of games easily. Yeah, checkers included. Yeah. We had Scrabble Monopoly, any kind of board games.

00:05:18:05 - 00:05:43:20
Unknown
I just encourage them. Yes. To play. And the girls because we had played chess, my girls so I had two daughters. In case you're new to the podcast, there must have been seven and five, Eight and six. They were young. Yeah, I remember. She's your baby. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But we had played chess in the house. I had a little chess set with a plastic, you know, with a cheap set.

00:05:43:22 - 00:06:07:01
Unknown
And they brought me to the board and said, Hey, dad, here's the chess, let's play chess. And they knew just enough. We just knew the basics. And that's where I guess a couple of the kids started kind of hovering around. Do you remember that any part of this story? I'm not really. I don't I remember going, well, chess, I know a little bit about it.

00:06:07:01 - 00:06:37:07
Unknown
I didn't have a whole lot of experience. I think we ended up teaching a little class. Yeah, because all the kids started coming around. Yeah, This is like that first day. And I don't know at what point it happened that after that I came back to another game. Game night, a game day at that at that point after school program and you had four or 5/6 sense said all of a sudden somebody purchased all these sets for me and I'm like, Wow, look at this.

00:06:37:07 - 00:07:05:12
Unknown
And it's still a board game. So it was within the boundaries fulfilled that's doing it fulfilled, Yeah. And do you who bought those for you. I think PTA 88 help me out immensely Now who knew that that was going to happen? Just that's wasn't my intent. But it did work out. Yeah, it was. How long before do you think if you can recall, before it changed, it was game.

00:07:05:14 - 00:07:30:04
Unknown
Game club? Yeah, it was just game for chess club. Yeah. All of a sudden then people started saying, You can compete. There's yes, there are circuits tournaments going on out there where you would go from different schools, would host tournaments. So it was small, it was in its baby stage. We were babies and yeah, it was in its baby stage and I was a baby at it too, I'm sure.

00:07:30:06 - 00:07:51:21
Unknown
my gosh. I don't know what doing here. We had to teach them. It became a big job and because we had to learn, we had to game. Yes. And I only had so much. Yeah. And I remember that we were scrambling because the kids are eager to absorb all the information and learn moves. So they started having YouTubing and learning different little killer moves.

00:07:51:21 - 00:08:13:08
Unknown
Yeah, Yeah. Four steps or what do they call it? Yeah, that's right. Scholars, mate Seattle and even know that you've come to I've come a long way and I've learned right alongside the kids. Right alongside the kids. And I love it so much. So let's start. Let's continue there. Okay? Okay. Why? Why did you fall in love with what ifs?

00:08:13:08 - 00:08:31:03
Unknown
All of it? Because there's so much critical thinking involved. And I looked at it and I because I wanted to present it to parents and I said, well, what am I going to say to them? Well, there's algebraic notation. You teach the kids 1 to 1 correspondence. There's math involved. I'm not a math person, but really there's math.

00:08:31:03 - 00:09:00:11
Unknown
And so I could finally see how it was related to math because you have notations and critical thinking and decision making and thinking ahead, strategy, strategy, vision, you know, teaching the kids you need to sit on your hands because there's a rule about moving a piece. I mean, that is not a piece. Yeah. That one became like and I think is universal in chess.

00:09:00:13 - 00:09:29:00
Unknown
If you touch it, you move it. Yeah, well, would be cruel to kids. Really? Yeah. To me, that was also a very important element as abiding by the rules. Yeah. Game. Right. These are the rules. And there is no fudging the rules. Exactly. So that was something else that we have to do in life is follow rules, follow rules and be able to stay within the bounds and creative, I think, and within those rules, because there's hundreds of thousands of possibilities.

00:09:29:02 - 00:09:55:08
Unknown
So you raise the amount of rules in chess and every every piece has its has a rule. You have to know those are you can't place successfully. Correct. Well, the program started to grow and now we started to travel with like two fine opportunities to compete because what better way to learn and get better and us even get better as teachers and actually traveling.

00:09:55:08 - 00:10:17:08
Unknown
Yeah. So you actually found those How did you end up finding venues or locations? Somehow I got into that circuit of schools that were hosting and so I would sign our kids up for it and we'd get on the school bus on a Saturday morning bright and early, and bounce down the road to the school and spend the whole day there.

00:10:17:12 - 00:10:44:11
Unknown
I mean, at that time we were playing five rounds of chess and that was, you know, that's a lot. That's a lot. It's brain draining. The kids were like passed out on the way home. There's a book by He's a world class chess master, The Art of Learning. You you know I haven't I think the the the story about the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer is based on your story.

00:10:44:11 - 00:11:05:00
Unknown
Okay? And I remember reading it and I'm rereading it right now. One of the things he said, well, he was a world chess champion where they call it when the Masters. A master chess masters? Yeah, he's a chess master. And after that, he started to find look for other things to get into because chess was everything and all he knew since he was a child.

00:11:05:00 - 00:11:27:12
Unknown
Right? Right. He got into some type of martial art, and I forget what it was. I was pushing Hans something, okay? And it became a black art. Why that? Because the what he what he figured out is what he had learned in chess is skill sets and learning and. And manipulating and creating angles. Yeah, yeah. Applied there. But what I really wanted to say there is that.

00:11:27:14 - 00:11:54:02
Unknown
Well. he said something. He said he realized that the physical intensity that it would take to actually fight was very similar to the physical intensity it took to do chess to compete because it does take a toll on the body. You started to actually implement like drills in between matches to kind of get himself up, amped up, okay, because the physical aspect is still there.

00:11:54:02 - 00:12:17:04
Unknown
It's just more mental, but it's still exhausting. Yes, it's exhausting. It is. More kids were wasted. I remember when they were little. Yeah, it was because it would be a whole thing. And learning how to be defeated and learning from your mistakes. And that's a big part of chess because, you know, we looked at motivational videos and it said, if you're going to lose, it's okay because you're probably going to lose a lot in chess.

00:12:17:06 - 00:12:45:00
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. Before, yeah, some kids took to it immediately. Other kids, it took more work. So I saw that they were working harder than others. Other kids are like, Yeah, I got this. Some of the to, to, to your point, I remember seeing numerous kids, including mine, cry. yeah. First losses, which came fast. Yeah. Yeah. Because up until then, they had competed inside their little world, right?

00:12:45:02 - 00:13:04:10
Unknown
And there was a ceiling to the skill that we had. And then we went out and they got crushed by some, some kids that obviously knew a lot more and then then walking out in tears, Yeah, they were determined that that lesson needed to be learned does need to be learned. You got to learn from your mistakes. And that's why we need to know.

00:13:04:12 - 00:13:22:01
Unknown
So that way we can go back and figure out what exactly. That's right. You can reproduce the game, right? And now I knew that the beauty of notation. Yes. So there's so much. There's so much. But I love it. And we love to learn and I love to learn. And that's what I'm going to ask you. How how did you take off?

00:13:22:01 - 00:13:45:03
Unknown
Because my girls ended up leaving. Yeah. And they we moved away. I think we did it four or five years before we left. Okay. Which was crazy. We had started to become pretty good with trophies. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, great. Well, what happened is I was assigned to another school. I was working two schools, so I love chess.

00:13:45:05 - 00:14:06:13
Unknown
I live in that school, did not have a chess club. So I was like, okay, guess what? We're going to get another chess club going here. So I go, But Khan was way better. The first school where Anna and Faye works. That school was eating chess up and they were doing very, very well. They were competing on this online program and they won.

00:14:06:17 - 00:14:28:09
Unknown
well. And I was like, my God, these kids are just they're like, loving it so much. I would have to say, I have a hunch that there was something about the culture already, that there was years of culture and reputation there. Yeah, yeah. By the time the, the, the newer kids came on board, four or five years later, it's like they were eager to participate in.

00:14:28:11 - 00:14:50:02
Unknown
Yeah. And they were so competitive against each other within the chess club. I was like, my God. He said, That needs to be the case. Yeah, that needed to be the case. And they were eating it up in the other team. They were new. Yeah. So they were not as great as that first team. But I had them both going, I had both teams going and you can, you didn't have enough, so you had to go to the second one.

00:14:50:02 - 00:15:10:05
Unknown
I know. I was like, We need a chess club at this school too. And I remember the days when we would go to tournaments and I was like, okay, I mean, yes, I did you I was going to my next question. How did you manage that? Yeah, I was at once. Who are you representing? And then the other school, I would get parents to come and, you know, wait with the kids for the bus, and then that bus would come pick us up and then we'd all be together.

00:15:10:06 - 00:15:31:14
Unknown
Okay. But it was wild. Who did you root for? Did they ever compete against each other? Sometimes, yeah. But you know that they did it. And, you know, I'm like, Well, we'll see who comes out the best. I support you both. Yeah. Yeah, I have to be. I'm your coach and I'm coaching both of you all. So when you pitched it to your The New school, was it challenging?

00:15:31:14 - 00:15:47:21
Unknown
Was it an easy sell or was it a hard sell? no, it was easy. People signed up right away. I got the parents on board and I was like, Yeah, everybody loved it. Everybody loved it. Everybody loved that program. It was my baby. It was my baby from the first school, the second school, and then both schools together.

00:15:47:21 - 00:16:09:11
Unknown
I was just like, You were the rocket. I loved it. I had to ask, like, how how does it feel? I feel like now it's part of your identity. It you're not just like, Hey, I happen to be teaching a chess club. I didn't know this is going to be part of my identity, but it is. It really it's and I represent Disney Chess and Time anytime they want to.

00:16:09:11 - 00:16:33:14
Unknown
Spokesperson and also Chess Kid, the online program that we use, it's so great. Okay, so that's the tool that the parents could use that Yes, we use it. Yeah. And I highly recommend it because it's very kid friendly and it's safe, by the way. It's great for you don't have to worry about predators is. okay. Yeah, that's that's useful.

00:16:33:16 - 00:16:52:11
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah. Good to know. You know and we put the kids on the program because they can do it at home or they can do it on their parents phone. It's convenient, you know, it's technology. What the heck? How long did it do you think it would take? It took the new school before they became they got their traction in wheels.

00:16:52:13 - 00:17:20:09
Unknown
my gosh. You went to my school and you see. a big that chess club was. So I followed up with this cranium, I don't know, six or eight months ago, because it came to me like, I should interview in this video. Duh. Because I talk about chess a lot. The lessons are universal and timeless, and I talk since I talk about it, like what I could bring on this venue and how we grew the program and how it initiated and where she took it.

00:17:20:11 - 00:17:40:15
Unknown
And I reached out and she said, Hey, you should come check out the club. Yeah, so I did. I went to the school. What? What is it? On the after in the afternoon after school, it was maybe a Wednesday. Yes. Yeah, I went to the school. I was honored that I was asked that she was okay with it and I did.

00:17:40:15 - 00:18:05:07
Unknown
I visited them. It was it was insane to believe. It was insane to walk into a room full of kids. And then you had two assistants and you said that one of them was going to take over the program. And you that you literally were like the last couple of months. Yeah, right. And but just to see the ripple effects, the ongoing impact of our initial little Yeah.

00:18:05:07 - 00:18:26:00
Unknown
Of what we started and see them excited and then you have obviously fleshed out the rules and the the format and how the program runs, who runs it. The it was so neat to witness. Yeah. Yeah. And it even, it even grew because at one time it was only like third through fifth grade that. that's right, That's right.

00:18:26:05 - 00:18:49:23
Unknown
So only through fifth grade. Well, not anymore. It's like so big. It includes third through fifth and then sixth through 12. And now this year, K through two. Wow. I know. Dynasty blew it out of the water. Student activities took it over and they provide transportation, right? They provide t shirts. They provide food, breakfast and lunch for the kids.

00:18:50:01 - 00:19:11:00
Unknown
I mean, think of the cost of all that because it's expensive to to run that program. I mean, you know, for that many kids think of the busses, just the bus alone. So tell me about that. When did that start? What what is the background started? Well, when we started, it was only that small circuit where we were just going to certain schools.

00:19:11:00 - 00:19:28:05
Unknown
Only school was self-funded. We were everybody would do that. Yes. And try to do what they could. Yeah. Yeah they would. Yeah. They, you know, and but we had to pay registration fees that come out of pocket which is fine. Yeah. And I don't know if we had to pay for the busses. I don't remember that part, I don't think we had busses.

00:19:28:06 - 00:20:08:09
Unknown
We all drove there. yes. the parents drove their kids. We didn't have busses and yes now we have busses. Okay. But when did you take that over and what was the movement behind that. Student activities, stage is took on all these different activities, academic and you know, real sports. All this stuff came from student activities, but I don't remember exactly when it all happened, but they took off a lot of the the burden of the parents having to pay for registration fees, which like $12 and then a bus, you know, those are expensive things.

00:20:08:11 - 00:20:26:06
Unknown
I would agree. Yeah. From paying a human being to move this big thing with all these. Yeah. So we could take like ten kids at a time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's fantastic. And I'm glad to see that the city took that on. You know, that that. I mean, we were just playing, but it was, it was. It was a challenge.

00:20:26:06 - 00:20:48:20
Unknown
It was a chore. But I, I can't help but feel like at some point or another I know that I need some players in that arena this miserable. Yes, I know. She was telling me that she was talking to the district. Now, I haven't spoken to her years, but I'm sure she had a part in that in actually trying to sell the idea of chess.

00:20:48:22 - 00:21:14:06
Unknown
She was one of our main competitors. Yeah. And she taught me something and which I've seen if you watch any chess movie. But having a person like yourself, like Miss Coy, no matter where you're at in the city, whether it be inner city suburbs or wherever, as long as you have someone that's committed to teaching you. Yeah, like the kids are going to learn the kids kids are eager to.

00:21:14:10 - 00:21:34:16
Unknown
yeah, they are. And they are like, So she went from one school that she developed this incredible team and they were all killers, like they were competing and they were doing like next level competing. Yeah, they were talking to her about it and then like, yes, advanced like they were placing and they had, what is it a place?

00:21:34:18 - 00:21:51:22
Unknown
I mean, you know, that was all graded placement in the national charts or what not. she might have been doing. Yeah. The that when you get ratings. Yes. Rating. Thank you get ratings. This is how out of touch I am. Yeah. But it's a huge world Yeah an opportunity but her kids were competing at that level. Yeah.

00:21:52:01 - 00:22:16:23
Unknown
Yeah. Those types of competitions where the they were being ranked. Yeah. Ranked. So that was like what's the watchword. Strong. But then she moved to another school. Yeah. And then she regretted it again. Yeah. She's a dynamic coach. Yes. Wow. But in there were all inner city Hispanic kids that until they got exposure to it may have who knows what would have happened.

00:22:17:00 - 00:22:38:10
Unknown
I mean, this became an integral part. Angel thing for them somehow, I'm sure I'm not mistaken. Got scholarships or got like continued one Mr.. Mr. Avenue son Stephen. He went to U.A. like so many opportunities that come out of it. But these kids will love it if they're introduced to it at a young enough age. Yeah, just the yeah, the access, I guess that's the word I was looking for.

00:22:38:11 - 00:23:04:05
Unknown
Access to, to tools to gain resources. Yeah. And they take off like you've been doing this so long. What is, what has, what have you seen in terms of the impact on the children? Well, I see them they're still involved in sometimes when they leave the elementary, then they get into it in the middle schools. And so when we were going to tournaments, I'd see the kids.

00:23:04:07 - 00:23:32:09
Unknown
I was like, This is great. I'm so glad to see you still competing. Come and help us out. Yes. You know, I'll teach you to come over here and you're so recruiting. Yeah. Yeah, that is another one. Yeah, recruiting and recruiting. And we just wanted to keep but it like you said, it took on its own life after a while, you know, once people started seeing and I would have kids come up to me in the hallway when I was teaching, I want to be just I want to be in chess club.

00:23:32:09 - 00:24:00:02
Unknown
And, you know, we were like, wait, wait. In the end of the season. I said, Next year with Samsung. Next year, definitely. Did you ever have any of them? So my kids are 2018. Yeah. Wow. Have you had it? Yes, but I. Have you had any of those those those kids that were from that first batch of first few years come back and visit you?

00:24:00:04 - 00:24:18:07
Unknown
Yes. But I know that I remember a couple that were like, they carry their chess board, their the roll mat in their backpack, and they're ready to throw down any given moment. It seemed like that was going to. Yes. That that was going to be something that's okay. And that was okay because we're not all cut out to be athletes and has said this back then.

00:24:18:07 - 00:24:36:10
Unknown
And I think it's becoming true. Y'all made it. We made it. They made it cool to be a chess geek. Yeah, that's that was going to be the key is when it was going to be cool. And we can put energy and effort into being a chess player as much effort as we put into football or basketball and.

00:24:36:13 - 00:24:56:01
Unknown
Right, right. Turn that dynamic around and like, yeah, I'm a proud chess player. Konchesky Yeah, I mean, it's a team. It's another you're you're representing your school, by the way, because you got to go out there and go against all these schools. And we want to be at the top. We want to be the best. And then there's a team strategy, right?

00:24:56:03 - 00:25:19:10
Unknown
Yes. And then you can compete as a team and you can get so many points so that you can get a trophy. Yeah, use your mindset because it's like, okay, Ana, we need you to at least have a draw. Yeah, we would. I would always say, if you can't do anything else, ask for a draw. If it looks that bad, asked for a draw, it's 0.5 versus zero points.

00:25:19:12 - 00:25:42:15
Unknown
So it became that aspect of the strategy also became key knowing where you were at as a Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's great. It was great and just it's been a catalyst. It's been a positive force in my life and I know it is for the kids. So it just kind of mushroomed. So it's just an overwhelming feeling. Like for me it goes back to that first day we show up.

00:25:42:20 - 00:26:02:23
Unknown
Yeah, we're just they bring me the board. I'm like, And then everybody's like, okay, this piece does this. But from that, obviously a bunch of other people got addicted and caught the virus. Yeah, I guess so. I guess because these schools were, you know, operating on their own and maybe then somebody took it back. I don't know who the spokesperson was.

00:26:02:23 - 00:26:26:18
Unknown
Maybe they were At some point or another, it had reached a tipping point where like this, the schools are doing something amazing. Yeah. What if what if what if we put we took it. Yeah. Yeah. And funded it and exposed markets to it and my gosh, the tournament's are huge. So tell me about that. Because when we went I was blown away by the amount of people kids playing chess of these little tournaments.

00:26:26:18 - 00:26:49:22
Unknown
Yeah. Okay. And now it looks like now they're like in they have two gyms maybe these schools I think at Barack Obama. And so they're using like one gym for one grade level, particular grade level, and the other one for the other grade level. But there's like thousands of kids, there's thousands and and so many different schools are participating.

00:26:49:22 - 00:27:09:19
Unknown
Yes. Lots of schools See the competitions, tasks he's got to be. But that's great because then it raises the skill set of everyone else. That's why I love the competition. It like it's steel sharpens steel like the You have to compete. Yeah, that's exactly Yeah. And then, you know, some of the kids, you know, they'll cross over and they'll play against each other.

00:27:09:21 - 00:27:32:21
Unknown
And I see. Can their with Mr. Vergano grab some of his kids and will compete against each other. I said come over here and share some of your secrets. Yeah. So, So this is giving. Yeah. To a peer tutoring? Yeah. You're tutoring. Yeah. And it's so fun to see everybody and be together. The tournaments are great. Time to work with the kids because there's not enough time after school.

00:27:33:03 - 00:27:52:15
Unknown
There never is enough time, Right? The the kids that excel are probably the most probably. Well, they'll go. They're going home. Yes. And working. Yeah. And if they beat me, they're like, I beat the teacher. So that day when I visited you, there was a young man who's quiet and confident, and he's playing various people as they're doing the rounds.

00:27:52:15 - 00:28:23:10
Unknown
Yeah. And he was crushing them. Yeah. I'm like, I want to play you by you. And he's like, Yes. And he beat me. Yeah, I think he beat me. But. But he did say. He did say, he did say, you had me scared. he did tell me that. That I gave him a moment of anxiety and he thought he was actually going to lose because to me it's a game and I'm pretty aggressive and I just try anything and I don't have a strategy.

00:28:23:12 - 00:28:43:01
Unknown
So other than to, like, really mess with their head and I did. But then he cornered me really good and I was blown away by him. Yeah. And they are using YouTube video. So tell me, you know, I'm practicing at home and I'm using chess kid because on chess kid, you can compete against the the robot sushi robots, right?

00:28:43:01 - 00:29:01:14
Unknown
I love that. I will compete against the robots just for fun, just to see what's going on. And they will go home and do that and they get harder. The robots start out real easy and that's good. And they get smart. They get more. That's a great, difficult, difficult as you go up. So yeah, it's a great program.

00:29:01:14 - 00:29:24:12
Unknown
It's a great program. Was the name of Chess Kids Chess kid. So if you. So it's publicly available. Yes. Okay. So not just for schools, not just for schools, but DSD bought a whole bunch of memberships. and provided that for everybody. Bunch of licenses. Yeah, for the resources. Yes. Go D-I. Yeah. Is very lucky, but I love that.

00:29:24:12 - 00:29:47:06
Unknown
Yeah, I love very proud of them. I'm very proud of them. I'm very proud that I've been part of that program. It's been such a catalyst for me, such a great learning for me and the kids. So you said you retired? Yeah. 30 years in. In teaching. Yes. Thank you. I appreciate you. You you've made a huge impact on my kids lives.

00:29:47:08 - 00:30:12:05
Unknown
That that aspect that in that context, it's I said to this day we talk about chess. We use chess metaphors a lot. What's next for you? Well, I am hearing from the director of the chess program and they're asking me if I want to come and help out in. yes, that's an emphatic yes. I'm ready. I mean, I'm retired, but I can still do other things.

00:30:12:05 - 00:30:29:07
Unknown
Yeah, I miss my chess club. And I miss you. Miss you, too. I miss them. And I told the chess coach that took over my position. Let me know. I'll come and volunteer. I will be there. So have you got the call yet? Not yet. When do they get started? They're going to get. I don't know. She starts as early as I do, but I.

00:30:29:11 - 00:30:58:05
Unknown
I started my program really fast because DSD begins the tournament like September, October. So how how how many competitions is it a monthly thing that a quarter. they have like four competitions. They have competitions. Two in the fall and two in the spring. And what comes out of it, What what are the rewards, What are the awards?

00:30:58:10 - 00:31:26:00
Unknown
yeah. Well, we find out, you know, we can figure out who's the highest in the chess club. We will do our own mini tournaments. We were doing that and the kids were you know, it was nice about that because they were learning to read data. And I loved that because, you know, Dennis data not real crazy about data, but with chess, they were looking at who was scoring the most points and we would we would record it as they would have a win.

00:31:26:00 - 00:31:44:03
Unknown
We would record who would win this so that we could see who's the highest in the club and who we would take. Is this insight. This is internally, this is internally. And this way we could determine who would be going to the tournament. so you had a tournament for the tournament? Yes. Because you have so many kids in the tournament.

00:31:44:03 - 00:32:09:13
Unknown
So how many were you able to take? Ten, I think ten per grade level as so. So like ten Kinder through second and ten. Three through five and 10/6 graders. Okay. So but they had separate tournaments like K through five, had had their own tournament. And then the sixth graders. How many kids did you have as a whole in a given school year?

00:32:09:15 - 00:32:29:20
Unknown
A Will this last school year was the highest, which we had like 45 kids. Wow. Yeah, That's because it grew by leaps and bounds. That's why we had so many coaches. It's like, Yeah, I don't think I get this by myself. I was I was doing it all by myself. And then I realized that I was going to retire and I'm like, you know, I need to get somebody in here.

00:32:29:20 - 00:32:46:21
Unknown
That's a good plan. It's a really good plan. Yeah. Somebody to take over the reins. So did did you have trouble finding that person? No. Her daughter was in the chess club as well, and so she was already helping me. The mom was already helping me, so I was. She's the one running it. The last time was her.

00:32:47:01 - 00:33:13:02
Unknown
Okay? I was really just watching them run the program. Yeah. Yeah, it was. Yeah, we were. We were doing peer tutoring. Yes. Teachers. Yes. We give them a little badge. You're a teacher today. You. You teach. You really, really fleshed out the program. We we flesh it out together. It was a group effort. I mean, you and the other PTA lady helped me get started.

00:33:13:02 - 00:33:36:23
Unknown
You bought the book, bought all the materials. And so I was recalling that we attendance fluctuated right those first few years. I remember there was moments when there was like six or eight kids in the room. Yeah. And my two. So that's like, Yeah, but it was nonetheless, it was so successful for me. It was really I mean, this is one thing I think about a lot is like I looked forward to it because there's another opportunity to hang out with them.

00:33:37:01 - 00:33:54:19
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. Do something, pass and do some. Yeah, yeah. Still some, some, some new skills in This is like a multitude of skills within chess. yeah. It's just a game that gives you so many. Yeah. It people look at it go chess. I don't know how to play it. I would tell them, you know, what, have you come and I'll let the kids teach you.

00:33:54:19 - 00:34:21:00
Unknown
Yes. Because that's more valuable. You're the one who gave me that little that little saying that says when one teaches to learn. And I was like, he gave me that. And I I've been abiding by that. It's true. I to this day, if I learn something new, I try to find someone, usually my girlfriend, God bless her. So I run to her and like, all right, this is what I just read, just to force myself to teach it.

00:34:21:00 - 00:34:45:05
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. And it works. It makes sense. Makes total sense. That's a process. Yeah. So if they're teaching, we even had a night parent night or we brought the parents and we had the kids teaching the parents. I love that. Yeah, that was a fun night band. So I became big band nerd. Okay. She was the the drum major.

00:34:45:05 - 00:35:07:12
Unknown
She was a drum major the last couple of years. And at the beginning of the year that when they're doing the trials and their big push for training during the summer. Yeah, there's a session where the parents come out after a week where they're drilling them and then they part of there's a segment where they teach the parents how to do this or I do where they marching.

00:35:07:12 - 00:35:35:07
Unknown
And that's fun. And it's, it's I mean, as a parent, it's really thrilling and also nerve wracking. Yeah, But but to get involved and to to to have them teach you is incredibly beneficial. Share that knowledge. And there's there's just this billionaire to me like my kid is teaching me something she like into this. Yeah. So in chess I can only imagine poor parents like yeah that was that was very, very rewarding.

00:35:35:11 - 00:35:54:09
Unknown
The other coach said, you know we should have a parent night and said, yes, we should really do that. So she's I know that chess is in good hands. I know it is. It was hard to give it up. Hard to give it up. I love it so much. Was that a consideration for not quitting? Yes, doing. I built this program up.

00:35:54:12 - 00:36:21:04
Unknown
Did ten years plus. Yeah. I was in Disney for a long time. 10 to 13 years, I think. Yeah. Thank you. Miss you. you're welcome. I appreciate you. Is there anything you would like to say as it relates to chess, teaching kids? Anything that maybe I have an ask that you'd like to share Any thoughts? And I just I'm just like, I think that more kids, more families should be involved in chess.

00:36:21:04 - 00:36:48:11
Unknown
I think it's it's a great tool for learning to make decisions for life skills. It's it's a way to interact with your child. You know, it's don't be afraid of it. Just yeah, don't be afraid of it because you can learn together. Thank you. Thank you for that. Because it is the simple but complicated game. Yeah. And it's it's incredibly obviously intense.

00:36:48:13 - 00:37:06:22
Unknown
Your processing like multiple moves and what she thinking what's even one of the things one of my tricks people ask me how I taught them like well I taught them just the basic moves how it became more of a thing is because of peer pressure. positive peer pressure. We ended up making a game out of it in a club out of it.

00:37:07:00 - 00:37:28:14
Unknown
So now they wanted to teach each other, they wanted to beat each other, so became something they want to do together. It became easy to do, but also I had a math the role of Chess Man in a ziplock of all the the piece pieces. And we'd go to the park. Okay. And a lot of parks actually have the or have the chess players as well.

00:37:28:17 - 00:37:51:14
Unknown
Yeah. So on Sundays we would walk to the park, which was up the street on my weekends, and we'd go play, have our sandwiches, play basketball. Yeah. Do various other things. That sounds like fun little things like that. And it was never intended to where we're trying to crush each other. But it was. It was enough to where we just kind of them motivated them and kept their minds.

00:37:51:17 - 00:38:12:15
Unknown
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you're and it's, it's definitely exercising your brain. It's one, it's very much exercising your brain after an intense game. A good thought. If I'm in a game it I wouldn't be surprised if adults would be out of breath because and I know I sat down with one of the coaches and she says, This is giving me a lot of anxiety.

00:38:12:15 - 00:38:36:14
Unknown
Yeah. Because they think you're thinking you're trying to figure out how am I going to beat this person and that. I think that was one of the big lessons early on for me, like or a realization that you feel like you're actually going to lose the game of life or something like, no, this decision I make right now, like it's just a move, just making this, Come on, let's keep it going.

00:38:36:18 - 00:38:54:18
Unknown
Yeah, yeah, right, right, Yeah. So I guess that's what I would say to parents is get in there. Don't be afraid. Get your feet wet. Won't hurt you. Just learn the basics and see what see what kid gets inspired is something that I truly believe in. And I'm glad that you came on. I really appreciate you taking the time.

00:38:54:18 - 00:39:11:09
Unknown
We thank you. Took a few months to get this together. Yeah, I know it did, but it's something I am eager to put out promptly because I talk about it so much. And what better way to or who better to talk about it than with someone who's heavily more invested than I am now And I'm going to go back.

00:39:11:09 - 00:39:35:12
Unknown
I'm not just because I'm retired. Does it mean I can't be in the chess program? I'm absolutely yeah, it's it's it is the kind of game you can play to your old and continue like I've seen really old people that are like yeah these games right right. So I definitely want to bring it back up. Especially now since I have a grandson the next few years start like getting them the chess pieces, they can become aware of them at least.

00:39:35:17 - 00:40:00:12
Unknown
You know what's cool is it becomes a family affair. Yeah, I've had a lot of parents. Well, I've had families end up having families. I had a really smart chess person. He came in from another school, and then he would come to chess club. And so what his sister, his sister was in kindergarten, and she would come in and she would she knew how to play this.

00:40:00:12 - 00:40:15:23
Unknown
And how do you know how to play chess all day? My mom taught me how to play, so then the mom knew how to play. So I was like, I need your mom. I need, I need, I need. Yeah. Tell your mom to come and hang out with this chess club and practice with the kids. I love it.

00:40:15:23 - 00:40:39:19
Unknown
I love it. I love it. Yeah. So you're a chess family. So there are chess families. God. I know. You definitely have seen that. Thank you so much for being here. You're welcome. Thank you for asking me. This was a great thing to. To talk about chess. You know how much I love chess. Yes. So this will be used for promotional purposes to make sure to get more people invested in what's possible, which as we probably said, chess 100 times already.

00:40:39:20 - 00:41:00:09
Unknown
Yeah, Yeah, definitely. If you're if it's something you're looking to do with your children. I do talk a lot with parents, single fathers, divorced fathers, divorced anyone. It really doesn't matter, Right? If you're looking to do something unique and something that will benefit them in the long term, pick up chess, put the Gameboy down, put the whatever down.

00:41:00:09 - 00:41:20:18
Unknown
Like to challenge yourself as a parent to go out and get a chess board, learn enough to teach them. You'll be surprised or let them teach you. Yeah, I like it. Yeah, that's valuable. There's valid points, Mr. Geary. And he's right. I'm always right when one if one teaches to strategy, as I've been saying that for years. And they hear you.

00:41:20:19 - 00:41:39:15
Unknown
Yes, yes, sure. I've always told people that. I've told the coaches. So now one parent told me this and I think it stands true. And so I keep repeating it. So with that, we leave you when one teaches to learn, so teach your kid so they can teach you until next time. Thank you for tuning in to the Teevee show podcast.

00:41:39:15 - 00:41:57:09
Unknown
My name is Teevee and Pena misspent. I was going to like it. I just I knew it. Miss Yolanda opinion. Thank you. Have a great day. Make sure to leave a review like share this. Do whatever it is that you internet people do. You crazy people. Bye. Bye. Bye. Thank you. Yeah.