​Chess Is a Game of Life

I first discovered Mentone last year, and soon began returning weekly, driving 90 miles from an area northwest of Huntsville. The energy I felt was very positive and welcoming.

Every week I was so looking forward to coming back up to explore the caverns and walk the meandering pathways through the beautiful hardwood forests that surround this blessed community.

On one occasion, an owner of one of the local shops offered me a copy of The Groundhog. In that edition, I discovered that Moon Lake Community Library has “chess and games of strategy” every Saturday morning. What?! With everything else this community has to offer — chess, too!

My priorities immediately shifted. They became: #1 — Chess on Saturday mornings; #2 — Hike another day.

Through these chess games and the library, I have had the privilege of meeting many local residents. In October of last year, I moved to Mentone.

We invite you all to come to the library each Saturday morning for chess, other games of strategy, coffee, and conversation. This library is a great place to spend some time. (Paradigm shift: It’s not your typical library. This one is really fun.) Playing chess is a great way to spend some time. A social pastime. Casual chess.

Throughout the years, studies have found that, for young people, learning to play chess dovetails learning real life lessons. Have a plan. As time passes, review the plan. Adjust the plan to accommodate changes that have occurred. Chess teaches, as do real life lessons, that there are consequences for the choices that you make. Stay focused, follow the plan. Consider options for the most desirable result. Make bad choices, and you will not survive for long.

Studies have also found that, for those of us who are…older, keeping the mind active and engaged with games of strategy, such as chess, helps deter the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s.

If you have ever played chess at all, please come in for a visit and for play.

If you have never played before, but are interested, please come in. I will gladly help you learn how to set up the board, how the pieces move, the rules of the game, and chess etiquette. It remains a light-hearted atmosphere. No stress.

Regardless of your age, please come. When a man of 70+ years sits down at the table with a young man of 10 years, the age difference disappears. It’s all about the game.

​Explore the caverns of your mind. Create pathways across the board as you walk through the hardwood forest of chess pieces.

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— Jerry Megli