It was a strategy for winning arguments when the writer was six years old. respect from others, and eventually, though neither of us knew it at the time.  Vincent got a chess set from the Christmas Party, he except it was obviously used and, as they discovered later, it was missing a black pawn and a white knight , Vincent explained the rules ,the writer attended more tournaments, each one farther away from home. The writer won all games, in all divisions.   By the writer’s ninth birthday, he was a national chess champion. The writer still remember In his head, he saw a chessboard with sixty-four black and white squares. Opposite me was my opponent, two angry black slits. She wore a triumphant smile.