Randy Kaech once directed a tournament where Walter Browne, six time U.S. Champion, played. Knowing this fact from his adulthood, you might never guess he once had no idea there was a broader world of chess.
Randy grew up in a small town in a rural area of Southwest Washington. As a child, he watched his uncle and his uncle’s Navy friends play chess. From watching them he figured out how the pieces move and eventually how checkmate works. His uncle and the Navy friends let him begin playing with them. Due to Randy’s rural location he quickly discovered that there was not much chess competition around.
In middle school, Randy played at a tournament at a local community college. The youngest player there, he won and then promptly quit chess because he thought there was “no one left to play.” He had no idea just how wide the chess scene was!
Check out the full article here to learn more about how Randy discovered the rest of the chess universe and his committed involvement now helping other rural kids get connected to the benefits of chess.