The will to win is important, but
the will to prepare is vital - Joe Paterno
There are tough players and nice
guys, and I am a tough player – Bobby Fisher
I am in the process of reading a book called ”Outliers: The Story of
Success”. In the book Malcolm Gladwell
examines the factors that contribute to high levels of success. It is not
solely our smarts, ambition, hustle and hard work that make us successful. A
lot more variables are apparently involved in an individual's success. Gladwell
wants people to move away from the notion that everything that happens to a
person is up to that person. When asked what message he wanted people to
take away after reading Outliers, Gladwell responded, "What we
do as a community, as a society, for each other, matters as much as what we do
for ourselves. It sounds a little trite, but there's a powerful amount of truth
in that, I think."
This week Thea and me participated in two
competitions: my ambassador’s monthly chess tournament and Thea’s first
swimming competition.
I, in all modesty, usually win the chess tournaments
in Ghana that I participate in – but not this Thursday night where I lost two
games and only came second after the Danish/Italian filmmaker Michele Melega.
He is also the son-in-law of the late founding father of Ghana: Kwame Nkrumah. As
Peter Heine Nielsen, the Danish Grand Master in Chess ones said: “It is a well
known fact that nobody has ever won a game against an opponent who was in a
good health condition” and I was in fact down with flu…
More interesting was it to see Thea in action. We know
that she is a good swimmer but she was the youngest competitor and was contesting
for the first time. The competition was hard but Thea managed to win a bronze
medal in 25-metre free style. The backstroke race also went very well until
Thea stopped just before touching the wall – and therefore lost. There were
high hopes for the breaststroke race but just as the start whistle sounded Thea
slipped and fell in the water instead of a proper dive and thus came last.
Better luck next time.
It was good fun and Thea is very proud of her medal!
Theodora, Edie, Karoline, Thea and Jasper ready to compete...
Edie giving Thea a few tips.
Thea ready for 25-meter free style.
The last instruktions.
Get ready.
Off she goes...
Full speed.
That was easy - what next?
Backstroke!
Looking good but stopped just before the finish line...
Last race is the favorite breast stroke...
Where have they gone? I fell in by mistake.
Never mind, off we go.
A bronze medal is not bad.
The proud moms.
And the proud dad.
Playing against the danish Ambassador.
This one I will have to win.
Hmmm. 17...,Bf6? Looks like a mistake... c6 is weak.
15 moves later he resigned.
1-0
My terrible loss to Michele...
