I don’t know how exactly, but somehow, I was 1-0 up.

The last time Dofna and I sat around the chess board, I’d managed to snatch a surprising victory!

I hadn’t played for a very long time.

Teasingly, I enjoyed ribbing him about that triumph for the last 9 months or so.

It’s my experience that a strong rival inspires the protagonist to become better and does so for the rival as well; in other words, we both fed off (and had a few laughs) of being competitive with one another for a good while.

Our return match was long overdue.

And for the last several weeks, we’d planned to get back together.

Yesterday, Missionary Preparation Day (P-day), visitors arrived at the mission home.

I discovered they’d already been practicing and honing their chess skills, playing a few games that morning already.

On the other hand, I’d never looked at a chess board for 9 months!

On a very sunny morning yesterday, in Leidschendam, we geared up to let the battle for dominion commence – and off we went.

The energy created in our friendly rivalry helped us to focus our efforts for sure.

It was a chance for each of us to shine!

The quiet intensity of the battle was all consuming.

The first game went by all too quickly.

He’d obviously been fine tuning his skills.

It was 1-1.

I used a well-rehearsed opening in match 2.

Somehow though, quickly he seized my Queen.

Incredibly, a few moves later, I captured his Queen.

Our concentration levels were at fever pitch as the ferociousness of the battle reached its climax.

You could feel the mental energy!

Sadly, for me, the end came swiftly and painfully, he was victorious.

I told him to keep the hat!

I’m sure too, he’ll enjoy ribbing me for the next few years that he’s 2-1 up!

“We learn little from victory, much from defeat” – Japanese Proverb.

And the moral of the story?

𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈!