Downtown café hosts mostly adult players
Chess nights gather players of all abilities
By Dee Riggs
World staff writer
Posted March 12, 2008
Until the very end, winning — or losing — is not a foregone conclusion in chess.
That’s the thing Norbert Schneider likes best about the game.
He plays it fairly regularly as part of a group that meets every few weeks at Caffé Mela in downtown Wenatchee.
“When you find that things are getting tough, and some people are taking it as a foregone conclusion — ‘He is going to lose now’ — and then you come up with an interesting move that turns the game around, that’s the fun,” says Schneider, a computer consultant.
In April last year, Nena Walton started the chess nights as a way to find more players. Walton, marketing administrator for fiber optics at the Chelan County PUD, had played chess with friends and co-workers during lunch, off and on, for about 18 months.
She got the word out by posting notices at various online sites, and more than 20 people turned out for the first event.
Walton learned to play as a child with her father, and finds playing almost second nature. That’s not to say she always wins.
“I can play a player who’s better than I am, and I’m going to lose nine out of 10 times, but it’s that one time that makes you come back again,” she says.
She also likes the social nature of the game, which is why she doesn’t play online.
“Anytime you can bring people of all ages and all backgrounds together, I think it’s a wonderful thing to do,” she says.
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