A dedicated chess mentor

Check Mates
Arthur Meether makes young friends through chess at the library
By Trisha Marczak The Daily Journal
Published Saturday, April 19, 2008

Arthur Meether is worried about the way some children spend their free time these days. To make a difference in the Fergus Falls community, he has spent the past four years volunteering his time as a chess mentor at the public library.

“It forces you to think. One of the things that I am concerned about in modern games is their violence,” Meether said.

And it looks as though he’s making an impact. Siblings, 7-year-old Mary and 11-year-old David Grotberg, hardly miss the oppurtunity to share a game with Meether. For the past two years, David has been working on his skills in hopes that he may one day reach the level of his mentor.

“Now I’m doing geometry, so it’s easier to beat him,” said David.

Meether admits that, occasionally, his students prevail, but it’s nothing he’s ashamed of.

“I’m very much honored when a student beats me,” he said. “I never give anybody a victory. If they win a game, it is because they have out smarted me. It doesn’t happen very often.”

Meether began playing chess nearly 80 years ago as young boy in Sioux County, Iowa. He and his family didn’t have the convenience of electricity, so chess was a way they visited with one another. He said he tried as much as possible to play the game, even before he was old enough to understand the ins and outs.

“I admit all I did was move my peices around and amuse my aunts and uncles,” he said.

Here is the full article.