Easy to learn, hard to master: Canton man passes on his passion for chess

Jan. 19—Pawns, knights and kings...oh my! Chess can be a daunting hobby for newcomers, but for one seasoned chess veteran, his passion and skill in the game have been honed over decades of play.

Bruce Goodwin of Canton has had his fair share of chess opponents. What became his lifelong passion developed after he joined the Canton High School chess team in the early 1960s.

"It was club day once a month at the high school, and you had to belong to some type of club. And so I went to the chess club, not knowing the first thing about it, and I just kind of got hooked on it," Goodwin said.

When he graduated, it was time for the adult leagues. Goodwin joined the Asheville Chess Club, where he began playing tournaments and became a nationally-rated chess player in 1986.

In 1992, he became the North Carolina State Chess Champion for the amateur class. That same year, Goodwin tied for third in the nation in the U.S. Chess Championship Game 60, named after the 60 min each player gets to play the game. In 2001, he played in the North American Chess Open in Las Vegas, where he tied for second with a Russian woman.

"You have these really special times when you think you're going to lose, but you don't give up. What usually happens is if your opponent is about to destroy ya, they'll get overconfident and overlook something," Goodwin said. "That's the thing that makes chess fun is — it ain't over 'till it's over."

In 2006, after retiring from the Canton paper mill, Goodwin wanted to find friendly competition in his own county. He then helped form the Waynesville Chess Club, re-named the Smoky Mountain Chess Club.

Despite his skill and experience, Goodwin remains a humble connoisseur.

"I'm a tournament player. And I've got a shelf full of trophies from years back, but I'm not a master or even an expert," Goodwin said. "I'm what's known as an advanced amateur."

And Goodwin has no problem paying it forward — he is an avid teacher as well as a player.

For several years, he taught a chess class through the Waynesville Recreation program and was also involved in teaching kids how to play chess, which culminated in their desire to play at the National Elementary School Chess Championship in Charlotte.

"I said. 'I know you're pretty good players, but these kids come from everywhere: New York, Florida, Texas.' I said, 'They've had two or three years experience and master coaching and all that, I don't know if you're ready for that,'" Goodwin recalled.

Childhood excitement won out, and Goodwin taught them a new strategy every week leading up to the tournament, whether it be how to use the clock or how to take their time during a timed play. The team took home a carload of trophies from the tournament.

"Those kids, they got older, they went to college, they got married and they still call me once in a while," Goodwin said. "And now here I'm starting on the same thing again."

The next batch of beginners

Five years ago, one of the librarians at the Canton library caught wind of a conversation Goodwin had with some other library guests about teaching their son how to play chess. After Goodwin asked the librarian if they could set up a match, she assumed this one match would mean the resurgence of a beginning chess club.

"She drafted me," Goodwin said. "So I started there, and then one kid brought another kid, and another kid brought another kid and then here come some parents."

And just like that, Goodwin was wrangled back into teaching another chess club, but he doesn't mind.

"I really enjoy these kids, they just crack me up, you know," Goodwin said. "You wouldn't think this day and time, with all the stuff kids can do on their screens, that they'd care about a board game, but they love it."

He said when some of the kids lose, they go home and look up different chess strategies to improve their next game.

"They get a lot better, a lot quicker," Goodwin said.

He said that the club offers children a chance to not only learn the game, but the valuable lessons that come along with it.

"Another thing that's very good for kids to learn is that you have to learn to lose gracefully. When you start playing chess, you're gonna lose most of your games. And a few people just can't handle that, they don't like getting beat," Goodwin said. "It's very much like life, you more or less get out of it what you put into it. You learn to be rewarded with good feelings when you win, and you learn to improve yourself, it hurts to lose in life, it hurts a little bit, but you gotta do it gracefully."

The Beginner's Chess club meets every Friday from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Canton Library, where Goodwin can be found divulging his chess expertise to beginning players once more.

Goodwin said that he usually advises adults and kids alike who want to join the chess club to first look up the rules online and then come into play once they have a general understanding.

Ages range from 8 to 108, but Goodwin joked that "if you're over 108 — you're not welcome." Kids younger than eight can still participate, but their attention just tends to waiver more, he said.

"I've got one rule in here, though," Goodwin quipped. "The number one rule here is to not beat the teacher."

Although Goodwin spends much of his time teaching chess to the next generation, that doesn't mean the "advanced amateur" has retired yet. Goodwin will compete in the 36th Annual Land of the Sky Chess Tournament on Feb. 2-4 in Asheville. Goodwin is one of two players who have played in all 36 tournaments.

"It ain't easy, it's very challenging," Goodwin said. "It's challenging to win a game and it's a real rewarding feeling to do well in it. You never know when you get into a game or a tournament whether you can play well or not."