A love of travel has pushed me far and wide. Two months ago I arrived in my 38th county, down yonder Latin America to Colombia in fact, courtesy of that leitmotiv of mine (all that is left now is Africa and Australasia). This afternoon, I headed further north than usual in the capital city, to give training to a headmaster at an International school. After it had concluded, I cut through the small but exclusive shopping mall I saw opposite his luxury apartment -you can find it and its name on the map here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ixdGsHkqyfmaRcsH9.
It had two floors only, the second being a food court, so I decided to take a look. Much to my surprise I noticed ten or so elderly gentlemen -like me- playing skittles. Within minutes I was beckoned to play at a table by the windows. This was to be my first game in Colombia, my first game in Latin America. Perchance I looked English for I was offered the white pieces, and being English, naturally I opened with 1. c4. I played all my moves almost instantly except one or two -as if it were bullet chess with no clock! But with my heroes being Carlsen and Karpov, yes I went for a Catalan, opting for some space grabbing on the queenside with an a-pawn thrust that knocked his knight on b6 back to the eighth rank before opening the centre up with a d-pawn push that put my opponent on the backfoot even further in order to blockade it. He made no mistakes, however, but his defensive minor piece placement in the middlegame allowed me much activity in the endgame, which when my king came marching in, eventually cost him the full point. I did not write anything down for it was only skittles but I do recall the final position.
Even though the weather is inclement, the start to the day often inauspicious, the culture in Bogota is vibrant nonetheless. They like to live their life to the full here, they are pragmatic about it also, well for the most part. They don’t only play chess in parks, they also congregate in food courts to deliver checkmate, until of course they come up against McCready the conquistador! My play was consistent in approach and effective too, and that made me proud, putting a smile on my face as I left. It was already dark then, the time some twenty minutes or so after dusk had fallen. I walked towards the Transmilenio bus stop named Alcalá, my mood jovial, my state of mind aloof somewhat. Getting on the right bus, that being number 8, but going several kilometers in the wrong direction towards the northern edge of the city was more laughable than it was regretable, such was my mood: I came, I saw, I conquered I told myself, and not I came, I saw (the bus), I conquered a seat on it but off it went in the opposite direction and I almost got myself bloody lost again! It wasn’t an unfitting end to an afternoon of discovery followed by achievement but simply a brief return of ‘old dafthead’ as Worzel Gummidge would have put it -or so I like to jest!
To end, my greatest passion in life isn’t chess, it’s music; therefore, the thing I connect with the most here isn’t that chess is enjoyed in public but rather heavy metal is popular indeed instead. The song of the day, then, has to be this appropriately named, and rather catchy, 1980’s German metal massacre.
Mark. J. McCready
Colombia
McCreadyandChess 
Leave a comment