Joshua Davenport learned to play chess, at the age of six, after watching his father and older brother play. Although he’s a member of the United States Chess Federation, he never played in a sanctioned game, but Davenport is taking the skills he’s accrued over the years and passing them on to those who want to learn how to play.
Through the end of March, Davenport is offering one-on-one lessons at the Cornwall Public Library. Three one-hour sessions are being held from 1 to 4 p.m. To sign up your child, or register yourself, visit facebook.com/joshua.davenport.5811.
“It’s a very critical thinking game,” said Davenport, a Cornwall resident for the last three years. “It pushes you to your limits mentally and psychologically as well. It can be very stressful, but also fun and rewarding. That’s why I love the game so much. It teaches children to predict and think ahead, but it also teaches them sacrifice, patience, and many other different things which correlate to reality and life and can be used in everyday life. You can use your mind to get out of certain situations rather than going down more difficult paths.”
Davenport was born and raised in the Bronx, but lived a lot of his life in Yonkers. As he grew older, his family bounced around. He attended high school in Nanuet and Goshen. He describes his family life as troubled with many challenges to overcome, but the one constant was chess. Playing chess and participating in after school programs helped keep him off the streets and away from trouble.
The many distractions prevented Davenport from pursuing the game the way he wanted to, but he was able to read many books on the subject. Besides the help he got from his father, Davenport learned how to play by challenging others in Washington State Park. He also participated in a program taught by a chess master at the Yonkers Public Library.
Having recently filed paperwork to establish a nonprofit organization called “The Strict Dad Organization,” Davenport said he wants to give back to his community by teaching others to play chess. The nonprofit organization aims to help parents by offering advice, counseling, and support.
“I’ve had a hard life, and I feel in a lot of ways I’ve overcome and persevered through a lot of my troubles,” Davenport said. “I want to give back to the youth to show there are a lot of opportunities and fun games to do to reverse a situation.”
Sessions at the library are for people ages six and up. Each session is only an hour long in order to hold the student’s attention. Davenport said the game requires a lot of discipline to learn, but he believes if he makes it fun and rewarding, it will help keep a child’s attention.
To begin, Davenport plans to teach each participant the names of the pieces and their position on the board. He’ll then show how they move and offer little puzzles to help students retain what they learn.
Should participants return for additional sessions, Davenport will review what’s been taught and progress to opening moves. From there he’ll teach strategical thinking – what to sacrifice, when to sacrifice, and how to avoid falling for traps.
“Chess is a very intricate game. By the third or fourth move, you have over 2,000 different options or ways it could go. There’s so much to learn. It could take a lifetime. Even people who devoted their life to chess, still lose and learn things daily.”
