I have never been so phenomenally gifted at anything to merit the epithet ‘master; however, I am, or have been, good at a number of things.
Lets start with sport. In my youth, I played football, rugby, cricket, tennis and table tennis. I hated rugby because it was too physical but enjoyed the rest. My best sports were tennis and table tennis. My greatest table tennis feat was winning the Mens Singles, Mens Doubles and Mixed Doubles Championships of Charles Morris, my university hall of residence, in 1971. Oh, and I won the table tennis championship of the Jolieville Hotel in Luxor, Egypt, when I visited circa 1988.
Now on to chess, which is not a sport. Stamina and concentration are required but, since it is sedentary, involving no physical exertion, chess is either a pastime or a science or an art form. I have been a keen chess player since my teens and currently have an online blitz rating of 1600. My highest ever blitz rating was 1710, achieved on September 24th 2018. When you consider that Magnus
Carlsen has a rating of over 2800, it is obvious that I am only pretty average at chess. The pinnacle of my chess career was winning the Tanzanian Championship in 1991, which sounds impressive but was achieved against weak opposition.
At school and university, I was a very good, although not stellar, student. My Upper Second Class Degree in English is a true reflection of my ability.
I was a teacher for 39 years. How good was I? Again, I would give myself an Upper Second. I was diligent and knowledgeable, but I have to admit my teaching methodology was somewhat On a bad day, I could be a boring old fart.
These days, aged 68 and I enjoy writing blogs (such as this one) on a variety of topics: travel, sport, chess, books, music and so forth. I am writer, as might be expected of an English graduate and teacher, but my style lacks pzazz; if my studying and teaching deserve an Upper Second, then my writing does too.
As a conversationalist, I can hold forth with authority on a variety of topics – the histories of chess, boxing, tennis,
football, cricket; Thomas Hardy; English and world literature; old movies; jazz and blues music; beer and single malt whiskies – but whether I can be classed as an expert on any one of these is doubtful.
Yes, I would love to be really expert at one thing. To be a chess grandmaster or a jazz pianist would be wonderful. However, if a single activity dominated my life to such an extent that I had no time for other interests, then the answer is no, I would prefer to be a jack of all trades. Bobby Fischer, the great chess to mind; his pursuit of the world chess championship allowed him no time for anything else and blighted his development as a rounded human being.
To be prodigiously talented at something and yet have time for other things - ah, that is the stuff dreams are made of! I have always liked the term ‘Renaissance man – namely a man who tries to embrace all knowledge and develop his capacities as fully as
possible. Examples of Renaissance men are Leonardo da Vinci (painter, scientist, architect, philosopher, engineer), Sir Philip Sidney (poet, scholar and soldier), Michelangelo (painter, sculptor, poet), Noam Chomsky (linguist, philosopher, historian, social critic, political activist), Steve Jobs (business magnate, innovator and film technology). I suppose that, in my own small way, I am a Renaissance man but, unlike the exemplars above, I have no outstanding talent in any single area.
In short, I am happy enough as I am – a jack of all trades master of none - constantly trying to improve my chess rating, fiddling with words, expanding my knowledge of music and literature, meditating on the conundrums of life and death. After I die, I will be remembered – if I am remembered at all - as an English teacher and chess enthusiast (I ran chess clubs in all of the schools I taught at during my 39 years).
