The joy of being an ADULT BEGINNER

At the outset of the book Beginners: The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning by Tom Vanderbilt, he writes about facing off against an opponent in a chess tournament. ‘I peered at him with what I hoped looked like remorseless pity. I was trying to project as much feral menace as one could while sitting in a library chair.’

While Tom is sizing up his faceless nemesis, looking for chinks in his armour, his adversary seems unaware of his intense scrutiny, appearing faintly bored and glancing around the room. ‘Could I, through tactical finesse, and the withering power of my merciless gaze, slowly dismantle the core of his being?’ he wonders.

The next moment, a woman appears at his opponent’s side, hands him a small carton of chocolate