I bought my young son a chess set for Christmas, expecting to remind him frequently that the horsey is called a knight. I wasn't expecting him to excel so quickly. Soon, with a mother's daydreams, I imagined quiet afternoons on the living room broadloom as he steadily learned to outsmart his first chess opponent - mom. He won a week later. His little brother squirmed in my lap and pressed his stuffed cat into my face, as the TV blared behind me, and I - unable to coordinate thoughts, never mind chess strategies - lost my king to a pawn.