If there’s any one thing that has stuck with me through my years of playing chess, it is that you fight hard until the very end.
And that is exactly what Elena Donaldson, my chess coach for more than five years, did with her battle with brain cancer. The women’s grandmaster passed away on Nov. 18 in Seattle after battling with cancer for nine months.
Among her many merits, Elena was a three-time U.S. women’s chess champion, as well as a Women’s World Championship candidate. However, she proved not only to be an incredible chess player, but a remarkable person and mentor.
Elena’s lively and animated personality lit up not only the chess classroom, but additionally changed a lot of people’s lives. She has guided a large number of students since they first learned what a “pawn” was to a level of mastery and has instilled a love for the game in a countless number of individuals, a majority of which have been youths.
One student says that she will most miss Elena’s encouragement and dedicated teaching. Another says that “Elena inspired me through her teaching.”
On a personal level, I am not only extremely thankful for having the opportunity to study with her, but also for her giving me my first job. When Elena first offered me the opportunity to coach and mentor the chess club at Horace Mann Elementary, I was thrilled and incredibly grateful for the chance to help spread the game that I had grown to love amongst younger kids.
Each week was filled with a number of memories, and unexpectedly, I turned out to learn and grow from the kids, just as they learned from me. For this, I owe Elena. Elena has helped inspire a love for the game of chess and helped me pursue this with an outstanding amount of support and encouragement. Even after seventh grade, when I stopped playing chess competitively, Elena encouraged me to stay in practice and keep my mind active.
It would be an understatement to say that Elena was a “good” coach. She was phenomenal. We will all miss her very dearly and our prayers go out to her family and close friends. She has truly left a significant mark on our lives.
Christina Dias is a teenage Redmond resident who is a poet and blogger. Her blog, Merry Go Round, can be found at christina-merry-go-round.blogspot.com.
