Chess is a complex game that takes a lot of thought, skill, and strategy.
Earning the title of “National Chess Master” is quite an accomplishment, but it’s an even greater achievement for a child to make – especially one who has lost half of their brain!
17-year-old Griffin McConnell recently secured the title of National Chess Master after undergoing his fourth brain surgery.
As a young child, Griffin had a passion for chess. He started playing at just four years old and never stopped, even when faced with risky, intensive brain surgeries.
Griffin suffered from severe seizures that were impacting his quality of life, which is what prompted the brain surgeries in the first place. When they didn’t seem to be effective enough, Griffin and his medical team made the decision to do a hemispherectomy.
According to the Colorado Sun, during the risky hemispherectomy, surgeons carefully removed around a quarter of the left side of Griffin’s brain and disconnected the rest from the right half of his brain.
Griffin had to relearn how to walk and speak and do everything on his own again! It was a slow, painful journey and he never did regain the use of his right arm and hand following the surgery.
However, one thing he picked back up pretty quickly after the hemispherectomy was chess.
According to The Denver Channel, Griffin said, “It’s kind of interesting because I feel like chess is one part of me, and that’s why I did so well. And with the hemispherectomy, when that happened, I don’t know. It’s interesting because I (wanted to relearn) chess more than I wanted to walk or talk.”
Despite the challenges Griffin faced, he went on to win chess match after chess match. Recently, he even won the Colorado Scholastic Championship!
The McConnell family has since started ChessAbilities Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to “promoting chess opportunities for people with disabilities, with an emphasis on children.”
What an inspirational young man!
Check out the interview below:
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