He’s improving. He’s thinking in terms of potential. He’s looking at my last move and giving it consideration.

Tonight, he moved his rook to the semi-open file — always a good development strategy in the opening 8-15 moves.

“Why’d you do that?” I asked.

“So I could attack that,” he replied matter-of-factly, pointing at one of my pawns.

“How many defenders does it have?”

“Three.”

“How many attackers?” I enquired further.

“Two.”

“Is it safe to take?”

“Nope.”

I looked over at K. “He’s going to be able to beat you sooner than later,” I said.

“I’m sure,” she smiled.

Then his tummy started hurting — but that’s a different story.