Transcript
NOOT SEEAR
Chess has always been a really big part of my life ever since I was kid. I used to play a lot with my father, and he never, I mean, he used to let me win. I think when I was a child, one of the things that drew me towards chess was I was good at its tactics. I was not very good at reading or writing, but I was always excel in math. And they didn't know--really know what to do in me with school because I was a grade ahead in Math and always a grade behind in English. So, they just kept on changing, changing, changing schools.
And that really helped me with all the traveling that this job has, and moving around, and never having that best friend, and always learning how to pick up. And chess was always a staple for me. I started modeling when I was 13. I moved here in '97, and it's a very lonely, lonely career as many wonderful -- wonderful aspects as it has. You spend a lot of time on your own. Especially when I was so young, I didn’t really fit into many groups here.
I started playing in this park with a guy named Nandy. And he started playing speed chess with me. And I always felt very comfortable here, like, I could be myself, and that I fit in. And I started to realize that they had this chess parks all around the world. So, whenever I travel, it was very comforting for me to find a place where I felt like I fit in and I had a skill, and I could learn from people. And when I moved to Paris, I moved to St. Michel which is an area right next to this park Jardin Du Luxembourg.
And I think I spent every moment I had free from working in that park.
Checkmate!
So that became addictive to me almost. I guess I really like playing games. But one day I will be a master of chess, and I owe it all to these people in this park. It's crazy though, so a lot of people are like, “I can't believe you hang out in that park. There are so many sketchy, strange people.” But I've always have felt like I was one of them, that I fit in here, I guess.
