Chess is a complex (复杂的) game that takes a lot of thought, skill and strategy. Winning the title of "National Chess Master" is quite an honor, but it's an even greater achievement for a child to make—especially one that has lost half of his brain.
17-year-old Griffin McConnell recently won the title of National Chess Master after undergoing (经受) his fourth brain operation.
As a young child, Griffin was interested in chess. He started playing at just four years old and never stopped, even when faced with several terrible brain operations.
Griffin suffered from severe seizures (突然发作) that were affecting his quality of life, which is what prompted (促使) the brain operations 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 (大脑半球切除术). During the risky hemispherectomy, doctors carefully removed around a quarter of the left side of Griffin's brain and separated 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 used his right arm and hand freely following the operation. However, one thing he picked back up pretty quickly after the hemispherectomy was chess.
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. 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 one chess match after another. Recently, he even won the Colorado Scholastic Championship!
What an inspirational young man!
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