During my second year at the city college， I was told that the education department was offering a “free” course， called Thinking Chess， for three credits． I __1__ the idea of taking the class because， after all， who doesn't want to __2__ a few dollars? More than that， I'd always wanted to learn chess． And， even if I weren't __3__ enough about free credits， news about our __4__ was appealing enough to me． He was an international grandmaster， which __5__ I would be learning from one of the game's __6__． I could hardly wait to __7__ him．
Maurice Ashley was kind and smart， a former graduate returning to teach， and this __8__ was no game for him: he meant business． In his introduction， he made it __9__ that our credits would be hard－earned． In order to __10__ the class， among other criteria， we had to write a paper on how we planned to __11__ what we would learn in class to our future professions and， __12__， to our lives． I managed to get an A in that __13__ and learned life lessons that have served me well beyond the __14__．
Ten years after my chess class with Ashley， I'm still putting to use what he __15__ me，“The absolute most important __16__ that you learn when you play chess is how to make good __17__． On every single move you have to __18__ a situation， process what your opponent (对手) is doing and __19__ the best move from among all your options．” These words still ring true today in my __20__ as a journalist．
