Category Archives: General Chess

Six things that chess teaches for improving your life

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Posted by ChessTeacher on February 25, 2010 – 3:29 pm
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What do you mean by life? A simple question but one cannot give a simple answer for this question. If at all you want a simple answer for this question, then it can again be as simple as “Life is what you live.”

For many people, life means different things. Life is opportunity; Life is planning; life is a game; life is a sport; life is a menace; and life is life. Whatever may the perception or outlook about the concept of life, one should have some basic responsibilities and rights to fulfill and enjoy in his or her life. How can one lead a qualitative and fulfilling life? It can be possible only by learning from experience. But life is too small in comparison to the experiences as time does not wait or take you back to earlier period. At the end of every day, you get only one day older and not one day younger.

It is here the ancient game of chess comes into the picture. The game, supposed to be the oldest, is also the most fascinating, and still the most popular game existing in this universe and should be a right candidate to the Game of the Millennium.

How the game of chess can help a man improve his life?

In real life, you need to do some basic things to sustain in this world and fulfill your duties and obligations. You need to plan, organize yourself towards the plan, take decisions, and above all assume responsibility for the deeds and actions. If any of these things are not done, then your life will be not qualitatively better off and, you will be one of those unfortunate people who say that life is nothing but a menace.

Again, coming back to the question, what does chess do to bring about a qualitative change in a person’s life?

Chess is not just a game played for the sake of relaxation or for fun. If it were thus, then it would not have withstood such a long period in this age of technological advancement. The irony is that technology is only promoting this game to dizzy heights with its innovation and taking it to the people at large in the form of online chess.

The game of chess is played between two players across a square board, each having 16 pieces each. Each player has a king piece and 15 other pieces guarding the King. The objective of a chess player is to corner the opponent’s King, either capturing all other pieces or otherwise, and utter the golden word of Checkmate. It is not that easy to corner the opponent’s King in a move or two and claim victory. Depending upon the skill of the opponent, it might take place in less than 10 minutes or even many hours. Only possible solution is a draw between the two players. The other possibility can be a mistake from the opponent. If he makes a mistake or a wrong move and you capitalize on that move, then you win. The same thing is applicable for the opponent. To win the game, then it is imperative that you not only capitalize on the opponent’s mistake, but also ensure that you do not make any mistake.

Viewed in this context, chess teaches you, as a chess player, to

• Plan your moves after careful thought assessing all the pros and cons
• Accept responsibility for the outcome of your actions
• Analyze and assess the reaction of the other person
• Chess is a turn-based game; you need to be patient till the other player makes the move.
• You cannot rush through with your plans with considering the opponent’s response. You should respect the opponent’s move and act in response to his or her move
• Chess teaches you to take a wise decision considering the position in the board, a balanced decision

The more you play the game and gain experience, it is inevitable that these virtues get inculcated in you and you will think twice before making any move, both in chess and in life, take responsibility for your actions, and in a nutshell, reduce or totally eliminate the possibility of mistakes both in chess and in life. If no mistakes are committed from your end and also you have the capability to find for opportunities and cease them, then you can definitely say “Checkmate” to the opponent and also lead a qualitative life.

New Ideas?

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Posted by ChessTeacher on January 6, 2010 – 1:59 pm
Filed under General Chess
Tagged as chess

It’s been quite a while since we have done any blog post. I am running out of ideas. But there is a good news, yesterday I bought some new books and I shall post something this week.

Role of chess in improving your character

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Posted by ChessTeacher on December 10, 2009 – 1:47 pm
Filed under General Chess
Tagged as chess, chess benefits, chess lifestyle, game of chess

Chess is a board game played between two people. The requirements for the game is none other than a square board containing 64 squares of alternate colors, and 32 pieces split into two equal sets and distributed equally to the players. The objective of the game is to capture the opponent’s chief piece – the King – and say “checkmate”, following some simple rules of setting up the pieces on the board and using the specified movement of the pieces. Now, the need for a partner is also done away with and anyone who likes to learn the game or play the game can do so by using the computer and the Internet and play online chess with a virtual partner in any online chess site.

This is all about the game of chess, in its simplest terms, for any layman to know about the game.

What is there in this game that helps a player improve his or her lifestyle?

Before answering this question, please consider the following aspects about this ancient game.

The game, according to history, is claimed to have been played since the 6th century AD, that is for more than 1400 years upto now.

Since the second half of the 15th century, the game spread to almost all the parts of the world and there has been no change in the way the game should be played since then – that is for more than 500 years, there is no change in the rules of the game and people follow the same since then.

From the beginning of the 20th century, the game has been recognized as a Professional Sport and World Championships and a host of other tournaments of prestige are conducted across the world.

If chess is a mere game played for relaxation or to kill boredom, why is the game still surviving in this world and attracting people all over the world, especially in this age of technological advancements where innumerable games are available in the market place and the Internet for providing relaxation, fantasy and excitement.

Chess is basically a game that requires serious thinking and deep concentration. You are called upon to take decisions at every move aimed at achieving the goal of saying “checkmate” to the opponent. The victory in the game is not in your own hands but in the hands of the opponent. You can win only and only when your opponent makes a mistake and you capitalize on that mistake. Similarly you can lose the game only and only when you make a mistake and get punished by the opponent who ceases the opportunity.

Simulate the situation in the game to that of your life and you will find the similarities between the two things – the chess and the life.

In life, the opponent is the world at large. You are called upon to take decisions at every point of your life – be it studying a course, taking up a job, buying a car, loving a girl, marrying a lady, so on and so forth. A wrong decision will make you ruin later while a wise decision will make your life a better one.

Learning the game of chess and gaining experience in this fascinating game will help a person cultivate many of the following capabilities: make informed and balanced decisions; develop analytical skills; logical and concise thought process; deep concentration; responsibility; and planning ahead. These invaluable skills will naturally help a person improve his character and approach to the life.