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.
One Comment
If chess is supposed to help a man improve his life, then are so many chess players failures in life. I have known so many chess players who cannot seem to translate their chess brilliance into an ability to make plans (goals) and achieve them. Many are able to, but they do not necessarily translate. I sometimes think the rules for how to play chess and the rules for how to succeed at life should be similar, and yet I wonder if they really are. Chess is so simple in comparison to life. It has the same rules for everyone. There is one difference right there from life. The rich have one set of rules and the poor have another, for just one example. Then it is just spatial/temporal. Life is composed of more dimensions than this, although on just the pure physical level I suppose it doesn’t, but then chess is 2-dimensional and life is 3-dimensional. I know 3-dimensional chess is complex, but then life has many more than 64 squares and many more than 32 pieces. Sometimes I think chess is the refuge of people who find life too complex and stressful, and we hide out in a simpler world, where the rules can be understood, and the outcomes controlled.