Life and chess.

One of the main ideas in chess is that, to play well, you need to play the board. That is, play what is actually on the board and not what you wish it was or so focused on what you want it to be that you miss what reality is. Chess is not a fantasy game, but a game based on reality, i.e., what is really present on the board. We’re not talking here about having a strategy, where you play TO what you’d like it to be. We’re talking about playing the board as it IS at the moment. Playing the board is the First Law of Tactics, as it were. Here is a pointed quote from Alburt/Parr’s book, “Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters, Volume 2″:

“…the inflexible player with a stubborn desire to win in spite of the changed situation on the board continues as if the position is still a win. The result: He loses. During a game, all players must learn to adjust to changing realities and reformulate plans without remorse. In chess, what really counts is what comes next. Do not try to ignore hard facts and do not spend time lamenting an earlier mistake. Just as you cannot unring a bell, so you cannot unmake a hasty move.”

I believe this idea was best exemplified in Emmanuel Lasker’s play, which is one reason why he could still play well into his old age at a high level. He didn’t spend a lot of time dreaming up wild combinations or fixating on one strategical idea, but played what the positions were on the board and was flexible enough to change a strategy when the situation changed. He didn’t waste time lamenting a bad move, but “played it from there” without ruminating. Even when you read his commentaries of games (e.g. St. Petersburg Tournament, 1909) he is very laconic and matter-of-fact about what the better move was. You get the sense from him that the game is still playable, but that it just so happens that the better move was… In contrast, Alekhine, for instance, gives the better move and you can almost see him throw up his hands in disgust that the players actually continued on from this “blunder.”

Chess is a fine parallel to life in this regard. Most of life is a series of tactical excercises with strategical results. You can have an idea of what you like to see happen, where you’d like to be in so many “moves”, but if you miss what’s actually happening around you, you’re playing a fantasy. How many heartaches and depressions do people experience because of fussing about what they wanted and it not coming to pass because the board – life – itself was completely different than their idea of what it should look like?

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your heart(s) and mind(s) in Christ Jesus.” [Philippians 4:6-7]

Now this is spoken to those who have the Word of Life in them and believe in Christ Jesus. But I bring it up here because seeing the reality of the board – the reality of life – means seeing what truly is. Seeing the Truth brings with Him, peace. And so, those scoffers will say, what “truly is?” And I’m going to give you a different answer than what you’re expecting…

The motivating characteristic of a life which is separated from Christ Jesus, is craven fear and pride. THAT’S why it is so difficult for players to grasp the concept of playing the entire board moment-to-moment. Whether outward or inward working, fear of something; losing, being foolish, making a mistake, losing the good graces of a friend, etc., is what spits and sputters just underneath the surface and that, coupled with pride, is what the motors of understanding about life feeds on. And you see that manifest in a game over-the-board.

And I’m saying OTB, specifically, here. If it’s a mere problem to be solved on a demo board in a group setting, for instance, that “fuel” I mentioned above can appear to have beneficial results (and I say ‘appear’ because although the results may be good, it simply supplies more fear and pride to a real situation OTB). For instance, last Saturday G. saw a simple, but “hidden”, Bishop move on a demo board that won the game immediately. There was the possibility of taking a Queen and being promoted, but the Bishop move was the game winner. Amazingly enough, a similar situation presented itself in the second game of G.’s that afternoon! It was a blatant mating Rook move to the 1st rank, but he missed it, even placing the Rook so that it cut off the Bishop’s diagonal which was bearing down on the King. Now why was that? When I pointed it out, he understood it immediately, but he’d not seen it because he was fixated on a certain sequence he had drummed up in his mind. Fear of a piece attacking one of his pieces, the pride of not wanting to make a mistake regarding the attacked piece and he missed a mate in one. Nearly the same problem presented on the board earlier that he’d seen staight away.

Most people have no real understanding of the fear and pride that infiltrates everything they do. Craven fear is the soup most people swim in. Learning to play the board and not the opponent is the key to overcoming fears. Yes, I know, that’s the opposite of what lots of players and books will tell you… play the opponent, use psycho tricks, give them the “Tal stare”… yikes. All advice derived from fear. Intimidation is a tactic of fearmongers, not people interested in reality. Playing the opponent is a way around playing the reality of the board, of getting an edge beyond what the situation is, actually.

Playing the board requires a belief that you can overcome it’s confines, that is, you can operate within it’s borders with the arsenal given in such a way that will checkmate the opposing King, that is, stopping the King from any more movement of his arsenal, giving you full motion essentially – freedom – over the entire board. The battle is on the board, the outcome takes place on the board. The mind moving the arsenals is manifested in the actual situation ON the board.

Reality is playing the board, but you have to see the board in it’s entirety. No shortcuts. The Reality of Life is the same. You have to see Reality in it’s entirety. Jesus said that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life [John 14:6]… now that’s either a crazy man talking or it’s the Son of the Living God talking. Are you willing to play a fantasy with your soul and miss the mate in one? Or are you willing to seek the true situation on the board and make appropriate decisions? Either way, it’s your move.

For a clear understanding of your seeing the “reality of the board”, take a test to see if you are a good person HERE ».

A strange thing happened last Friday during the school Chess Lesson.

While reprising the simple Rook/King vs. King ending strategy, Earl, 16, was doing an awful lot of thinking. I’d show the pattern; I re-iterated the ladder concept; I re-iterated that the rooks like to be as far from the enemy king as possible. Yet, Earl pondered for long moments and then moved the rooks in a tight formation around his own king only adding to his confusion and the complications, requiring more thinking. I showed him again and actually completed the end game in the simplest way a few times for him to observe.

Again, he pondered, a look of bewilderment curled his brow and then… he moved in a tight formation around his own king!

I signed to him that this strategy was as simple as it comes. That he can actually use this strategy in a game with other pieces on the board. Then the strange thing happened.

He began to tell me that he preferred English to Math.

Wha?, I answered. He signed “English” and motioned all the pieces lined up on the board in their starting positions. He then signed “Math” and placed pieces on the board that appeared to attack other pieces, reminiscent of a checker board set-up. I interepreted it to mean that he preferred playing with all the pieces and not only a few. I told him that if he can’t see simple patterns of strategy with only a few pieces, how could he expect to play with all the pieces and the added complexity? Start with knowing the simple first and then playing with the full complement would be easier to understand.

He repeated that English was better than Math. I was at a real loss. I failed to see what these two words had to do with Chess. Constantly being faced with the local coded sign language, I asked Teacher Delores if she could help interpret what exactly this all meant. Earl explained it to her, but she didn’t really understand either. Earl signed Gerald’s name to her and said that Gerald (the oldest student in the class and quite a decent Chess player who was absent that day incidentally) had told them, in some way, that all the pieces on the board were like English and playing the game was like Math. Earl wasn’t good at math, didn’t like math, therefore, he couldn’t play simple end games.

Where does a teacher go with something like that? Understand, this was a worldview, a presuppositional understanding of what the game of Chess is reminiscent of. Equating Chess with Math and English and the baggage that comparison may bring to the understanding is a huge obstacle to overcome.

The best comparison to make with chess is, matter-of-factly, life. Chess tactics, strategy, patterns, consequences of actions, and much more all point to a corollary to life itself. It’s not a perfect comparison, but it’s a very helpful one. So it seems that despite pointing this out week-after-week with examples, there is still much to do in getting it into the minds of the students. I will need, it appears, to improve my examples. English and Math are immediate and specific to Earl and I think my examples in the past may have been too general. This episode with Earl has revealed a weakness in my teaching. Thanks be to God in Christ for this reproof that I may now improve.

As in life, and what this episode emphasized for me, is that there are always subverting factors – people, teachers – who will teach something false that will harm understanding, but that students/disciples will cling to for whatever reasons. The Bible continually warns Christ’s Church about these very people. I’ll talk to Gerald to get a better understanding of what he meant, but I’ll also admonish him to stop using the analogy since it’s not helping Earl understand, but giving him excuses to stop trying.

May this be a helfpful reminder to us all, eh?

The Christmas party season is in full-swing and Chess Club’s entry into the fray will be this Saturday. Planning on having a hot meal and the regular snacks of popcorn, chips and drinks.

As the year winds down and the prospect of the new year appears on the short horizon, I’ve been pondering a few things. First random thought is that the deaf have no idea of the Chess world. Never heard of Carlsen or Kramnik… Lenares or the U.S. Open… so was thinking of making a short one-page summary magazine next year of the highlights of the week (possibly better as a monthly)… wish there was a real organization with the National Chess Federation here and they had a magazine.

Second, thinking of ways to instill patience through chess… Filipinos are notorious for taking shortcuts in every aspect and that includes over-the-board play. Frustrating to continually see the march of the Knight across the board to attack “across the equator” as Bronstein would say. Moving the Queen out front in the first three moves is also a favorite. And I’ve seen more Fool’s and Scholar’s mates in the past year than some see in a lifetime. But, then again, I’m learning patience as well (smile).

Third (and I’ll end here), is continuing to seek the way of God in Christ for bringing God’s understanding of the value of their lives through Chess. Deaf people are considered worthless in this “power is all” society… considered even lower on the scale than the blind since the blind can hear. These students have extremely limited prospects and their understanding of their value corresponds to that. I’m not talking about a Dewey-esque, practical empiricism where the Deaf are only valuable in relation to what they can provide or do… not at all… I’m interested in their worldview that points to worth as a being made in the Imago Dei, the Image of God. For any prospects they will have in life stem from this worldview. And I’m not talking about self-esteem… that only leads to a worldview apart from God… I’m talking about God giving them a revelation of themselves as important to God in Christ… not some scientific hocus-pocus of being “important” because you are the ancestor of a monkey and “evolved” from some fantastical sticky soup.

Looking back at this year a little, I have seen some changes in their understanding of Reality… their worldview, their weltanschauung… a piece of something they didn’t have 13 months ago. And let me say this… although Chess has been a conduit and a great tool for practicing vital life skills and values, the most important thing that I believe Chess does is provide a forum for relationship. A relationship for sharing the love and excellence of Jesus Christ. It’s in the weekly interaction and talking and society of these young men and women that have made more of a difference for them than the mechanics of the chessboard. Chess gives a chance to become, as I’ve stated before, principled mentors and prudent examples to these valuable friends, that they may come to know Christ, personally and not abstractly.

Merry Christmas to you all and may your heart come to know the King of the Board intimately and eternally.

Chessofia™ is a relational, person-to-person, ministry of Jesus Christ.

Simply put, “Chessofia™ is the royal game… the Royal Way.“
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In my old days as a scriptwriter, (and my now ancient dream of being the next William Goldman, Script Doctor Extraordinaire) the importance of every word carrying weight was paramount. In radio, for instance, you have a strict time structure and no time for the superfluous. Dialogue and description carry the idea(s) forward or they stop the cadence and flow and wind up making people read/watch/hear five minutes of the characters traveling somewhere. “Always enter a scene just after it’s begun,” is the old saw.

Finally coming to the completion of this summary at top helps me immensely. There’s nothing for me like a writing exercise to focus me on the essence of things to clarify where I’m going. That’s why Bible study is so vital to our lives (especially when you write down what you’re learning)… otherwise, we’ll just wind up being a body without a head, a lemming heading for the cliff, a lawyer following an ambulance (okay, maybe the second one’s not fair to lemmings [smile])… wandering aimlessly. Not to say that I was aimless before writing the above, but it’s helped get all the feet on the path that Christ is walking… or to say it ‘chessicly’, as Bruce Pandolfini might say, to get all the pieces on the board where His Cross lies; in the right order.