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 ».