My biggest learning in Chess is that small moves lead to big outcomes. Like the butterfly effect. A quiet, harmless, preemptive move of placing a Rook at a particular square proves to be dangerous for your opponent in the endgame. And just like that, the tiny daily habits compound to big differences later.
Of course, life does not have an opponent. But life has circumstances that sometimes seem to play Chess with us.
Another learning is that you don’t need to and probably shouldn’t strategise too far into the future. Why? Because you don’t know what the ‘opponent’ will play. It’s best to focus on the here and the now: on the next few solid moves you can play, given the situation on the ‘board’, while keeping an eye on the future. A mix of tactics and strategy.
Chess teaches us to move in life using both calculations and intuition. You can’t rely on only one. Calculation alone fails in the presence of uncertainties and intuition alone lacks grounding.
Perhaps the biggest learning is to pay attention all over the board. An awareness of every piece you have. It’s a hard but an essential skill, both for Chess and for life. Hyperfocus on one aspect, and the castle comes crashing down from the other side. Checkmate!
Just like life, Chess is an unsolved mystery. There’s no set pattern or mathematical model that guarantees a win. And there’s no algorithm to win at life either. However, the one way to have a good game and a good life is: to stick to the principles, to the wisdom that has stood the test of time, and to constantly seek a balance.
Always choose a balance. A harmony between the pieces… of life!
Chess is a beautiful game. Perhaps the most beautiful of all. There’s something divine and aesthetic about it. It’s both a Science and an Art. It mirrors the infiniteness of life, and just like the game of life itself, it is a pursuit of balance, harmony, and time-tested patterns.
