The Chessist’s Gambit
Once upon a time there was a small Pawn who used to live in a faraway land in a world of 64 squares. He was everybody’s favorite. But one day the evil king made him cry bitterly. Wiping his tears, he asked God to show him the path to take revenge and defeat the evil king. God said “My dear Pawn, You are the life of chess. If you take the right step, then one day you can become the Queen. Listening to God’s words, the Pawn went on to befriend a naive Elephant. The Elephant was quite calm and quiet, but if anyone dared to hurt his friend, he used to become mad and create havoc. To win the game, the pawn played his last move. The pawn got himself sacrificed. The elephant became mad with rage and gave a checkmate to the evil king.
What other option did the pawn have apart from moving one step at a time and reaching the last square and becoming the Queen. Only the mighty Queen does not always have a goal to be achieved, the pawn also has its own existence, and remember, a young pawn can also checkmate the king by his own moves.
Our Life is one big chessboard. People are the chess pieces.
Each piece represents a different position, power and possibility in the game of life. How you use each piece and the kinds of risks and gambits you are willing to engage is a great reflection of your approach to life.
Back in the days of Kings & Queens, along with Knights in shiny armors they had Castles. Everyone of importance to the King lived in the Castle for their protection (Support) and they were protected by the Knights who sat with the King and mapped out battle strategies (Self Advocacy) only after the King had counseled with his Bishops who were believed to be the wise men in the Kingdom (Education), but of course never wiser than the Queen, who we all know gave the last word to the King just before he made his decision (Personal Responsibility) to contact his soldiers whose only thought and duty was in protecting the Kingdom (Hope).
Chess is an excellent opportunity to study yourself and how you relate the world. Are you cautious or fearless? Do you lead with your head or your heart? Can you move between both at will? These are the qualities a creative mind needs to cultivate.
In this game of life you cannot just focus on your next move, but rather, you have to focus on your next three moves. Every decision you make today will have an impact on your future decisions tomorrow, regardless of where you fit in this game of life.
In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “Chess teaches Foresight, by having to plan ahead, Vigilance…by having to keep watch over the whole chessboard…Caution, by having to restrain ourselves from making hasty moves…and finally, we learn from chess the greatest maxim in life, that even when everything seems to be going badly for us we should not lose heart, but always Hope for a change for the better, and steadfastly continue searching for the solutions to our problems.”