7 things I’ve learned about life from playing chess

Photo: GC x Q W Kuala Lumpur 2024.

Location: W Kuala Lumpur.

Here are a few things I’ve learned about life by playing chess.

1. Women are powerful, men are essential.

The queen is the most powerful piece on the board, the king by contrast is plodding and slow. Yet the game can continue for dozens of moves after the queens are off the board—but once the king dies, the game ends. As in real life, women are often the centers of attention with their dazzle and flash and drama, but in the end, it is individual male leadership that decides the outcome.

2. The threat is stronger than the execution.

This is a common saying among chess players. The idea is that by threatening an action, you can nudge your opponent in a certain direction, but actually carrying out the threat may cause as many problems for you as for your opponent. The parallels with human relationships are evident.

3. Chess is 99% tactics.

Another favorite maxim. While carrying out long-term plans, you have to constantly be on the alert for immediate dangers or opportunities that can radically change the game. You may become a master player, build a strong career, and have a solid physique, but if a moment’s inattention causes you to swerve into the oncoming lane on the way home, it may be all for naught.

Photo: GC x Q W Kuala Lumpur 2024.

Location: W Kuala Lumpur.

4. Different phases of the game require different skills.

It took me a long time to realize that chess is really three separate games—with common tactical themes and goals, to be sure, but requiring very different skill sets overall. The opening requires a lot of experience with common strategic and tactical themes, and yes, quite a bit of memorization. The middle game involves imagination and creative risk-taking. And the endgame demands exactitude and mathematical calculation.

Personally, I’ve always had the hardest time with openings—both in chess and in approaching women. The game is literally wide open at this point and can go in a myriad of different directions, so you have to make strong, general moves that cover a wide variety of situations. At the same time, you need to study a lot of previous games—both your own and those of others—to be prepared for different responses.

5. Latent talent in ordinary people can become obvious after years of hard work.

Pawn promotion can be seen as a metaphor for the way in which ordinary people sometimes have unusual talents that only become apparent to others after years of diligent effort.

6. The best defense is a good offense.

A cliche in sports, this principle applies equally in chess. Even if all you want is a draw, playing passively is seldom effective against a strong opponent. You must actively work to keep the other player off-balance to distract him from his attacking plans.

7. A weakness is not a weakness unless it can be attacked.

Another way of saying, perhaps, that your limitations are self-imposed, and that something you perceive as a weakness on your part may be completely irrelevant in a given context. Thus, fixing your inner game—eliminating psychological insecurities—may be more important than addressing the weakness itself.

I could go on and on about chess. I could talk about the theories of force, space, and tempo; the way pawn structure gives shape to a position; the different styles of play; the cautions against resting on one’s laurels (It is not enough to be a good player—one must also play well); and the social connections you can make and the influence you can acquire by playing. Suffice it to say now, I believe chess should be a part of any serious man’s education. So who’s up for a game?

This article originally appeared on https://www.returnofkings.com/8134/7-things-ive-learned-about-life-from-playing-chess