A few weeks ago I was in Winslow, Arizona seeing family. My youngest brother is 12 years old and had learned how to play chess since the last time I saw him. My chess game is rusty and the little guy beat me soundly more than once I am proud to say. Well, embarrassed for me, proud for him. I think we can all derive some life lessons from the chess board, so I wanted to present a few here.
Lesson #1: Always play chess with those who are better than you.
This is a lesson that was grilled into me as a kid growing up. It was my father’s way of telling me that if you surround yourself with people who are better than you, you will learn from them. There is some Biblical evidence for this. Proverbs says that “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another (Proverbs 27:17, NIV).” Conversely, the book of Proverbs talks about how if you hang out with people who aren’t up to par, your own standards may start to slip. Proverbs also states that “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed (Proverbs 13:20, KJV). I have found when I talk with smart people it not only encourages me to study more, it sharpens my intellect incredibly.
Lesson #2 Analyze and utilize your pieces so as to maximize your effectiveness.
Your rook performs a different function than the knight, the king a different function than the queen. In our society, we have so much confusion over the roles of individuals and lifestyles that we have become accepting of almost anything. Now more than ever, it’s important to know why you believe what you believe and to be able to convey it rationally to others. The friend needs to treat her or his friend as such, not as a friend with lover benefits and no strings attached. Similarly, lovers must each treat their significant others with respect or the relationship erodes in a vicious cycle of hurt and wounding. If you know what you are good at in life, rejoice in that. Don’t spend your time comparing yourself to others or wishing you were someone else.
Lesson #3 Watch the clock.
Timed chess games require you to move within a set period. If you are smart in life, you will not order your time around what you feel like doing, but rather you will live within a disciplined schedule so as to maximize your productivity, making time for both work and play.
Lesson #4 Always think two or more moves ahead.
Life is a game of grand strategy. A professor recently told me a good diplomat or politician will analyze how an action in one country will affect the region and what the dominoe affect of an action will be. It’s more than thinking two steps ahead, it’s living a life of purpose where every move is made with the knowledge of how this will benefit you in the long run.
Lesson #5 Know when to trade in your pieces.
Paul told the Corinthians in the New Testament that in his opinion it was best to be single, but that he knew that most people needed a mate. So, if you’re really good at the game of life, perhaps you can do it all on your own and you don’t need your queen to win. If I captured my younger brother’s chess queen the response was predictable from him. “Oh no, Lena! The game is over! You took my queen!” I would have to remind him that he had many other pieces on the board, and that really it was okay to trade a pawn in for a queen. Oftentimes I think adults hold onto dead relationships. You’ll know when a relationship is dead. It starts to stink. It ceases to be any fun and is all work. The comments coming from your significant other are consistently abusive and promises of reform can be made with months or years passing and you haven’t seen evidence that they were real in that time period. Comments I have heard for hanging onto dead relationships include “Sunk costs” the time that you’ve placed investing in the relationship. I suggest you consider “future costs.” There is a difference between being a loyalist and a martyr, assess which you are. Why waste your future being miserable? Don’t think that flowers covers up the stench of a dead relationship. It just makes it a little more momentarily pleasant. The roses fade and the stench returns. Know when to trade the pawn for a queen since you don’t do well at check mating in the game of life without her.
Lesson #6: Study to become a Chess Master.
No one got good at anything without discipline. In International Relations, you want to study history and previous policies to analyze what could have happened for better or worse. Sports is the same way. Perhaps a football strategy makes more sense to you than a military one. Either way, get strategy in your life. Study those who are better than you, and like rule number one says, hang out with them!
Lesson #7: You tell me. What has chess taught you about the game of life?
