A Guide to Chess !

 

   “ You did it wrong !”

 Muttered the little boy hesitantly addressing his Pop who seemed to be drenched in his game's study .

   "Well , then why don't You give it a try since you claim to know more ! "

 Rebuked the annoyed father!

   It was a big moment for the boy . No one had ever asked him for a match in his entire 4 yeared life . He decided to take the chance . What possibility could he lose , he thought . And the match began . The father held back for a bit but when the boy started challenging his way , he gave it all he had , which was not enough  And the boy won his first chess match ever against his first adversary no otherthan his dad . The father was startled and obviously proud of his son who became world champion defeating  Emmanuel Lasker , a well known mathematician and winner of world championship for consecutive 27 years . The boy was Jose Raul Capablanca  who is still known as one of top players ever seen in chess world .

 The point of the story being The Thrill , when you face someone bigger . The satisfaction when you see their face changed from smirk to pitiful , lost smile . The sudden jump of adrenaline when the whole situation hangs by the thread . The inner peace which comes only from seeing the future before your naked eyes . A game of elites . Not worldly rich , but masters of mind . Clothing all these wonders , a game awaits . I assure you , the style it promises is alone enough for you to give it a shot !

   As exaggerated as it may sound , Chess is not a game but a way of thinking . And rather to sugarcoat  , I would like to state my case with logic , for it is the weapon of learned . I swear that all of what I will say is experienced by me first handedly and you can do the same just with a bit of practice .

   CHESS IS WAR ON THE BOARD , THE OBJECTIVE  BEING TO CRUSH THE OPPONENT'S MIND !

- R.J. FISCHER -

   Nothing is the way it seems ! For only when you see the depth , you understand the surface . That the most little of currents in caves deep down , causes waves that topples the mountains . A move done in hurry is the move that will haunt you for the times to come . When you see two people playing chess , you will see nothing but a board on which the pieces are moved in strange orders . But if you were to  understand it , you would have come to know that the game is consuming more of their energy than if they were to go to bullfighting or wrestling .

   In my view , it excludes the MATTER of regret from one’s mind . There is nothing Known as Luck in this game .

A good player is always lucky . - Capablanca -

   It requires only preparation . And this feeling of justice is what I like about this game the most . The moment you start , every step counts . And literally , from the first 4 moves , I can tell whether you know how to play chess or not it is a fact that if you are to lose , most of the times it will be due to your initial setup rather than later blunders . Nothing you do goes unnoticed in the eye that are critical . And for a game , you must agree it is quite productive .

MEMORY !

   She was a 7 year old with a hobby . It was 70's and the orthodoxy of families had impact on young's behaviors . She belonged to a such family . When her cousins would play with dolls , she used to spend time in front of the board . With intentions to break the pride , a friend of hers offered to play a match . Whole family gathered and when she won , her friend hiding the embarrassment commented

 " You can play chess , so what . I can cook . "

" Can you do it blindfolded ! " Remarked the girl on the ridiculous remark .

She was Judit Polgar a name known to the world as best woman chess player ever . She could play chess blindfolded quite exceptionally .

Through out history , blindfolded chess has always been a sensation for those to play . After just 7 moves the possibilities of moves are beyond the number of atoms in the observable universe . And to remember the pieces correctly is seems very difficult but like all , this skill can also be developed by just a little bit of practice .

 As a young man Paul Morphy vanquished eight world class opponents simultaneously while effectively blindfolded .

 

   Just imagine the capability of a mind that can see things where they are about to happen . That can predict and analyze all possibilities . Such characters are introduced to us in comics and we take them as nothing more . But the ability of mind clearly confirms that this could all be easily true .

PHILOSOPHY AND SCIECE

   In philosophy , there is an idea that the universe is not a soulless object but a living breathing being , that responds to one's mind in accordance with his thoughts . That if you try to make way , the universe shows you the path .

   To put it scientifically , what we want most and we do consciously gets picked up by our brains . It keeps trying to perform the task in the back of our head without us knowing . This idea is the key in lucid dreams . According to a Netflix documentary on dreams , researchers put subjects up to solve a puzzle and recorded the readings of nerve impulses sent by brain to body . When the subjects fell asleep , they again took the readings , which were quite similar to the ones before . So it is a fact that when you do something regularly , your progress increases synergistically , or should I say ;

GOD HELP THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES .

   Now , you will understand when I say this , if you keep a habit of critical thinking , at first you will have to put a lot of effort , but after a while the action seems as natural as breathing .

 Take rubic’s cube for instance . To understand it is nothing less than a marvel . To solve it , a piece of cake . Ask anyone who can do it , he will tell you it's all muscle memory .

By playing chess , your mind is pushed to develop such habits .

    Let me give you an example , there is a rule in chess for beginners . It's " Sit on hands " . When you are playing chess you have to put your hands under your thighs after every move . The main reason for this is not to keep your hands warm ! But to stop before making a move . To ask yourself can I do better ? Does this makes sense ? Why did my opponent made that move ? What is he planning ? Having a bad plan is better than no plan at all .

To put it in Paulo Coelho words .

Never stop having doubts . If you ever do it , it will be because you have stopped moving forward , and at that point , God will step in and pull the rug from under your feet .

 This rule is the most important of all . If we were to apply this strategy in every matter of life , I think we'll be able to save a lot of time .

A minute lost in planning is the minute saved at the end .

   After a while you'll see that you don't have to think . The board will speak to you . You will be able to solve problems of your life with it .

   I don’t claim to be good at chess . Neither have I participated in any big tournament . I just wanted to share how beginner sees the game so that maybe one day I may look back on what I have achieved . Additionaly , what does it represent  ! and why is there a need to train your mind into thinking critically in addition to thinking  creatively .

   By criticism , I mean the idea of why . If you see a disaster , its not the most recent events that give it birth but  earlier the cause is , the deadlier is its effect . So , finding when did it all went sideways is a talent of paramount importance . Bobby Fischer used to say that he could see 20 moves ahead and on average , seeing three or 4 moves ahead is considered quite normal .

LAST WORDS .

   I feel sad , when I see so little of this around me . The sport favourite to me has quite a thin following . On ending note , I must say nothing is difficult and if you are a fan of competitive sports , you should definitely give it a try .

- Note -

   I’m on chess.com by the name of Roufium2002 . Feel free to ask any chess related questions . And if you wanna match , I’m your guy !