The moves that count.

One grandmaster in chess once stated that, “chess is not as easy as most of you perceive it, during a game of chess one will be sitting on his nerves and at the same time has to maintain an unwavering composure”. Chess is an ever-shifting puzzle to be solved, a narrative to be written and a huge task that demands players consistently create their own motivation from time to time because trust me, due to its thought-provoking nature, motivation will come in handy when the going gets tough and a sudden up well of the urge to throw in the towel takes precedence. Unfortunately such is life.

Grandmaster Jonathan Robson argues in his kaleidoscopic and inspiring book, ‘moves that matter’ that there are ways to see life reflected in a matrix of those sixty-four alternating black and white squares. In that context, translating it into the abounding square of life which apparently may not all be entirely black and white, turning a bind eye to the alien motley shades of black and focusing on “moves that matter” ensures that we make considerable strides into a fulfilled and meaningful life. At the end it’s all solely dependent on the vital moves. That reminds me of this awe-inspiring book l lay my hands upon a few days ago titled “the four hour work week”. It simply delves into the world of economics and business, teaching one to focus on the relevant tasks at hand eliminating those that are trivial in order to tremendously increase one’s effectiveness and productivity. As depicted in a game of chess, failure to establish and execute on the most ponderous moves, will lead to unruly castigation in the hands of a grandmaster.

In a game of chess just as in real life, you sometimes reach an inevitable and mind-boggling stalemate, more like a lockdown which is apparently inescapable at a novice’s comprehension. One often feels a tickling urge to penetrate into the enemy territory and make strides to victory, but right in front there will be a seemingly unbreakable barrier often rendering the timid and whiny souls hopeless. Chess taught me that at this point the thin line separating the winning and losing end is not in the capability, but in the tenacity to follow through patiently with all the faith one can amass at that time alas, it will only be a denied declaration of a deserved breakthrough.

I read about one meaningful and enlivening game where a grandmaster challenged three folks to a match, at first glance you would imagine it as utter insolence on the part of the grandmaster but he was justified. The folks who had considerable knowledge but not enough to overthrow a pronounced chess grandmaster, tirelessly fought for the only remnants of their already depleted ego. I mean just imagine the situation, being challenged to a three against one match. It’s just completely unseen. The folks massively invested all their prowess only to be thwarted by seemingly effortless moves. Just at the point when they were about to avail themselves vulnerable, one gentleman who would be their savior, who had a composed and confident demeanor came along from the crowd of spectators. He assertively told them that with his help and with the way their plot was already jeopardized and in tatters, the best result they could get was a draw.

He worked his way in slowly weakening the grandmaster’s fortress creating leaks in the perceived impeccable plot bit by bit, invoking fear bit by bit until emotionally and psychologically, he had already won the game. This gentleman was no superior to those folks, but what only made the difference was his ability to patiently contemplate and follow through on all the moves the grandmaster had made and that made him figure out “the moves that matter” in retaliation. At the end, the game ended in a draw as he had precisely predicted. It was a draw from nothing can you believe that? He only capitalized on the fault line created by the grandmaster on the few occasions he deliberately failed to give cognizance to the moves that matter because he let his guard down in face of his supposed inferior opponents. We could be talking of something completely different if the folks from the beginning had envisioned only the moves that matter.

Chess in essence teaches us to embrace the struggle and not crumble under the overbearing burden we constantly have to bear with in our everyday life. It helps us appreciate failure, draw lessons from it and prepare a formidable retaliation comprising of “the moves that count” .

By Anotida Viazhero