Chess and Life

The below story was not written by me. I plagiarized it from my lost friend's blog. Sorry N, it was written beautifully and I couldn't resist to put in my blog. I found my friend again in the internet and she is in UK. Actually I met her only twice. The first time when I played against her in Kelantan and after two years I met her again in Perlis for the second time but this time we played together in a team.

However, even we met only twice I learnt a lot of things from her. She was a good player that taught me how to be cool while playing, how to control the emotions, how to enjoy ourself in the tournament and sometimes be childish and have fun. Yes, we did a lot of childish things together but that was how we released our stress.

I must agree with her, chess imitates real life. How you want to play your game is really depending on you. Robust? Defensive? Different players will play differently but the objective is to win no matter which moves or tactics they used. There are values in life that can be learnt from chess for example the need of determination, passion, hardwork and perseverance. The need to prepare and face the pressure, the challenges, the changes in the direction of the game, the struggle that has its joy and failure that is not without its uses.

Sometimes the pressure will lead us to a wise decisions and moves but sometimes it ruins our game. However, the fear really kills us and hinder us to think wisely. We will be afraid of the consequences of our move and take along time to move our pieces. Then, suddenly the clock stops and we realize it was too late to make any moves. We regret it and constantly get caught replaying the same message in our head — “What if I move. . .?” — and wonder what could have happened if we had done something differently. Would it have changed the game, or would it have not affected the game at all? However at the end of the day we have to accept and learn any mistakes in our games and accept it as good lesson to improve ourself and be a better player.

So, this is what had been written by N in her blog

Saya rindukan chess. Abah selalu sahaja bermain chess dengan kami semasa kecil. Antara adik beradik saya, cuma Cod sahaja yang tidak pandai bermain chess. Dan tentunya pabila kami bermain chess, kami bermain mati-matian. Walaupun pisang goreng sepinggan disebelah, bercicahkan susu, akan dilupakan sejenak. Dan selalunya, Abah is unbeatable. Walaupun kami adik-beradik bersatu tenaga mahu mengalahkah Abah, even victory is nearly in our hands, he will suddenly makes a move that will totally change the rhythm of our game, and BOOM, he wins. We will stare at him, speechless, how could he change the direction of the game?

We are so sure of our winning, even smiling and laughing smugly. And when we lose, he will merely smile and make a move to surau. And leave us wonder, and ponder, how could he possibly overcomes the difficult, if not impossible, situations? Clearly, we are the novices compare to him.

I have a love-hate relationship with the chess tournaments. The tensions are never greater than being in the best team, and sitting and playing with enormous pressure to win. If I am to have a blood pressure test, I have no doubt that I am the worst patient.

Scary. Because I’m not a gifted players like the others. Who have thousands tactical moves. Who can beat me within 5 minutes, or even within 10 moves.

But I do know, when I play for fun, I could win.

Pressure ruins everything. Including your life.

Chess imitates real life. Play safely, play dangerously. Play nicely, play terribly. Play kindly, play mischievously. Play for fun, play seriously. Play lightheartedly, play treacherously. Play humbly, play deceitfully. Play sincerely, play wickedly. Play honestly, play awfully. Play genuinely, play riskily. Play respectably, play cruelly. Play maliciously, play fairly. Play nastily, play elegantly. Play classily.

But unlike chess, when you are stumbling, it doesn’t mean you are falling. Play it beautifully then.