Chess: The Great Enigma

I have long had a love-hate relationship with chess; mostly hate! It just sucks you in, and rarely delivers. Even Bobby Fischer, arguably the greatest chess player of all time, said that he hated chess! It's fun when you're winning, but terrible when losing. Unlike the chess-like strategy of American football, where each team lines up it's eleven players and runs a play, and it just is what it is; the consequences of chess relative to the game is much greater on multiple levels.

For one thing, on a psychological level, pieces ("players") are taken away! Therefore, as irrational as it may sound, most people dislike their opponent! For example, losing your queen early in the game is the equivalent to--using our football metaphor--of having your star QB blow out his knee early in the game! Sometimes if I make a bad move and expose my queen or rook, and it's just sitting there, a sitting duck as clear as day..... my opponent will not move right away. They will just stall, and very likely is just gloating at your expense! Perhaps they're either enjoying your agony, or their superiority! Losing your pieces makes chess somewhat unique in this way.

You just are not going to respect your opponent! They're stealing from you! Of course, the opposite is true, which comes right back to the essence of the game itself. The chess-like battle of wits in the game of football can be harsh. One team can be driving down the field, and BOOM.... pick-six! A fourteen point swing! Still, a team can gather itself, weather the storm, and get back into it. Soon perhaps, the opposing team will make a mistake of its own to capitalize on. In other words, there's plenty of time. However in chess, you do psychologically and emotionally invest yourself in a game. Even if you're playing online and are completely anonymous, it still can be humiliating! In chess, you're constantly being metaphorically "punished," and that punishment is all in the mind. You very likely will NOT even remember this game! If someone asked me how many games of chess which I've played in my whole life that I actually remember, I think I could count them on one hand!

From my beginning of playing chess, I have always tried to liken this game with some type of sport, but never really "the art of war," which it's designed to reflect. None of those comparisons made much sense to me, except for football from a strictly offense coordinator point of view. That metaphor works because all throughout the game, you constantly have to metaphorically diagram plays in your mind. When they work, you feel like a wizard! Often, when a great move is just sitting there, you're practically salivating! I would say most often, your opponent does not see your highly anticipated move or moves. Then  they often unintentionally make a series of stupid, piddling moves that just keep stalling you from making that one or two brilliant moves to take over the game! You feel like reaching into cyberspace and backhanding them! Each dumb little move drags it along, until your possibility is gone. This occurs all the time in chess! It's highly frustrating!

Chess is psychological torture! You rarely are in awe of your opponent's prowess. You dislike them! If anyone typically smiles after losing and feels like shaking their opponents hand, well.... I salute you. I can't! They're thieves! Metaphorically "stealing" your property, or "injuring your players." The better you get at chess, the worse it gets, because the online chess sites--properly--now don't set up novices to be outmatched once they have established a rating. It used to be that excellent chess players would very often hang out in the "beginners corner" of these sites. Game after game, you would be matched against opponents whom you have zero chance at even being competitive against. Also, these sites have improved themselves by allowing players to click the piece and then clicking their intended destination to make a move. Before, it was very common to lose game by having the piece dragged by your mouse and "dropped"; simply not making it all the way to it's intended spot! I used to lose many games that way, so I commend these sites for those changes.

I can say that the one enriching part of chess for me is--again, using the football metaphor--the development of my playing style and strategy over time without reading a book. I started out so clueless, then I have completely changed my playing style probably a half dozen significant times over the years. It is fun to look back at that. It's much like an offensive coordinator in football. In chess, the best defense is a good offense. There have been times that my opponent was attacking very effectively from the get-go, and I mounted a successful counter attack that turned things around. Only by countering with pressure did I get the pressure off of myself... so to speak. There's a psychological thrill by being able to, once in awhile, block a big attack early, then just "take" one of his pieces. A metaphorical "punch in the face" to a bully, of course from the perspective of the individual.... at least for those who view chess the way I do.

What we can take from chess is the harsh reality of life. Life is gangland! For the vast majority, there's always someone who wants your job, your girlfriend, etc. One time I knew of a young couple, eighteen or nineteen, from like a younger brother of a friend sort've thing. To my disgust, some older guy in a much higher income bracket, was trying to mess with the young woman. He had gone through a messy divorce, lost a lot of money and assets, and was probably bitter.... and was probably selfish from the start anyway. He was probably twice her age. As I said, life is gangland! Like chess, the guy probably enjoyed the idea that she had a boyfriend already; that he was "stealing" within the rules of life...just like capturing pieces within the rules of chess. Quite often, it's entirely legal to mess with people's social circle, their livelihood, etc. Chess is, just in a very objective way, a perfect metaphor for life! A game of decisions. "Moves" can't be taken back! The psychological and emotional investment. That's chess!!

Surprisingly, there's very little on the internet about people who are at least temporarily disgusted with chess... aka "I hate chess!" The better you get, the more you realize that there's always someone better. Unlike life where two things may be of equal value, but you may just prefer the style of aesthetic of one over the other, chess is raw. Metaphorically, it's life condensed down to it's most base elements! You could start a game, and play kind've dopey, and your opponent with a much lessor rating proceeds to take you apart... often with bold moves. Of course, the opposite is true. You could start a game against an opponent with a much higher rating, who is just playing willy-nilly, and you make some bold moves and just take it to them and win. Chess is also like life in that things are taken away from you harshly.

I still say that chess doesn't really deliver, or rarely does. You start a game, your opponent just drags his feet with each move, you get bored from waiting, then sometimes even loose interest, and BOOM, you just lost your queen because your opponent practically lulled you to sleep. They dulled your wits. Still you are eager for the challenge of the next game, ignoring that the game that you just played was not a pleasant experience. An excellent chess player plays some hapless opponent. He takes them apart bone by bone! Then he immediately rushes onto the next game, completely ignoring the desired "joy" of the game that he just played! He's just right onto the next one. I make a point to type in the little chatbox "thx" ahead of time, because I know that I won't want to type it after the game. Then I lose another heartbreaker.... and I just click enter in the chatbox to try to show some degree of sportsmanship. At least 95% of the time, they don't respond. They're already off to the next game; chasing that fix that rarely comes for either expert or novice. Is chess a great game? I think it's a great idea, with great symmetry. If you put my foot to the fire, I say NO. They say that chess is great for the mind, but I think it's bad for the mind too.

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