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  • Thursday, 28 March 2024
CHESS OVER CHECKERS

CHESS OVER CHECKERS

Check before you move, and while you move, move with caution; for life can take you unawares. The motion is in accordance with the Scout Movement motto “Be Prepared”. The games are mind-games, while the pieces move on the board; the mind controls the outcome. The power of the mind; be prepared and mind your moves.

The game is a gamble, each player plays to win, and the focus is not force but on form. Checkers or Chess, the intentions are the same, but the rules are different. Intentions just like ideas drive the passions, but the rules guide the pieces on the passages of the board. Chess game is the most contemporary mind game on earth, no wonder popular fashion mogul Louis Vuitton featured Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo; the two greatest football players in the world on their Qatar 2022 world cup official page.

Checkers board may look like a chess board; but while the pieces of checkers are the same, with a uniform diagonal movement and compulsory killings; chess pieces are hierarchical and moves in different ways. For instance, in chess game, only the pawns and the bishops move diagonally; the rooks move horizontally or vertically in a straight line, the knights ride in L-shapes, the king moves in all directions with a move per time, and the queen possess limitless moves.

Importantly, this article is not about checkers and chess; but an exposition on the understanding and benefits of applying the moves, of both board games on our lively routines. The pieces, the patterns, and the moves are somewhat similar to the plans, prospects, and progresses of people. Yes, it is not just a game that boosts the power of the mind, it teaches one to master planning on a pragmatic dimension. Therein on the board, the players must plan before they play, for every piece is important, and one wrong move can never be reversed. Yet, few pieces lost doesn’t justify the game, the end justifies everything; as in the board, so is in life.

Check it or chest it; you will find out that life operates beyond the rules of checkers, which makes checkers outdated. Uniform movement with no retreat may have been convenient in the past, but not contemporarily; the notion of “no retreat, no surrender” is dead because nobody wants to end up dead when there’s chance at survival. Likewise, there’s no equality in anything in this life, because there’re levels to everything. As in chess, the pawns are the less privileged masses used to experiment practices. The officials behind the pawns are the powers that be, they can retreat when danger is extreme. Is this not how it works here on earth?

Moreover, as intriguing as the game of chess is, it is not compulsory to kill a piece as dictated in checkers unless the player has no choice; which is the essence of choice. We all have a choice, because a piece considered dead maybe still be overlooked by the opponent player; especially when there’s a better kill elsewhere. Life revolves around choices, to either move forward or retreat; and knowing when either is needed is wisdom. You must not kill to win, but if you must, let the tragedy be strategic; that’s how people get-away with crimes.

As on the board, so in the world. Plan the attack and be merciless, defend your territory and don’t be careless, and never forget to create escape route regardless. Planning is like planting, and the chess pieces are like people. Both pieces and people move with purpose, with an intense intention of an end objective. Although, sometimes, fate destabilize faith; and a mission embarked failed. Yet, to retreat can equally mean to rest or reset, and re-strategize. It’s pertinent to look before you take the loop, don’t move if you’re uncertain; but it is still necessary to take risks sometimes.

The pawns and the poor have a lot in common, they are with less or no choices. They move because there’s no other way to go, and they don’t have the privilege to retreat. The problems they face can overwhelm them; if a pawn doesn’t do it, an official will conclude it. The pawns and the poor hardly get privileges, unless they manage to reach the opposite end, and get crowned. Magic or miracle, that’s where the hopes of the pawns and the poor hang; because the less privileged has no protection. Safety is for sailors on a safe sea, but the sea is salted and never safe.

Rooks or castles, that’s the bedrock of defense. The rich must always protect themselves even if they live in castles; because the knights might surprise them while they’re asleep at night in their tight corners. Making money is never the end, because managing the money is the beginning of wealth. If you don’t guard yourself, you risk losing everything. Should the castles go down; open roof will turn open field, and there will be no peace for the king and queen. This is where trust comes in, because partnership makes life easy. To defend a fallen castle, all hands must be on deck; while the bishops pray, the knights shall prey. The peace of a home depends heavily on the woman, because it’s game over when the man dies. A queen must stand by her king always, in love and in war; fighting for the honour of the family. A wise king must trust his queen, bishops, knights, and rooks; and never betray the pawns guarding him from attacks; without them, he is nothing.

A house without a mother is a motherless home; to lose the queen is murder at the cathedral and in the palace. Besides protecting the king, the queen must be pampered like a pamphlet; because her presence alone is peace for everyone. Meanwhile, a queen shouldn’t move carelessly without purpose like a princess, nor throw her pants around like a prostitute. A queen ought to know her value, and not lose herself chasing vanity.

Stalemate is not soulmate. Beware of the end, over-confidence ignites mistakes. How to begin may seem difficult, keeping up may be worse, but the ending is very dangerous. Never let yourself be cornered to a stalemate, when your chances of winning are high. Always seek stalemate and not soulmate, if the odds are against you; it’s better to draw a game than to lose it.

Dearly Beloved, check means check-it. Before you lose hope, look for a loophole and not a rope to hang yourself. Always remember, stalemate is better than checkmate. But death is inevitable; if you can’t beat it, embrace it, because nobody ever bests it. Life is unpredictable, but you have the power to influence the outcomes. Life is a game, always gamble what you can afford to lose. Never forget, don’t lose yourself chasing your losses. It’s alright to retreat, rest, reset, and repeat. Lastly, play chess, not checkers!

 

EMEKA CHIBUIKEM V✍️

X: @Victorviri

 

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