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Chess

2007-03-06 11:48 p.m.

I tend to look at people as games of Chess. The obvious argument against this statement is that I look at people as opponents in a game of chess - Someone to figure out and defeat. No so. I rarely win at chess, but mostly because I don't think much of winning. Not only in chess, but on very general terms. 'Winning' is reaching a certain conclusion based on a specific set of rules. Create a system and then defeat it. Rarely worth the effort unless one's ego relies upon such shallow prizes.

When watching a game of chess, you have the player's previous moves, their present situation and their options for what to do next. All these things are based on the same underlying thread of how the person would like to play and how they would like to be perceived while playing. A person might play aggressively, but because you can watch this aggression unfold you have to figure out if they are actually aggressive or are trying to prod you with their aggression so as to put you on your guard.

It's possible to look at a player's current situation and figure out if they've been aggressive or conservative previously, but that depends on how the opposing player has reacted. So now you must look into the pieces and placements of both players to figure out what roles have been played and why. But only knowing the current situation tells so little of the full story. If you watch them both from the beginning you can watch the poking, prodding and pressures played at by both sides and get a better idea of what their next few moves might be given the options at hand and the players' motives and attitudes within their means. More importantly you can gather an understanding of the sacrifice the players are willing to make and how valuable those sacrifices become. It seems those tend to be the most important maneuvers, both in chess and life.

Then again, I'm not necessarily very good at chess. Unlike poker, it might be better to play the board than the player. I prefer to look at the person before the pieces, hence this shitty analogy I'm currently dissecting. And that may very well be the Reason I'm not very good - but I still love to play.