When people think of chess as a game, what would usually pass through their mind? “Two kingdoms of different kinds gather in a battlefield to slay one another”, but it’s more than just that, it’s a metaphor for the events we face in life. It gives people immense knowledge on how to face certain events in life. Its philosophy is precisely crafted to inspire. Those little chess pieces have more than one story to tell. When one lays their eyes on a pawn, what would their first thought be? “it’s just a small powerless piece which is meant to die protecting the king, nothing else” but little did they know, we can learn more from a pawn than any other piece. Pawns don’t deserve to be looked down upon and trampled on by other “mighty” pieces.The rule, “pawn promotion” really enlightens us that anyone, no matter what their status might be, whether it be “powerful” or “weak” can have a fiery potential within themselves in order to reach success. Chess: Not just a game, but is a magnificent philosophy. It would be good to know the history of Chess that will bring a positive impact in your life.
In this rule, the pawn can be transformed into any one of the defeated pieces of the player’s choice. Not so powerless any more right? This rule could also be considered as an embodiment of the phrase “With hard work and effort, you can achieve anything.” It could also be a metaphor of an actual office, your co-workers could belittle your abilities and try to tear you down, but if you work hard, you would succeed in getting a promotion. Moving on, have you wondered, whether a knight can move straight? And a rook move diagonally? No, because rules are rules and we can’t change them. Imagine the mayhem if any piece could move however they wanted! Just like that, we can’t force someone into doing something they can’t in any possible way, do and we can’t push people off-limits, by overstepping their boundaries to force them to do something and break rules, or the consequences would be disastrous!
“BACK IN THOSE DAYS..”
Back in the day, ancient rulers when preparing for a war, would often play a game of chess to ease their minds and sharpen their skills and concentration. It could help their minds work like trains, it might start off slow, but then pick up the speed quickly. With the tracking records of temple documents, the game of chess tracks from 1,500 years ago. An ancient holy temple of Lord Mahadeva Has been very linked to the game of chess, the presiding deity of the sacred temple is known as “Sathuranga Vallabhanathar” According to a legend, The Princess “Rajarajeshwari” is said to be an incarnate of Goddess Parvati. She was the daughter of a king. She was an intellect in chess, so the king has announced that he would give his daughter’s hand in marriage for the person who defeats her in the game. Alas, nobody could even try and defeat the clever princess. Due to this, the king had gotten distressed, thinking that nobody was good enough for his daughter. Thus, he sincerely prayed for a solution to his predicament to Lord Mahadeva. Lord Mahadeva had put an end to his worries, by disguising himself as a man, and defeated the princess in the game, ultimately winning her heart as she happily married him. This ancient tale is the reason why the deity which resides in that temple is called “Sathuranga Vallabhanathar” as “Sathuranga” translates to “chess” in Tamil. This tale had supposedly taken place either in the 13th or 14th century. So, chess may have not been an “ordinary bard game” if even the holy deities had played and competed in it.
“A village dedicated to Chess: Not just a game
A blind man, who was once passionate about his love for chess, had decided to share his knowledge to the people around him. He thought a few people how to play and master the game, and slowly, the number of students began to multiply. Soon enough, the fiery passion of chess had spread over the entire village. Everyone had begun playing chess as a hobby and ultimately, it brought up their IQ levels. Children of the village had stopped whining and throwing their usual tantrums and most importantly, the mobile phone addiction level had dropped rapidly. This magical transformation had taken place in a village of 400 people in Gujarat.
So by all of these instances, we can obviously conclude that chess isn’t just a normal and ordinary board game. It has made a change in many people’s lives. It educates is about the basic life value we need to learn in order to skyrocket to success, so, we can call it, a philosophy.
By: Shreya.G
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