Chess Play For Peace

What board games most interest you today?

“Win with grace. Lose with dignity.” (Susan Polgar)       

Joe Schultz, a dedicated high school teacher had gone through plenty of pupil confrontation in Hollywood, Florida over his thirty year tenure. Now retired, Joe sought some much needed peace these days by enjoying a quiet game of chess. To do so best to his liking during this cooler winter season, he’d walk along the beachfront boardwalk searching for someone interesting that he could compete with for a couple hours before lunch. Oftentimes he got excited when that person who he struck up a game with would remind him of a particular chess piece he liked.     

Today he competed with Albert Weinstein, a stern looking policeman at his favorite shady table across from the bandshell. For Albert seemed to fit well as a rook like adversary on this occasion. After warmly shaking hands, their battle then ensued with Joe soon finding it difficult to overcome defense minded Albert’s solid protection of his king. Oddly, around the one hour point of the match, a significant turn of events happened seemingly unrelated to chess. For Albert just stopped  playing and pulled out an old tarnished photo of a gaunt looking prisoner in a tarnished uniform with a Jewish star identification badge.           

Joe next took a curious look at the photo, asking Albert why he was trying to distract his opponent from the game? In response, Albert appeared to ignore the question and then began to ramble on about how the misfortunate person in this photo was his grandfather.The picture of him had been taken by a reporter after he been rescued from a Nazi concentration camp by the American army in 1945. With obvious emotion, Albert also told Joe that his grandfather’s daily diary from his desperate ordeal described in detail how captured inmates resorted to making chessboards in the dirt and chess pieces out of rock to pair off for friendly matches in total silence without attracting Nazi guard attention.

At that moment, a teenager swiftly riding his skateboard suddenly veered off the bike path and knocked their chess set to the ground. Joe then quickly grabbed the skateboard and gave it calmly gave it back to his attacker. He’d found no will to respond in an aggressive fashion because he was likely thinking back to how calmly those camp inmates had behaved under adverse circumstances in Albert’s grandfather story. It also became crystal clear to Joe at the time that managing one’s outbursts of emotion in playing a challenging game of chess in tandem with a partner should also be emphasized more as as essential component of making the right chess-piece move. That’s when Albert suggested beginning a new tournament game effort in town whereupon they could both team up in police like fashion as chess mentors during matches to enforce such player level-headed actions. Another primary role as Joe added from his teaching perspective would be to not only discipline expected acts of hormonally charged adolescent misbehavior during assigned chess matches but also introduce to them alternative tools like self meditation and yoga movement to better manage their emotional state at the time.

Thus through diligent marketing of their new idea, Joe and Albert successfully gained approval at a city council public hearing for a series of youth driven chess competitions to be held in upcoming months each Saturday morning at the town Community Center. Calling themselves “Two Rooks For Peace”, both of them had  embraced the opportunity to obtain a higher purpose in their lives by giving back as respected role models for the game they both dearly loved. 

In retrospect, win or lose, here’s how I’ve best found the game of chess to my liking.

“I think of chess as a mind cleansing game

To size up my opponent in friendly play 

For nobody gets hurt and there’s no one to blame. 

It’s a most honorable way to spend my day.” (USFMAN)