My life is like a game of chess

More than forty years ago when I began high school in Jamaica I learned the basic rules of playing chess. At least I think I remember the names of the chess pieces and how they moved. I can't remember if I had ever played a game of chess against an opponent until very recently I played one game of chess against an opponent.

Even before I played that game of chess against an opponent I do not know what got into my head one day about three years ago when I discovered that I could play a game of chess on the computer with the computer as the opponent. I quickly discovered that I did not know the rules of the game so the computer made some totally unconventional and unexpected moves. The next thing I discovered was that I was playing to capture the computer's king and the computer was playing to corner my king so that there was no where for my king to move.

You will not be surprised that with my style of playing and the computer's style of playing I quickly lost five games to the computer. I do not know why but in the sixth game the computer exposed it's queen and I captured it. From that point for me it did not matter how well that computer was programmed or how well it could play there was no way I would allow the computer to win that game so I went on to winning the game.

I like the game of chess because not only does it require patience and concentration but many times I see my life as somewhat similar to that of the pawn in the chess game. The pawn is the chess piece that is considered to have the least value. I am totally convinced that there are higher powers guiding and opposing me in life. Quite often I have no say in what happens to my life and there are so often and many roadblocks in my way. There is so little value that is placed on me by others and myself that it is easy to sacrifice my interest in the interest of others. The pawn if it reaches the opponents end of the board is exchange for a piece of higher value. The great thing about the pawn though is that while it is the chess piece with the least value and has the most limitations it can still capture any of the opponents pieces.

I would dearly like my life to be like that of the queen in the game of chess which is the most valuable chess piece although the aim of the game is to capture the opponent's king. My life as I have said is more like that of the pawn. The pawn only moves forward and one square each time if there is nothing blocking it's way except for the first move. If the pawn captures an opponent chess piece it must do so diagonally. Many times the opponent pieces and its own is in the way and it cannot move. If in the game a chess piece need to be sacrificed then most time the pawn is the chosen piece.

Many persons would think that at this stage of my life everything should be set and I should be considering cruising for the rest of my life. My life I see as being more like a game of chess and I am the pawn because there are the higher powers that are making the moves.

Although I see myself being comparable to a pawn in a game of chess I get to observe the moves that are made and even sometimes anticipate the moves. My life is not a game of happiness because sometime the moves hurt but it is a life of joy as I watch the moves that my life takes. Although I may see myself as a pawn in the games of life the one making the moves is the greatest of grand master of chess.