Chess is a game honoured by kings and crowned by decades. Unlike the general idea, it is not a game of pure intelligence. It is about catching opponents' playing pattern and getting in a better position than him/her on the board. Intelligence or cognitive abilities are just a tool for the game. I see a lot of threads on "game" which are all about male-female interactions a.k.a getting hot chicks in to the bed.

Today i want to share my knowledge about chess and what did it teach me about life. Agree with me or not life is a chess game which we play each and everyday. This post is not about machiavellian schemes or how to become a day-machiavellian. This is about chess' reflection in real life.

Lesson 1: Time Management

Depends on the type of game you are playing (blitz,rapid or standart) you have a limited amount of time to make moves in chess but in any type you have a specific "time" to act. Chess is the game which made me understand the importance of time management and how every second is valuable through my childhood. In real life, we also have limited amount of time to accomplish things. They might not be seen important or urgent yet what you have to achieve needs to be invested some time in. A project with deadline, a girl you saw in starbucks which will leave maybe in five seconds... It does not matter what type of activity you are doing you need to manage your time wisely. If you wait too much to make move, you will eventually lost no matter activity. (e.g. Girl will leave, your project will not be done/ done poorly...)

Lesson 2: Openings Matter

Chess openings determines or gives you an idea about mid-game, they are important. A poor opening can cause an early checkmate. In real life you also need to know how to make an "opening". It can be a girl you want to met or a business meeting or introducing yourself to a new friend group, an apropriate opening can help you tremendously. Unlike chess real life does not have opening theories such as "King's Gambit" or "Sicilian Defence" it rather has approaches which can be counted as openings. I highly recommend you to have a template of approaches. Like "funny approach" or "serious yet humorous" and so on. You can even add memorized lines in to your template. The template should have some predetermined behaviours, mindset and speech patterns. You can practice your template at home before implemanting in your encounters.

Lesson 3: Use Tactics to Get an Advantage

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. - Sun Tzu

Tactics are a crucial part of chess. They can get you out of hopeless positions and even can lead you to win. Assuming that you have determined your strategy, knowing and applying tactics can help you achieve your goals fast and increase your success rate. You can find tactics in this subreddit about sexual game or about real life. "Push/Pull" for instance, just came to my mind when i am writing this. Learn and use tactics to turning things in your favor and gaining an advantage.

Lesson 4: Eliminate Unnecessary/Bad Moves

At some part of game you will need to make important decisions. You will search for possible moves just like you search for solutions in your life. Yet, not all of them are useful. Never make a bad or unnecessary move in sake of making a move. Eliminate bad ones in your mind and go for best move possible and good moves which can escort you through way of success. This also applies to people in your life. Friends, plates etc... Cut any of them loose who are poisinous or hamrful or useless to you. This might sound a little bit harsh but life is not a place for Alice. It can also help you in your professional life. Remember the saying "Work smart, not hard."

Lesson 5: King's Mobility Is Important

Beginners fall for this almost every time. Although king's safety is number one priority, unless you are castling or your king is really defended, cutting king's mobility can put you a dangerous position and can lead a checkmate. This manifests itself in real life as "abundance mentality" or "having options". Always have and consider other options, never fall for scarcity. Having no options is the equivalent of king with no mobility. Less option also means you are cutting king's mobility.

Lesson 6: Sometimes It is Just a Zugzwang

In chess, zugzwang is a position where each move is a bad move and will lead you to lost. Sometimes life is just like that. Things out of your control or things which get really screwed up are positions of zugzwang do not even bother playing them, each move will only cost you time and wreck your nerves.