Analyzing Chess Mechanics For Spiritual Development

[ardacigin]

Deep and systematic chess mechanics are valuable to understand for survival and spiritual integration. If you are a chess player like me, then you'll enjoy this analysis a lot more.

The last few weeks, I've been analyzing and playing chess at a deeper level  than I've ever done in my entire life. Not only it has improved my game but it also transformed how I view inter-personal relationships, circumstances and how spirituality fits into the messy play that is survival.

The Core Principles of Chess 

#1 - Understand The Opponent's Weaknesses & Potential Lines of Attack

If you think you can ace the game of life by playing the same 'We are all one and it is all love' move at every opportunity, then you'll struggle finding appropriate answers to complicated problems life inevitably throws your way.

How do you exactly deal with a narcissist when it is so close to you that you can't run away?

A spiritual variant may suggest turning the other cheek. Well, that strategy has its pros and cons. If done with repetition, it is a potential weakness for habitual abuse from the narcisst.

If you constantly get into feverish arguments, then it will produce craving and chip away at your own conscious power which might be invaluable for the next line of insult the opponent has prepared for you.

In daily life, we are constantly confronted with direct personal attacks, open weaknesses one could potentially undermine in the face of these threats and normal-looking circumstances that require some level of manipulation for better survival odds.

Spiritual integration to this principle is really tricky and requires elegance.

In chess, the main intuitive strategy is to make sure you are directly or indirectly attack and increase threats to opponent's soldiers while minimizing weaknesses from your own soldiers and positional structure.

Beginner chess players are not only terrible at seeing weak pawn structures and pin-fork opportunities, but also leave undefended pawns and soldiers constantly. 

Whenever someone insults you in an argument in a personal way, just like in chess, multiple answers are technically viable. You can methodically answer in a spiritual or egoic paradigm.

Let's look at how these methods differ into completely unique variants within themselves based purely on context.

Sometimes showing your teeth and being confrontational (which appears unspiritual initially) can be the most appropriate and effective strategy. It all depends on how finely you execute the response and how its potential consequences are formed by the opponent's circumstances.

Sometimes, it is much better to be gentle but coy which directs the unconscious more effectively in certain circumstances. This dynamic brings us to the next principle.

#2 - Understand How Deeply Attacks and Defenses are Formed Within Contextual Relationships 

Having a tough talk with your child after he abuses alcohol to run away from his problems might have a more beneficial effect when he is confronted with a similar circumstance as an adult.

That is what is called a direct response.  You directly address the problem at hand. You do something about it.

However, this approach generates multiple new problems you need to address immediately.

First of all, direct responses are always the most obvious and easy to counter moves. Your child usually knows that you won't be too happy about his alcohol problem. He knows that you will try to attack him personally and give him a long and boring lecture about the dangers of alcohol.

He has an automatic defense mechanism for such attacks: 'My father never quite understands why I drink alcohol. He doesn't use it so he has no idea how transformative it can be in social circumstances and how it helps me to reduce my social anxiety.'

In chess, unless you address the core reason why the opponent does what is does, you'll always take a beating. As a father, you need to show your child that you CAN use alcohol. It is a not poison, per se on judicial use. But its potential for addiction is high especially when you are using to reduce your social anxiety which helps when you are picking up chicks.

If this intention is formed towards the child and if you can show an alternative coping method that he can potentially pursue, then you will break all the defenses and create a deeper connection. All of a sudden, the 'opponent' you had to work against starts to become an ally you can work with.

Sometimes leaving any attack completely unanswered immediately reduces its potency. Sometimes a response is warranted but its sheer subtleness might be enough to dispel the opponent's main strategy.

Just because Knight is threatening to take your Queen doesn't mean you need to passively defend and make a move with your Queen. Look for potential counter attacks. If the King is in a vulnurable position, go for a check. If the opponents Queen is out in the open, threaten it!

Passive defense is usually never used in master levels of chess. And there is a good reason for that. As a chess master, your mind focuses on potential defenses that not only defends your soldiers and positions but also generates some level of threat in the same 1 move.  In fact, that is how Queen sacrifices are a thing. You lose the battle but win the war.

What to do in what circumstance and seeing the unique variants of attack and defense is crucial for a healthy egoic structure on the spiritual path.

#3 Lose Battles for Better Positional Advantages

One of the best examples of this principle is Henry Atkins' incredible game with Jacobs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIk020EyO_4

Give it a look and come back to read again.

From a purely mathematical and computer sense, the more able soldiers you have on the battlefield, the more potential attacks you can make and better defend your weaknesses. However, this is merely a generalization.

In chess, you win the game by check-mating the opponent's King. The King is not a strong soldier. It can only move in 1 square diagonally and horizontally. Also, the moment it is attacked by threats, it needs to move on a safer plane. 

Since the King has a predictable moving pattern, you can sacrifice some of your lightweight soldiers (Pawns) to better develop your remaining soldiers (Queen, Knigt, Rook and Bishop) for what is called Positional Advantages. You can exert pressure on The King's movement patterns or its defending pawns which is usually enough to crumble the opponent's lines of attack. When the opponent is holding out for dear life with a well-established defense, you do an all-out attack to exert more pressure.

Purely mathematically speaking, you are losing. The computer tells you that there are too many soldier sacrifices for any useful line of attack. But depending on how synergy is sustained with these remaining soldiers, there can be virtually no defense after some point in the game.

Understand that in life, making certain sacrifices are necessary to obtain certain rewards. The causes and conditions unfold in an exponential and unpredictable manner. By seeing the bigger picture and making strategic sacrifices, you can gather goodies and advantages that are seemingly impossible from the average Joe's worldview.

Understand that impulsive intentions are not always the best strategic move. It all depends on whether the sacrifice will be worth it in the long run. Meditating 1 hour a day is certainly a sacrifice. But its potential reward if applied with diligence is higher than most other time commitments you have.

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Try to view life from these chess principles. Your understanding of how it applies directly to your own life will be enhanced. Don't just play it to have fun. First have fun and then see its deeper systemic principles.

What are your thoughts

Much love,

Arda

 

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by ardacigin