Chess: a game of warriors, a game of nobility

The nature of chess is essentially nothing more than a game. A contest between two opponents, each equal in everything except mental ability and experience. It is a game of equals, as much as a game of nobles. It is a contest that anyone can win, but only a few can master. It is proof that it is almost as old as civilization itself, and yet its simplicity is unmatched and its brilliance unmatched.

The game of chess is a mental sport. As such, it has generally been associated with people with above-average learning and education. In the past, these were benefits reserved only for the richest noble people. As such, the game of chess was hidden, reserved for those who could afford the time and skill of a craftsman to make their game, and the help of a teacher who could teach them to play properly.

Today chess has reached the masses. The rules are everywhere, online, in books, and printed on the side of inexpensive plastic games. However, he still has an air of prestige and entitlement that has followed him throughout history. At its core, chess is an elite game, and although the masses are invited to play, only the smartest, not now the wealthiest, can claim dominance over this mental sport.

And yet there is a new image of the chess master. He is not a rich scribe or a rich nobleman sitting in fine clothes. Rather it is an image of a simple and humble man or woman, sitting in the park, playing with strangers passing by. It is a game of the brilliant man without money, the genius without work; it is a sport that equalizes all people under one defining factor: how well you play the game.

This is a dichotomy. On the one hand, the game is elite and, on the other, it is democratic. This is a symbol of a way of thinking about the world. It is almost Darwinian, in the sense that birth and family should not determine one’s greatness, but that greatness should arise from the individual quality of the person in question.

Chess has a powerful symbolic nature, derived from both its challenging facade, its vast and historical history, and the democratic nature of the game. It is a game of conflict, but done in a civilized way, designed to exercise and expand the ability to think strategically and logically.