Making a move

I don’t play chess. Well, I know the pieces and the basic rules but I don’t know any special chess moves.

Neither do I play chess with my family on the weekend. In fact, I didn’t even watch The Queen’s Gambit, the hugely popular chess-centric Netflix mini-series.

The closest to the sport I have ever gotten was when my son took it up as a co-curricular activity in primary school. And he wasn’t particularly brilliant at it – although that’s another story for another day.?

Yet I’m somewhat excited about the upcoming World Chess Championship 2024 held in Singapore from Nov 25 to Dec 13.

Truth is, I’m not planning to catch reigning world champion?Ding Liren?from China take on the challenger?Gukesh Dommaraju?from India in a best-of-14 series. (Chess enthusiasts can still purchase tickets here: https://sistic.com.sg/events/chess1124)

Don’t get me wrong: From my understanding, Ding and Gukesh are amazing players, with both displaying chess smarts way beyond their contemporaries.

And I’m quite sure their intellectual battle on the chess board – manufactured by Singapore’s very own woodcraft specialist Roger&Sons , no less – will be an intriguing one, regardless of the final result.

As much as I respect the players, I’m just not into chess – the same as how I’m not into cricket or Australian rules. It’s a me problem.

Problem solving: The magic of chess

That said, hosting the World Chess Championship in Singapore will help raise the profile of the sport here.?

I’m all for children of all ages to learn chess, not to represent Singapore in competitions or to use it as a tool for direct school admission for secondary schools and junior colleges.

See it whichever way you want but chess trains the brain in a wondrous manner: It forms the foundation of problem-solving and logic.

In a typical game, you either “hunt” – you take the opponent’s piece and are one step closer to checkmate – or be “hunted” – you prevent a piece from being captured by your rival.?

Either way, you are trying to solve a “puzzle” – so to speak. This mirrors everything you do in life, at school or even when playing video games.

When solving a problem, you have to think and innovate, which is something that playing chess trains you to do.

Even if you’re the type of player who memorises moves, you need to think on your feet and select the right move to execute before the opponent catches up with you and capture your piece that he desires.?

Entering a mental gym

Playing chess also trains resilience. Take the matches between Ding and Gukesh – they will be played with a time control of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment starting from move 41.

Can you imagine the immense pressure that both players are under? Without a certain level of resilience in them, they would have given up and go on to lose the matches.?

The same goes for life, isn’t it? There’s pressure and stress everywhere.

In an interview with The Straits Times , Ding talked about his mental struggles, which has affected his form. Having sought medical help, he said: “I feel as per normal, the doctor has given some advice (on how to cope). Recently, I have been playing basketball after dinner, trying not to give myself too much stress.”

Everyone has their own way of handling pressure – some take a coffee break (or a smoke break, for the unhealthy ones), some sweat it out and some watch Netflix.?

Regardless of the method, learning how to manage stress is a skill that everyone needs to know – and master.?

Let’s see what happens during the first few matches at the World Chess Championship held at RWS Sentosa.

Perhaps the buzz on social media will convince me to give this sport a shot.

For the time being, I think I should just get myself a chess.com account in preparation for the day I decide that an en passant capture excites me as much as a badminton smash or a bicycle kick.

Main visual: Unsplash

?

?

?