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Position versus Material

This is another aspect of chess that applies its principles to our everyday lives. 

When I log on and see a dozen and half games waiting on "My Move" on Chess.com, I cycle through each one trying to remember what my line of thinking was for that game.  Sometimes as I browse through them, I look at the Details tab and see how many pieces each player has.  Sometimes I use this as an initial evaluation as whether I'm "winning" or "losing."  For some reason, I'm usually down one of my center pawns.  (By the way, don't you hate it when your playing a friendly game and someone comes up and says "Who's winning?")  Of course, we experienced chess players know that winning or losing doesn't necessarily have anything to do with how pieces or points a player has, but it is all about the position.  The inexperienced player will jump at any piece that is unprotected.  They take the bait.  I've played many games where the entire theme of the middle game is aimed at trying to gain advantage of one pawn that is not even vital; it is just a loose piece that tangles all of the other chess men into diverting their responsibilities or even their potential. 

How does this apply Biblically?  I'm glad you asked.  We as Christians have been given a positional advantage.  Everyone of us that is saved has been made a joint heir with Christ, thereby we are each a prophet, priest, and king.  The world, however, does not see or acknowledge this vantage point.  That is not to say that Christians think they are better than others (a common misconception), but rather we are honored, priviledged, humbled, and like in some of our chess games we feel lucky.  Because of this, the world stops at nothing to indulge in totaling its amount of material.  If someone has more than somebody else, then they are "winning."  How sad it will be when they find out they had no position in God's Kingdom. 

Chrstians, we should be good stewards of what God has given us and not let what we have go to waste.  But if a sacrifice will lead us to a better position, like in chess, we should carefully consider it.

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by dtbrenneman - 2 years ago
Brooklyn, NY United States

Member Since: May 2009
Member Points: 175

You might have seen or heard that Kasparov wrote a book dealing with how chess relates to the business world.  Many would say that there are principles in the game of chess, and for that matter almost any game with rules, that apply to life.  I would think this especially so given that there are human emotions involved behind each game.  I do not think that chess and religion are connected.  I think that there are paralleling principles that we can apply to both.  On the other hand, I would not consider myself religious.  Religion is man's attempt to reach God.  True Christianity and true worship comes as a result of God reaching man through His Son, Jesus Christ.  Certainly, everything is not connected, and there are some things that are stretched to make them so.  I will try not to stretch things in my posts to connect or even parallel one thing to another.  The idea behind this group is to let Christians as chess players be involved with two things that interest them at the same time.  My inspiration comes from games that I have played and how I have applied them to practical teachings from the Bible. 

Thank you for your comment.  Please feel welcome to post again.  As the Bible says, "Iron sharpenth iron."  And so it with chess......two people can improve themselves by dealing with the other's attacks and defenses.

by raef235ahjx235 - 2 years ago
Stuttgart Germany

Member Since: Nov 2009
Member Points: 9

i dont understand the connection between chess and religion ;) ... i think there shouldn't be any ... you might say: 'everything is connected' ... well, well ...