Chess Vs. Fishing

Chess and fishing, two different sports that are completely different, have things in common? Well, today on the Saxly Pirate, I will be examining how chess and fishing are surprisingly similar in some ways. Don't believe me? Then keep reading this post, because I am about to prove you wrong.

If I missed any other things they have in common, put them in the comments! I also appreciate criticism, so if you would like to do that, please do so. Without further ado, I present to you how chess and fishing are similar.

Patience

Patience, something that a lot of people don't have, is key in both chess and fishing. In chess, you can't jump straight into a move. You need to think all the possibilities out and make sure that the move you are about to make is the best one you can think of. For example, take a look at a game I played and figure out what the best move is. Remember, think about it, don't rush, and have patience.

Now, I am guessing that you did not see that move. If you did, congrats! If you didn't, I said to slow down and take a look. I mean, this isn't a bad sequence of moves:

This is not bad at all, but you could have sacrificed the knight and gotten an amazing position, along with a checkmate soon to come.

Here is another example from another game I played. This one should be much easier to find, but make sure that you find the right move by taking your time!

Did you find it? Well, it was sacrificing the rook by checking the king with it, so you can promote  your pawn to a queen. White's only good move at this point is to take the rook. If white doesn't, then black gets to promote their queen and keep their rook! After this, Black is in a winning position and is most likely on a way to victory!

You also need to have patience when fishing. You can't go fishing and expect to catch a fish every 5 minutes. You have to wait it out and let the fish decide. Like on June 20, 2023. I caught my personal best in the most unexpected place! My neighborhood pond! For some reason, people thought that it would be a good idea to put humongous coy fish into a lake where people fish!

Okay, back to the story. I was about to leave when I felt my rod want to break in half. I pull up as hard as I possibly can, and something is taking my line as fast as a jet airplane. I get my hands on the reel and try to reel it in. It was a very, very slow process. Then I got it on the concrete, right next to where I was standing. Guess what I see, a TWO and a HALF-FOOT coy fish. That was why it was so hard to reel in. The thing weighed 25 pounds! If I didn't have any patience, I would have left and not caught that beautiful fish!

Knowing Your Opponent

In chess, it is important to know who your opponent is. I don't mean what his favorite color is or how old they are, but what their style is and what openings they like to play. For instance, I know I am going up against a very strong player who likes to attack a lot, and I am white. Well, now I am going to play an opening that restricts how much they can attack and lets me have the advantage.

A good example of this is from an online tournament in which @Mugiwara competed. Before the tournament started, he decided that he was going to look at his opponents and see what openings they play and what common mistakes they make. Well, it turns out that he got paired against someone that he did 'opening research" on! This is what the beginning of the game looked like:

Now black has a good position and is up in material. @Mugiwara was able to win the game, and he says that he won because he knew his opponent!

In fishing, it is also important to know your opponent. Fishing is not tying on a random lure and throwing it out in the water. That is just wrong. You are supposed to know what type of fish you are trying to catch, and, based on that, use the lure you want to use.

For instance, if you were going for a bass, you would probably want to use a jig, crank bait, swim bait, spinner bait, or plastic worms. Here is a picture of all of those lures in case you don't know what they look like:

Another example would be knowing what environment the fish like. Most types of fish like slow moving, clear water so they can move around easier. They also like to have vegetation (plants), so they have protection. This could be lily pads, grass, or even underwater trees! So if you go to a lake, it would be best not to fish in an open area. Are there still going to be fish there. Most likely, there will be some fish there, but there will be more fish in the places they like to hang out.

Phycology

You might not think about phycology in chess, but it is a very big thing. Players try to get into their opponents heads and mess them up so they can win. It can go from making a mistake on purpose to keeping on doing a little thing that bugs your opponent, like tapping your fingers on the table. 

Making a mistake on purpose has been done before, and it messes up your opponent. You can make an obvious mistake, and that will confuse your opponent and make them lose even more. Here is an amazing example of this done by IM Levy Rozman (or Gotham Chess) against WGM Nemo:

This trick completely worked. He "blundered" his rook on d1, but Nemo pre-moved another move, and Levy got to win the rook, and Nemo is now losing time because of shock!

In fishing, phycology plays a very big role. When I say phycology in fishing, I mean making the fish believe your lure is real. Fish are not dumb at all, but like humans, they can be tricked!

Depending on the lure you are using, you want to fish a little differently. Like if you are using a plastic worm, you are going to let the worm sink, then jerk it a little to give it some life. Here is underwater footage of what I am talking about. It takes you to a Canva video because it is really hard to upload videos on chess.com.

You see how the worm is lifelike, and the fish got tricked into thinking it was real and decided to take a bite? If the guy just dropped the worm there, the fish would probably not be interested in it because he thinks it is dead.

Conclusion

Now, do you believe me? Somehow, in this crazy world, some of the two most opposite sports have things in common. I have only talked about a few big things, but there are so many more smaller things in common. Again, if anyone can think of more things in common, please share them with the chess community! I want to see how much yall can come up with! Well, that is the end of this Saxly Pirate; see you in the next one!