Chess For Pandas | Chapter 3 | Chess Fiction

Hello & Namaste! If you missed the first two parts of this ongoing chess fiction series, you can read it here: https://www.chess.com/blog/Geborgenheit/chess-for-pandas-chapter-1-chess-fiction
https://www.chess.com/blog/Geborgenheit/chess-for-pandas-chapter-2-chess-fiction

Chapter 3 

With those words, Jonathon Livingston Seagull disappeared in a whiff. The Panda looked behind him, the towering mountain was all his to climb. Before beginning, he opened the book to see if Master Zee has some words of advice. 

When you are embarking on a journey, focus on the first step. Once the first step is taken, focus on the next step and so on. 

Panda Yin absorbed the words and took the first step, slowly and steadily. Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours, he kept at it. The sun had almost set. Yin was feeling hungry, he looked around and found nothing to his taste. 

"I can't do it anymore, this just keeps going high, on and on. When will I reach there?" Panda Yin thought to himself. 

He opened the book and found new message for him. 

When you feel overwhelmed by the distance you are supposed to cover to reach your destination, ask yourself - Did you come this far, only to come this far?

"No, I didn't come this far only to come this far. I took the step to reach the peak. Okay, I get it"

And he continued climbing as he repeated to himself, "Come on, Yin. Let's get this. Come, on. You need to do this for yourself, for the Pandas and for your Master Zee" he affirmed to himself. 

It was getting dark and a bit scary too. He remembered the favorite question of his love- Yolo. What's good about it? - What's good about this night, this darkness...? Oh, the stars!  And he looked above! The sight marvelled him and this pushed him further to keep going and he finally reached the peak. 

On reaching the top, he realized that everything was dark. There was no chess board visible. A lot of thoughts started popping in his head. "All this for this? Such a waste!?!?! What - Is this some kind of a joke!?!" and he furiously opened the handbook and turned to a random page. 

Nothing appeared. The whole book was empty and he sat there for sometime. Just then, Jonathon Livingston Seagull arrived. 

"My creator- Richard Bach, once said 

"Don't believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding. Find out what you already know and you will see the way to fly" 

and the Seagull flew away without waiting for any reply. 

He asked himself what is it about the game that he understands so far. 
*He knew about the colors - that there are squares of two colors
*He also knew that the squares are placed next to each other

And so he thought to himself that he could create a chessboard in his mind and at that instant, the book opened on its own to a page, thanks to the wind. 

Just like we both have names, the squares on the chess board also have a name. The board is made up of 64 squares and is divided by 8 horizontal ranks (1-8) and 8 horizontal files (a-h). Visualize them in this sky.



He turned the page to see:

Now, pay a mental visit to each and every square, one by one. 
a1, b1, c1, d1, e1, f1, g1, h1, h2, g2, f2, e2, d2, c2, b2, a2, a3, b3, c3, d3, e3, f3, g3, h3, h4, g4, f4, e4, d4, c4, b4, a4, a5, b5, c5, d5, e5, f5, g5, h5, h6, g6, f6, e6, d6, c6, b6, a6, a7, b7, c7, d7, e7, f7, g7, h7, h8, g8, f8, e8, d8, c8, b8, a8.

The Panda obliged and visualized all the squares, paid a mental visit to all the squares.
 With this, he felt immense happiness and decided to sleep off and enter the Dream world. He found himself singing in his dream



The next morning, Panda Yin bowed to the rising sun and the view from above looked like a chess board to him. The entire forest looked like a replica of what he had visualized a few hours ago. Now, he also knew the names of the squares. He felt grateful for the experience and then asked Master Zee "What's next Master Jee?"

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1. I use this meditation technique (Panda Yin visualized the squares in his mind) with my students and suggest them to use this prior to a game - to pay a mental visit to every square before the game. This can be also be considered as a prayer or a ritual. 
2. Special thanks to Eric Ross / bonebroth on chess.com for the video he made! 
3.I hope you loved the third chapter. Do throw some words so that I can use them in chapter 3. Until then, bye bye! 
4. If you liked my posts, do consider following me on Twitch and Subscribing to my YouTube Channel