I am convinced, the way one plays chess always reflects the player’s personality.
If something defines his character, then it will also define his way of playing.
My grandfather, the avid player, always talked about this philosophy he had.
The first time we played, he smiled at the end.
He told me it might have been the longest game he ever played but that’s because I put thought into everything I did.
He told me that was an important factor in not only chess but life as a whole.
After that first game, he took me to a tournament to show me the differences in player’s play style and personalities that aligned with them.
Plenty were like me.
They took the slow, methodical approach to every move they made.
They were never going to lose because of a silly mistake they made.
Others went fast but not because they didn’t think about their moves but because the game had ceased being a hobby and instead became a way of life.
They knew the answer to every move their opponent made and showed it too.
They evolved to the point where when they played, it was like a flowstate.
They were always three steps ahead no matter who their opponent was.
Lastly was those who went fast but didn’t have the skill to back it up.
They were casual players who were trying to masquerade as professionals and replicated what they saw winners do.
They would start out with the exact same starting moves, gambit, and any other moves they picked up watching those far greater than them.
They didn’t think about the moves, they just did them and without thinking, they didn’t learn which ultimately led to them always losing.
One person in particular I’ll always remember. It was a man high off his mind.
Where track marks weren’t, tattoos were.
The one I remember most was the one I always saw when he gripped a piece.
His knuckles read live life.
That’s what he did, he played a game, lost and kept living.
Part of me envied it at the time, I now pity him.
He didn’t have any sort of direction, he never thought or made any plans, he just lived life.
He probably just saw a chance at money and said fuck it.
That seems to be your modus operandi, Starboy, live life and fuck it.
Fuck it, fuck him, fuck her, fuck the world as long as it gets you off.
The next morning I saw that man dead on a sidewalk.
I still don’t know how it happened.
Either way, he wasn’t fucking the world, it fucked him.
All I know is if that was what just living life meant, I wanted no part of it.
I don’t hate you for just living life Starboy, I just want to save you before you become another man who lived life until he couldn’t anymore.
Unlike him, you still have time to change your ways.
You can call me a pawn for Sir Vant but at least a pawn keeps moving forward.
That man was knocked off the board a long time ago.