The Chess of Life

Life is a kind of chess. Benjamin Franklin wrote that line in an essay on the morals of chess. He believed the game was no idle amusement. It was a training ground for the mind. Sixty-four squares, thirty-two pieces, rules a child can learn in an afternoon, and more possible games than there are atoms in the observable universe. Your life works the same way. This video plays one game from the first move to the last: the three principles of the opening, the one question strong players ask, why the pawns are the soul of chess, the initiative, sacrifice, the move right after a blunder, and the endgame, where the king you spent the whole game protecting steps forward and fights. 0:00 Life is a kind of chess 0:21 How strange chess really is 0:36 Your life works the same way 1:02 The opening: three principles 1:25 Develop your pieces 1:43 Control the center 1:58 Protect your king 2:10 What does my opponent want? 3:00 Look for a better move 3:25 Every move creates a weakness 3:51 The pawns: the soul of chess 4:50 The initiative 5:24 The threat is stronger than the execution 5:42 Sacrifice 6:08 The next-to-last mistake 6:46 A bad position is not a lost position 7:04 The endgame: the king steps forward 7:35 Harmony 8:04 The king and the pawn go into the same box 8:35 It's your move SOURCES Benjamin Franklin, "The Morals of Chess" (The Columbian Magazine, 1786) · François-André Danican Philidor, Analyse du jeu des Échecs (1749): "the pawns are the soul of chess" · "The threat is stronger than the execution", traditionally attributed to Aron Nimzowitsch · Savielly Tartakower: "The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake" · "When you see a good move, look for a better one", attributed to Emanuel Lasker · Italian proverb: "After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box" ARTWORK Paintings, prints, photographs and chess sets from the public domain and open-access museum collections (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicag