You should probably know that I was a chess geek growing up… it probably explains a few things:
- I like my moves having more than one purpose.
- I am uncomfortable until I can see all the pieces in play.
- I don’t just play the game: I also play the player.
So when my wife bought us a Masterclass membership, I took a beeline to one of my heroes: Garry Kasparov:
- He was the world chess champion when I was a kid.
- He represented humanity against computers.
- He also has a double ‘r’ in his first name.
In his first lesson he drops this:
“Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do, while strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do.”
old chess saying
I just love that so much.
Sit with it. Let it wash over you. Soak it in.
As I get more comfortable in my own skin, getting aligned with “my why” ‘n’ all that, I’m reconnecting with parts of me that were conduits of a flow state, thus leading me to beauties like the above. This includes working through Emanuel Lasker’s “Common Sense in Chess” from 1917 with my daughter, coincidentally showing her (see above about multi-purpose moves) that letters don’t just spell words for prose or poetry, but also stories played out over a board with jumping horsies and other characters.
Anyway, no analysis for that one. Just sharing ’cause it’s been a while.