INTRODUCTION

First of all, Life is not a kind of game anyone can just turn on and off, it is a game of reality!

Have you ever thought about how life works, considering the happenings around us and the challenges we face from time to time, and then tried to compare it to the Game of Chess? Well, it's strange, right? Chess might just be a game some people play for excitement or fun, others play for the sake of intellectuality, but deep inside, you would find that that's almost exactly how life works. It takes you to a different kind of realm of thinking: how to move, when to and when not to move, and which to move at every step of the way. Believe me, life is likened to the game of chess.

CHESS game requires Concentration and Calculation, Hopefulness and Hardness, Endurance and Enaction, Sensibility and Systematicness, and then Spirituality and Soulfulness of course.

By the way, what's up with the game of chess?

Actually, Chess is a board game, but not just any board game, it's one of the greatest games for intellectuals in the world, meant for two players, called White and Black. Each player controls an army of chess pieces, with the objective to checkmate (trap and win) the opponent's king. It's as simple as that.

These pieces are grouped into six: Pawns, Rooks, Knights, Bishops, Queen and King.

Each of these groups, have a mission and a specific way of movement. Some are pretty limited to movement; some could only move tactically; others just move to wherever direction they feel like with so much liberty. A wrong movement made by a piece, could trap it, which would be the end of it in the game.

As I progress in this book, I will critically be talking about each piece of this game, and how it relates to life endeavours.

Now, in one perspective, perception or aspect, here is the point, on the one hand, at some point of our lives, we must have either, in one way or the other, tasted of the life of each or at least one, two, or more of the pieces of chess by reason of life's processes, or on the other hand, by reason of hereditary, we were born as one of the pieces and probably, we are currently living the life of at least one of the pieces of this chess. The fact is, every individual human plays the role of a "piece" in the Chess game of life.

Take note, if you are familiar with Chess game, you would agree with me that at just a glance, all the pieces look alike from a distance. Until you take a good look, you might not be able to get the true picture of how different one piece is from the other. However, looking closely, you would notice the difference. Alright, here is the good news, Pawns, for instance, happen to be the least of all the pieces, yet they have a chance of becoming kings if they think and move (wisen, work and walk) carefully and technically or tactically to their destinations. So it is in the real world. Some are born kings, others are trained kings. In one way or the other, kingship is in the lineage of everyone. Not necessarily community ruler or village ruler. In your very own relationship with people you meet and see from day to day, you could formally or informally or even technically find yourself standing as a king/queen/head/boss. You are left to discover your position and act as one.

In a different perspective, the two players of chess could be likened to the existence of the Right and the Wrong (or Good and Evil), which is why it's usually about Black against White pieces. There's always gonna be a war and a misunderstanding between light and darkness. That war is the game am talking about.

In some other aspect, the choices we make in life (which are the movements of chess pieces) sometimes, might land us on the path to progress (when we don't rush and rash about them) or might just put us in a situation whereby we're stuck and struck, and some might just not be able to make it through (when we are not careful). Sad!

In addition, many people place their priorities wrong, they spend so much time, talent, treasure and thoughts on things of no actual value - wrong move. They eventually get disappointed. So it is with the game. Just because a piece has an option of moving towards a certain direction, isn't enough reason to make that move; it could be a trap prepared by the opponent player.

However, listen carefully, the chess of life is deeper than what it sounds, it is a battle of reality! And people die prematurely for real in the real world in which we live. Carelessness, Misfortunes, Oldness or whatever, could be the cause. But one thing is certain, people who listen to instructions, reproofs, corrections and admonitions would definitely stand the test of time, and probably or eventually make it through in joy and gladness.