Love and the game of chess are more alike than you think

Love is…

Oh, so many things and so many more things and so many, many more things.

Music sounds different and poignant, with every lyric bringing you back to the moment that you knew what was happening.

Flowers are more beautiful and elegant, with an aromatic essence that captivates your senses.

The sky is a brighter blue and the moon and stars are diamonds scattered in the night sky.

And for a time, all is well in the world.

A smile comes easier than before, and a sense of peace and acceptance begins to take over and completely infiltrate what used to be kept in the dark shadows…fiercely protected.

We walk through this life, seconds then minutes then hours then days rapidly rushing by…and we continue on because we have to!

And then this “love” thing sidelines you and you have two choices…ignore and continue on or…

Or…

Or what?

When someone enters our life (unexpectedly) that flatlines us (yes, stops our hearts), identifies all that is within you and…

Well, you get where I’m going.

But unlike the movies we watch over and over, or the endless romance novels that line the store shelves, or the ever-present love theme in every single song out there…love is hard. It’s pain.

It’s vulnerability at its core.

It’s an inexplicable feeling but if you know, you know.

And you also know, that sometimes, love isn’t enough. Sometimes it’s timing.

Sometimes it’s circumstances.

I’ve recently been quietly studying the game of chess.

When casually mentioned in conversations with friends, the usual response is “oh that game is a mindfuck” or “I just don’t have the patience” or “you make one bad choice and it’s over”.

But what if, both players make the same choices…make the same moves…

And they end in a “stalemate”…

Finished but unfinished.

Complete but incomplete.

So love is like chess. One makes a move the other may mimic or champion or even match. But unlike a simple game board and wooden pieces that easily fold up to be put away for the next challenge, a “stalemate” in love is different.

It’s wrenching.

It’s heavy.

It’s not a tie, ironically, but a significant loss in which we crave to go back, and make a different move or gesture to possibly change the ending.

Chess like love, like music, has the power to make man happy.

— Savielly Tartakower