Time to move with extreme caution

Playing against Magnus Carlsen must be really tough even for FIDE grand masters. Though an extremely difficult challenge, a few minutes at the chessboard with the maverick (with a standard FIDE rating of 2832, rapid rating of 2827 and blitz rating of 2888) as your opponent must be one of those moments to cherish forever. It can be a real confidence booster for those lacking self-confidence. 

While the 34-year-old maverick remains ensconced in his lofty citadel as the 16th undisputed world chess champion and the number #1 player in the world since 2011, many many ‘ordinary’ minds (though there is nothing ordinary about the human mind) continue to decay, thanks to several factors like a generous consumption of social media, alcoholism, drug abuse and an undying obsession with the worst strain of politics in vogue in Nepal. 

So, what do you do to de-addict yourself, even if it’s a precious little bit, from the harmful effects of social media that seems to fry your mind, literally? How about joining the chessboard or returning to it, regardless of the station of life you are in? How about sparing an hour or so of your busy or lousy schedule daily for the game? How about a duet with the bot version of Carlsen? 

Carlsen the bot has a rating of almost 2900, something that can send a shiver up some ordinary player’s spine.  

But then what is the harm in taking on the bot? After all, it’s not some unequal boxing match where a featherweight boxer faces a life-threatening Mike Tyson, right? It’s not a matter of life and death, and the worst that is almost certain to happen is a defeat for you and another easy win for the bot. 

And what is the harm in losing? Have you never lost in this rat race, horse race, elephant race or Formula 1 race called life? As they say, anything that doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? 

For those lacking focus, this cerebral game can be a perfect answer as you remain hooked throughout the game, reminding you of the addictive effect of social media. 

There’s one more benefit of taking on the bot. Small-time chess players tend to quarrel over the chessboard all too often. Munsi Premchand’s story titled Shatranj ke Khiladi (The chess players) lays bare serious consequences of such a quarrel.  

The story takes the reader to Lucknow, the capital of a mighty Awadh, under the reign of Wajid Ali Shah. The rot is setting in and it is evident everywhere in the decadent capital where even beggars are using the fruits of their ‘hard labor’ to get high on opium. From the wretched poor to the filthy rich, all sections of the society are after sensual pleasures and kind of stoned, giving a hoot about important developments unfolding around their lives, a looming British stranglehold in particular.

Mirja Sajjad Ali and Mir Raushan Ali, two noblemen at Shah’s court, are addicted to chess, a game that the society of those times, including their respective families, regards as ominous. The two friends often quarrel over the board after a defeat or a defeat one too many but make peace the very next day and continue with the game even as affairs of the state continue to deteriorate further and further. They are so high on chess that they continue to wrack their brains at a desolate facility on the banks of the Gomati even after unceremonious ousters from their respective homes. 

In the story, the player on a losing streak seems to worry over the state of affairs, expressing passing concern over issues that will crop up when the city falls, including the oncoming struggle for survival and shedding a few tears over the fate of the poor Shah. 

One day, the British soldiers capture the Shah and take him to an undisclosed location even as Mirja, the player on a losing streak that day, calls for halting the game for a while and expresses concern over the capture, and the state of affairs in the city. Whereas Mir urges his friend to not bother about the ruler of Awadh but to save the king of the game instead. 

On the banks of the Gomati the next day, Mirja is again on a losing streak. A quarrel breaks between the two after Mir takes ‘half an hour to make a move’ and it soon takes a nasty turn as the two chess players engage in a sword fight in defense of their respective ‘kings’. 

The two men of valor fall to death while protecting their ‘monarchs’ even as a country falls like a house of cards without a drop of blood shed after the capture of its ruler, as if nothing has happened.

In the present context, Shatranj ke Khiladi offers a grim reminder of the vulnerability of weaker nations at a time when great power rivalry is at its height. Our political leadership should do every bit to keep the house in order and move ahead with extreme caution.

 

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