Post by Nate on Dec 7, 2010 13:19:48 GMT -8
They were wrong, you know. The people that say fear is the mind-killer. If you know how to use it, fear can do amazing things. It heightens the senses, throws the body and mind into over-drive, and can keep you alive in the worst situations if you just listen to it. No, boredom is the true killer of minds. It drowns one in apathy, shuts down creativity, and forces one deeper into depression.
And so I play this game of thrones, a mental exercise older then some nations. And they were wrong on that saying as well. Chess is not a game of strategy, it is a game of philosophy. People who only play the board fail to realise the correlation with reality. There are unspoken rules in everyone's life that affects their play of the game. So I set up the board.
I cannot react to non-action, I cannot act without information, so the black king becomes me. The opposition is therefore on the white side. The unknown force behind the recent actions that I allowed to slip through my fingers hides behind the king, with the biggest threat represented by the queen. One assumes that if the opposition is ready to act, then they are adequately prepared, so the rest of the pieces are set on that side. Then I look at my own field and ponder.
My information network, both in the mundane world as well as the spirit, became my pawns. I have no other support, and I slowly realised that such a game is impossible to win. But, I wondered to myself, if I had just one powerful ally, what could I do? So the black army grew by a single queen. The first game of the night began with little hope. White immediately gained control of the center, and I was forced to use two of my pawns to draw out an opening on the queen's side. Both were taken, and my greatest ally and only weapon was free to enter play.
Gods, how she danced around the threats. She took few pieces, drew little blood, but she didn't need to. While the opposition was going straight for the kill, it allowed me to force the king away from it's queen, and such a little thing was all I needed for checkmate.
A fluke, I thought to myself. So I played again, taking greater care in the movements of the opposition, and the results were similar. And again. And again. Each game became more desperate, bloodier, with greater sacrifices on both sides. The margin of error on my side became almost nothing, and in one flurry of exchanges, my queen was taken. A pawn immediately took the offending piece, and so the ally was reborn, assuring my victory.
Lesson for the day. One person can accomplish nothing, but anything is possible with but a single friend.
And so I play this game of thrones, a mental exercise older then some nations. And they were wrong on that saying as well. Chess is not a game of strategy, it is a game of philosophy. People who only play the board fail to realise the correlation with reality. There are unspoken rules in everyone's life that affects their play of the game. So I set up the board.
I cannot react to non-action, I cannot act without information, so the black king becomes me. The opposition is therefore on the white side. The unknown force behind the recent actions that I allowed to slip through my fingers hides behind the king, with the biggest threat represented by the queen. One assumes that if the opposition is ready to act, then they are adequately prepared, so the rest of the pieces are set on that side. Then I look at my own field and ponder.
My information network, both in the mundane world as well as the spirit, became my pawns. I have no other support, and I slowly realised that such a game is impossible to win. But, I wondered to myself, if I had just one powerful ally, what could I do? So the black army grew by a single queen. The first game of the night began with little hope. White immediately gained control of the center, and I was forced to use two of my pawns to draw out an opening on the queen's side. Both were taken, and my greatest ally and only weapon was free to enter play.
Gods, how she danced around the threats. She took few pieces, drew little blood, but she didn't need to. While the opposition was going straight for the kill, it allowed me to force the king away from it's queen, and such a little thing was all I needed for checkmate.
A fluke, I thought to myself. So I played again, taking greater care in the movements of the opposition, and the results were similar. And again. And again. Each game became more desperate, bloodier, with greater sacrifices on both sides. The margin of error on my side became almost nothing, and in one flurry of exchanges, my queen was taken. A pawn immediately took the offending piece, and so the ally was reborn, assuring my victory.
Lesson for the day. One person can accomplish nothing, but anything is possible with but a single friend.