Chess. The generations-old game of strategy, cunning, and skill. Of maneuvering pieces with intent and strategy with a goal of achieving a key objective: checkmating your opponent. And yet, even if I put it like this game of masterful skill testing the very limits of your brain and strategy on the battlefield, you still wouldn’t play it. Why? Ask yourself for a bit. Think about it… Ready? Well, may it be the stories of the inglorious and slow victory, or the linking of it to nerdiness, there is always more to chess than it seems. Much much more. So, without further ado, let’s dive in. To start off, we need to understand the history of chess. Every great game has a special origin story to go with it. Chess is no exception. Historians mostly believe that the ancestor of the chess we know today is a game called Chaturanga, which was developed in India. The game was brought to Europe around 1000 A.D by Persian traders. It was then slowly modified. First, the piece’s names were created, and movements were outlined and fixed. Then, the game evolved to incorporate a series of moves that together, would form a gambit, a simple sacrifice to gain a positional advantage. The game in the early 1800s incorporated an attack-centered strategy, with sacrifices and the bloodshed of pieces considered as normal, adding excitement to the game. However, as the game progressed to the late nineteenth century, the strategies switched to much more subtle and conservative versions that we widely see today. So? Why should I play chess then? Well, chess has a lot of benefits. And one of them, the first and foremost most important one, is that chess is fun. Addictively so. Why? Well, partially because it combines the element of anticipation with your intense drive to win, and your mistakes only make the game better, with even more suspense involving if the opponent will see your intent or even dreaded openings in your defense that could potentially lead to disaster. Also, you will find out if you introduce your close friends to chess, and kind of secretly boast a little, they will be pressured to join in, and soon you will be racing to get the highest rating or make a brilliant move. This will pull more people in and make you feel more connected. Another strong reason is that chess improves your cognitive skills. However, it isn’t as related to IQ as you think. That is a common misconception. Rather, chess focuses on improving your concentration, pattern recognition, algebraic and geometric thinking, problem-solving, spatial reasoning, and critical thinking. It also boosts your confidence and improves your memory. After a while, when you get used to the game, you can match patterns you see could potentially turn the tide of. Also, if you are really into chess, you may memorize dozens of chess openings and a slurry of variations. However, if you are more on the casual side, like me, chess improves your critical thinking and reasoning skills as well as your problem-solving skills. You will learn how to gain the upper hand in a relatively even game, or get out of bad situations and emerge victorious. Either way, chess will heavily benefit your cognitive thinking and reasoning by quite a lot, and will show its worth in the short and long term. Finally, chess will ultimately result as a positive hobby because it teaches you how to handle victories and losses and that there are consequences for every action you take. In some games you may come out with a smashing victory, but in others, you may be humbled by a stunning loss. Either way, chess will teach you that there is a silver lining for either path, too. If you win, then you win! Congratulations! However, if you lose, there is always something to learn about it. Your loss may be caused by anything from a one-move blunder to a gradual loss in positions and pieces. Chess will show you that singular moves, no matter how trivial, can save entire games, whether for the good for you, or the bad. One good way you can learn from your mistakes in games is from chess.com analysis. Once you make an account, it will let you see your move’s effectiveness and what it did to your position through both a virtual coach sending feedback to you and a 1-7 move rating. Also, a chess engine, the best in the world, will also review your game with a bar at the side determining your chance of winning every move of the game. However, nothing is perfect, and chess has huge downsides too. Playing such a competitive game can be fun, but it can also be extremely frustrating and stressful. Some describe chess as “mental torture,” which may be true in some cases and positions. However, let’s not even go that far. If you lose a few times in a row when you start out, you might feel quite embarrassed and even stop playing the game. One person I know said he even quit chess after losing the state championship! However, in a different scenario, let’s say that you catch on to chess quickly and are a natural at it. There is another problem here. You might become too fixated to chess, addicted to it, obsessed with it. You may start to detach from the other parts of your life, such as family or school or homework. You might feel anxiety and be snappy and irritable. When you feel like you are thinking about chess more than about school, your family, or your social life, it should be time to take a break. That being said, chess is a magnificent game of strategy with a long history. It is a world-renowned game and one that will benefit you, from anything from improving your cognitive skills to teaching you the value of small moves and how to handle winning and losing. And most
Young Bloggers
A Closer Look Into Nature
Look closely at the picture above and take a guess as to what it is. A banana? A rock wall? The skin of a kiwi? I asked my friends and family what they thought the photo looked like, and they were all stumped. If you look even closer, you might realize that this is a picture of a pinecone. I took this picture using a microscope in my science class, revealing the pinecone’s details. I thought this was interesting because if I were to draw what I thought a pinecone looks like under a microscope prior to this experiment, it would not have looked like that. I also became more intrigued by the structure of the pinecone, and I would not have noticed its intricate design, if not for my photo. Fun fact! The individual plates of a pinecone are called scales. I encourage you to take time to go into nature and see what you can find!
The Story That Cannot Be Told, Reviewed by Roxy Messier, 12
A few days ago, something happened. If it had not happened, it wouldn’t have been told. What happened was this: I picked up The Story That Cannot Be Told at the library. I did this without knowing that this book would be so very fantastic that I want to learn more about Romania, and of course, get my own copy! The story focuses on a very relatable ten-year-old girl named Ileana. She acts a lot like I feel I acted as a ten-year-old, though of course, I didn’t experience any of the things she experienced. Ileana lives under the hand of the “Leader,” as she calls him throughout the whole story. Ileana writes of how life was back when the “Leader” wasn’t in power, though she’s only ever heard about it in the stories her parents tell. Ileana loves stories, and writes them in her “Great Tome,” not knowing that her life will soon be turned upside down. When her uncle is presumed dead for writing poetry against the “Leader” and his regime it becomes dangerous for Ileana to stay with her family. She is sent to the grandparents she has never met, in rural Romania. Ileana knows nothing of her grandparents and their town except for what her mother has told her. When she arrives she meets a new friend and learns how to farm with her grandparents. As time goes on, Ileana grows close to this town and must fight to defend it with nothing but bravery, her friend, and the power of stories. This book also carries a story within the story, the story of cunning Ileana, for whom Ileana was named. Cunning Ileana must go against her own sisters to survive in a world that is against her father, whom she dearly loves. This book, like all good books do, made me angry at many of the characters, and some parts made me eager to see what happened next. As a plus, the cover is lovely. Ileana’s character development is noticeable, as she transforms from a little girl who loves to write stories, to an older, braver girl, who still loves to write stories! In the end, The Story That Cannot Be Told is a spectacular tale about family, courage, and the power of stories. Everyone between the age of 8 and 800 should read this book, especially people who love history and stories. The Story That Cannot Be Told by J. Kasper Kramer. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2020. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
