Recently, together with my Rebbetzin Shoshy, I celebrated the bar mitzvah of one of my new grandchildren, Isaac Schwartz, son of my wonderful new children Moshe and Devorah Schwartz. (I call them my ‘new children’ because they are the children of my second wife. I shun the term stepchildren as besides the negative connotation, it gives an impression of second-class, which is certainly not the case. Even the term second rebbetzin is not preferable and I once saw someone write wisely, “She’s my second first rebbetzin,” which is a much better way to put it.) Since one of the ways that I connect with Isaac is through playing chess, at one of my speeches at his lovely bar mitzvah, I opted to speak about how we can learn many life lessons from the game of chess.
Chess has been aptly called the “game of kings.” Within the sixty-four squares of the chessboard lie endless possibilities of brilliant combinations and staggering complexities. While it pales to insignificance when compared to one line of Rashi or one question of Rabbi Akiva Eiger, chess does afford many lessons of life skills and disciplines.
Most scholars trace the game’s origins to India around 1,500 years ago in the form of a similar game known as chaturanga. There is a Gemara in Kesubos [61b] which says that a woman can avoid the depression of boredom by playing nardashir. Rashi translates this with a French word which the Metargeim in the back of the Gemara translates as shachshpiel, which is chess.
There is a famous story that Rabbi Shimon HaGadol of Gantze recognized, through playing a game of chess with him, that the pope was his long-lost Jewish child. There is even a legend that Shlomo HaMelech played Banayohu chess cited in the sefer Beis HaMedrash page 123. While the Sefer Yeshurun discounts this as a mere fable, chess certainly has deep roots in the Jewish world. While it was well known that my Rebbe, the great Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, zy”a, stopped playing chess at the age of eight, Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, zt”l, zy”a, still picked up a chess game occasionally in his nineties at Camp Ohr Shraga.
The pastime of chess, in a world where there are so many hobbies that can atrophy the brain – from vegetating in front of a screen to pounding feverishly the controls of addictive computer gaming – is a refreshing opportunity to activate the mind and train it in many beneficial abilities. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, zt”l, zy”a, gave a speech extolling skills from the game of chess.
In the next few articles, I would like to share with you, my dear readers, some powerful lessons that chess has to offer its aficionados.
In order to play of good game of chess, one must be able to look ahead. If I bring my bishop to one side of the board, it won’t be available if I need it to protect my king. If I push a pawn two spaces in front of my king, it will leave my king without sufficient defense. And these are only elementary examples. The good chess player is able to see the board in a closed position four or five moves ahead. The former world champion, Alexander Alekhine, was able to compute, in certain situations, fifteen moves ahead.
What a superb training for life for we are taught, “Eizahu chacham? Haroeh es hanolad – Who is wise? He who can see ahead.” There is great wisdom in foresight. This is true for the young man who, before he becomes busy with the responsibilities of a wife and children, wisely uses his formative years studying lots of Torah while he has access to skilled rabbeim. It is also true for a young man or lady who thinks ahead and looks for a mate who is kind, who has simchas hachaim, an inner joy for life, who is easygoing, and fair minded. And the ultimate foresight is to remember that this world is only a prozdor, a hallway to the next world. A wise person looks ahead and prepares amply for the Afterlife by giving much tzedakah, learning Torah, and putting a great emphasis on the spiritual side of life.
Another important lesson is that the good chess player knows that there is strength in numbers. If he can marshal many of his forces to work together in tandem, for example lining up his bishop behind the queen, attacking a defenseless pawn and bringing a rook and a knight to also focus on that pawn, it becomes an overwhelming force.
So too in life, there is great success when we work together. When siblings are united, they are a force to be reckoned with. As the pasuk says, “Hinei matov u’manayim, sheves achim gam yachad – How good and how sweet, when brothers work in harmony.” So too, if one belongs to a chaburah, a group of like-minded Torah chaveirim, they are in a powerful position. Davening in a minyan is a great example of the strength of numbers, for Hashem never disdains the prayers of a quorum of ten. As the pasuk says, “Pado b’shalom nafshi, ki berabim hayu imadi – Redeem my soul in peace, for many were with me.”
We are just getting started with how chess can help us in the journey of life! In the merit of brushing up on our life skills, may Hashem bless us with long life, good health, and everything wonderful.
Transcribed and edited by Shelley Zeitlin.
