“Prepare you outside work; make it fit for yourself in the fields and afterwards build your house.” – Proverbs 24:27
DEVELOP YOUR PIECES | At its core… Chess is about controlling space. The side that controls the most vital space on the board is in the best position to win. Makes sense, right? That means to win, you’ve got to put pieces into the playing field! You would only expect to make healthy decisions in life if you put the resources of time and the character and talents of yourself and others to best use. Building-up your winning chances in both life and chess requires putting all your resources wisely out there. In the field. On your path.
PROTECT | At the beginning… you need ‘all hands on deck’ as they say. You want to make sure as a general rule that your pieces put into the field are protected as much as you can from capture. Protecting is a vital element. You are not sure at the start about what the position will exactly look like and so you cover pieces and pawns with other pieces and pawns. Throughout life and a game of chess, making sure things are properly protected and covered is important. You would not reasonably expect to be successful in life by merely “hoping for the best” but also to, wisely, “prepare for the worst.” You can only take actions to lighten the impact of risk… you can never eliminate risk. Life, like Chess, is a risky business after all.
CONNECT | I’ll tell you a secret… ready? You can only win if you combine and coordinate your pieces! Combinations of two or more pieces or pawns and getting your team to work together is the real art and open secret of playing Chess well. In life too, we know that we cannot make it two inches in this world without other people (and I’d dispute the two inches!). Connections with others is vital in making healthy decisions in life and a requirement to success over the chess board as well. No one is an island as they say. To win, it’s never about a single piece – it’s about connection!
PRINCIPLED SKILLS | Foundations and fundamentals are essential in every facet of life… including those moments when you’re playing Chess. Everything has smaller parts fit together to make it what it is. It truly matters what makes up those smaller parts because we are aiming for healthy decision making leading to excellent outcomes and you can’t get good fruit from a bad tree. Randomness and chance leading to a sad mode of relative survival is avoided by good principles of mind. Foundations must be rock-solid and not relative to changing circumstances. Fundamentals must work in real life and over-the-board, yet allow you to be flexible, adaptable, and plan through the changing circumstances that are a constant of life and chess. Principled skills provide for today and a greater tomorrow.
Chess Kitchen is focused on, “Putting the Power of Healthy Decision Making into the Hands of Local At-Risk Youth Using Chess!”
We look forward to serving you and this community and having meaningful fun while doing it!