A Life Lesson

Today, March 19, 2024, I lost my job of over 2 years. I had grown attached to the community and was hoping to stay for a long time. However, due to budget cuts, I am now back in America's unemployment line.

A lot of me is sad that I will be leaving this job. I was working in an industry I liked and the down sides weren't enough for me to look for work elsewhere. But a big part of me is relieved that I don't have to go back after this coming Sunday. The grocery industry was never particularly kind to me in the six years I have worked in it. Many of the customers I worked with were irritable and had enough money to either treat me like a servant or a zoo animal.

How does chess work into this? Well, chess is always something I loved even as a kid. I was 7 years old when I started and never stopped. The board is always there if I'm happy or sad, good times and bad. Chess helps me forget, even for a little while, the harsh reality of my situation. When I sit at a board across from my opponent, we are equals no matter what walk of life we come from. That's the best feeling I get from chess, being an equal.

Let's look at an awesome position I got from one of my own games today.

3 of my (Black's) pieces are hanging! What do we do? Don't scroll any further until you see the answer. Challenge yourself to find the entire line, not just the first move. We need the entire line if Black is to come out unscathed in this position. It took me 38 seconds to find all the lines.

The answer is 25...Nf4!! The white knight is attacking Black's queen and rook. Black's knight is in no man's land on g3. So I attack White's queen in return with my horse. If 26. Nxf7 Nxd3 27. Rd1 Kxf7 28. hxg3 Rc1, White is forced to trade their last active piece and Black is a piece up.

The game continued 25...Nf4 26. Qxg3 Ne2+ and White resigned in view of 27. Rxe2 Rc1+ 28. Re1 Rxe1 checkmate. 0-1.

After any queen move, let's say 25...Nf4 26. Qb1, then 26...Nfe2+. The black knight on g3 controls both f1 and h1, so White is forced to play 27. Rxe2 Nxe2+ 28. Kf1 Rc1+ 29. Qxc1 Nxc1 30. Nxf7 Kxf7 where Black is, once again, a full knight ahead.

Life (and chess) can be difficult and daunting, but it can be punctuated by little moments like these. These moments bring me pure joy and illustrate why I love to play chess so much.