The Game Of chess: On Board & in real life
The Silent Moves We Play
Have you ever sat across a chessboard and felt the silence become heavier than the pieces themselves? One wrong move, and you hand over your power. It’s not just a game — it’s a mirror. Because sometimes, we don’t just play chess with pawns and knights. We play it with words, with silence, with the people we love.
Scene One: The Board
The room is hushed. A clock ticks, a crowd holds its breath. You sit across from your opponent, staring at a position that looks impossible. They think they’ve cornered you. But you see something they don’t.
You slide your knight across the board — not aggressive, not flashy. Just enough. It looks harmless, even clumsy. But three moves later, their queen is trapped. They lean back, eyes wide. You didn’t win with force. You won with patience, with a quiet shift no one saw coming.
That’s chess. The game of invisible edges.
Scene Two: The Kitchen Table
Now shift the scene. Same silence, but it’s not the board — it’s the kitchen table.
“Nothing’s wrong,” your partner says, their smile too sharp to be soft. They place their fork down with the precision of a rook. They don’t slam the door; they leave it just a little too open. They don’t shout; they sigh, fold their arms, and let you guess the rules of the game.
It’s not about plates or chores or who forgot to call back. It’s about power. About who will break first. About who dares to move.
And there you are again — calculating, second-guessing, trying not to fall into the trap.
The Parallel We All Know
On the board, the goal is to checkmate. In love, we pretend it’s different. But how often do we treat our partner like an opponent to outsmart, instead of a teammate to build with?
Passive-aggressive words become pawns. Withheld affection becomes a knight blocking the way. Sarcasm slides like a bishop, cutting diagonally, never direct. We win little battles. But in winning them, we quietly lose the game.
The Quiet Lesson
The truth is, chess rewards us for being calculating. Relationships don’t.
Because while silence on the board is strategy, silence in love is distance. And while a sacrifice in chess can bring victory, a sacrifice of honesty in love only deepens the gap.
Maybe the real checkmate isn’t trapping someone. Maybe it’s learning to stop playing like there has to be a winner and a loser.
Closing Move
We don’t need to play against each other. Not here. Not in love.
Because unlike chess, life isn’t about checkmating the one across the table. It’s about realizing the most powerful move is when we finally play on the same side.
✨ Pull-Quote Suggestions (to break it visually on Medium):
“Chess rewards patience. Relationships reward honesty.”
“Passive-aggression is just another word for silent warfare.”
“Maybe the real victory is when we stop playing against the ones we love.”
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