My intention with the current book is to add some new perspectives on the usefulness of chess for young people. Namely, in addition to the various academic benefits of teaching and playing chess, the game and its individual pieces can be interpreted to symbolize certain important aspects of life; we can use chess as a platform to have conversations and discussions with our children about those aspects. What can be extracted from chess are not only analytical, logical and creative skills, but also clarification of values, a personal philosophy of life, and spirituality. The elusive concept of being, covered with mystery and often ignored in a world of action and achievement, seems to come a bit closer in chess to remind us of its primacy as symbolized by the King.
In mental health terms, the ideas in this book can be viewed as a method of Logotherapy, which is a meaning-centered psychotherapy originally developed by Viktor Frankl—one of the greatest psychologists of the 20th century. He taught that there is potential meaning to be fulfilled in every situation in life, no matter how painful and difficult it may be. During World War II Viktor Frankl and his family were imprisoned in the Nazi death camps; his pregnant wife was murdered in the gas chambers and his parents died of starvation and illness. Frankl miraculously survived and after the war wrote about his experiences and conclusions about human nature in his book “Man’s Search for Meaning.”
I am presenting this method to be used not only by therapists, but also by parents, teachers and all others in a position to help young people discover the meaning in their lives. There are certain achievements that have the potential to greatly impact all of humanity; I believe that Viktor Frankl’s ideas represent such an achievement and should not be limited to the realm of psychotherapy. They were tested during the darkest hour of human history and provide inspiring insights and observations. They are indeed facts about human nature, facts that we all need to consider as we face the challenges of our times and in our personal lives.
My ideas of chess therapy gradually evolved during my work as a Psychology Associate for the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections. Initially, I started to use chess as an ice-breaker and rapport building tool with resistant clients. I saw some success as these delinquent youth with a certain degree of mistrust toward adults and authority figures began to open up and talk more about authentic issues during our chess games. It served very well to disarm them and allow them to drop their “tough” masks and just be kids, playing a board game. I also had the privilege of participating in clinical supervision with Dr. Glenn Tanita, who created a very stimulating environment in which we were able to clarify our roles as therapists, refine our skills, and discuss our approaches, receiving invaluable feedback, support, and guidance. The therapeutic symbolism of chess started to take shape as I reflected on what was discussed in supervision and tried to put it into practice during the chess sessions with my clients.
Chess is seen by most as a war game. The great Yugoslav chess master and historian Pavle Bidev, in his article “Chess—A Mathematic Model of the Cosmos”, was among the first to challenge that common assumption, pointing toward allegorical interpretations of chess “in the light of Indian ideas of religious and philosophical symbolism.” He explains that, according to the Indian philosophy of nature, there are three fundamental factors that determine the life of matter in the universe: light, darkness, and movement. The chess board and the movement of the pieces symbolize those factors, while the pieces themselves symbolize the four elements: earth (the castle), water (the horse), air (the bishop), and fire (the queen). He points out that the King symbolizes ether—“a divine, celestial element.” Bidev states: “The King means that which is first and chief. That is why chess is called a royal game, because it, like a King, stands above all other games and not because the principal pieces in it are Kings.” He theorizes that playing chess was not just a game, but a religious ritual for the initiated.
In this vein, the idea is not new that chess can be applied as a rite of passage for our children as we welcome them to the world. Religions and traditions have official rites of passage which are quite necessary for young people as they seek acceptance, acknowledgement, and guidance from their families and community. In modern times, when such rites of passage are more likely to be absent, we see adolescents create their own rituals to make themselves noticed in a world that is almost indifferent to their coming of age. In this sense, playing chess and connecting it to life can be seen as an unofficial ritual.
This book is an invitation to use chess more in families and schools, to foster quality time, cohesiveness and discovery in those settings, and to help us all slow down, think, and observe. I need to emphasize here that people should not feel intimidated by chess and they do not need to be good chess players in order to be helpful to young people. The rules of the game are very easy to learn and the rest is all about the process and the conversations that spring from it. Fernando Moreno advises that it is important to acknowledge if you are not sure what to do at a particular point and ask for ideas. This way you are showing kids that in reality we all have situations in which we do not know what to do and you are modeling how to ask for guidance. No matter whether you are new to chess or not, it is a great tool to prepare ourselves and our children for an authentic, meaningful, and purposeful life.
(to read more, this book is available on Amazon, Kindle (you do not need a Kindle device to read Kindle--Kindle for PC software is available for free): http://www.amazon.com/Character-Education-with-Chess-ebook/dp/B005AVUPNQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327442074&sr=8-1
