A Thinking Foreword:
How Chess Informed My Jain Intuitions
Siddharth Shah
I distinctly remember playing a chess match against a strong opponent in elementary school and, to my surprise, being ahead by a few pieces mid-game. I saw an opportunity to pick up another piece that my opponent left hanging and excitedly captured it, only to be checkmated the very next move. What seemed like a free bishop was actually a pretty clever sacrifice that turned the entire game around. I walked away from that game truly humbled. My vanity and Lobh (greed) had blinded me to the bigger picture, and as a result, I lost the match.
I still remember this game because I was so shocked by the loss that I rethought my entire approach to chess. How did I blunder so badly, and how many more times would this happen? At around the same time as this game, I was starting to learn more about Jain principles through the Houston Pathshala (Jain school). I didn’t realize it at the time, but reflecting back, it’s hard to ignore that both chess and Jainism shaped my ability to problem-solve, and the paths to understanding both required internalizing the concepts of Aparigraha (non-attachment) and Anekantvad (multiplicity of viewpoints).
In my game, I only looked at the short-term gain and missed the checkmate sequence. Jainism supports avoiding materialism and attachment as they ultimately lead to unhappiness. Similarly, short-term pleasures can lead to long-term pains. In our day-to-day lives we might make sacrifices unknowingly, such as choosing to study over a night at the movies or picking a healthy meal over junk food. Even the namesake of the popular Netflix show, The Queen’s Gambit, teases the audience with the notion of Elizabeth Harmon making a gambit (short-term sacrifice) to win against tough opponents. There’s a story from my high school tennis days where my doubles partner (who also happened to be on the chess team) and I were quickly tiring in a match because it was in our nature to chase down every ball. My partner said in classic chess terminology “let’s sacrifice the long shots and play positional”. We changed our strategy to give up the shots that were way out of reach and play conservatively to force our opponents to make errors. A simple Jain concept masked under chess lingo helped my partner and I turn that match around!
“In life, as in chess, forethought wins.” -Charles Buxton
Jainism also encourages us to use the principles of Anekantvad to avoid speaking in absolutes. Growing up, I always learned about Anekantvad in the context of reacting to difficult situations that had already happened; I rarely thought about it as a tool to foresee these situations. There is an interesting chess term coined by the famous grandmaster Aron Nimzowitsch known as prophylaxis, which is the idea that you should anticipate your opponent’s plan and play moves that slow it down. Playing prophylactically forces you to think critically about your opponent’s mindset as well as your own, and I feel this idea is a very useful extension of Anekantvad that can allow us to build foresight.
Some of the greatest minds in the world have leveraged prophylaxis to succeed in their fields. Lebron James noticed a defensive pattern used by the Golden State Warriors in an NBA finals game and used it to his advantage to bait them into allowing him to score. Similarly, Roger Boisjoly famously anticipated the disastrous effects of the O-ring malfunction on the Challenger Space Shuttle. He wrote numerous business memos and documents to impede the decision of upper management to go ahead with the rocket launch. We traditionally associate the importance of Anekantvaad to listening and reacting neutrally in the face of disagreement, but extending that typical definition to incorporate some prophylactic thought can go a long way in solving difficult challenges before they manifest.
The similarities between chess and Jainism are surprising, but I wonder if my experiences in the two subconsciously informed the learning of one another. Maybe playing chess helped me more easily understand Jain concepts, or maybe the Jain concepts helped me be a more mindful chess player. Whatever the relation, I believe we can find Jain principles in action not only in chess but also in anything else we do, if we just look hard enough. A singer may use inflection to emphasize important topics in a presentation, which can allow them to more ethically communicate. An analyst may use their abilities to find shorter routes on a highway in an effort to be more environmentally conscious. I think it’s really neat to see how the paths to being both intentional and successful in seemingly different spaces often require similar skill sets. I leave you with this thought: reflect on the different facets of your life and the ways in which you approach those scenarios. What hobbies or interests do you pursue, and do you think some of those principles help you better problem-solve in other parts of your life? You might be amazed to see how deeply the mind can learn from your vast and incredible experiences!
