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Character Education with Chess: The King

Roumen Bezergianov
Roumen Bezergianov
03.05.2012
Category: Health/Psycology
Tags: chess king, chess train, train character chess,
Character Education with Chess: The King

Roumen Bezergianov is a therapist in Phoenix, Arizona. This is an excerpt of his book “Character Education with Chess”, where he describes how chess can be used by parents and educators to teach values and skills to young people.

“Character Education with Chess” is available on Amazon.com, Kindle Edition (you do not need a Kindle device to read Kindle books—“Kindle for PC” is available for free).

The Meaning of Life

The King is the most valuable piece in chess. Its value is absolute because if you lose your King, you lose the game. The other pieces have a relative value which changes depending on the position and situation and are expendable. The King, therefore, symbolizes those crucial things in life that can not be bought and sold. This is a good point of discussion with children to encourage them to share what in their lives they consider to be absolute, without a price, and without which life would be impossible. This can be taken to the most basic level to foster appreciation for nature and the mysteries of life.

In chess, we have two Kings — one belongs to us and the purpose of the game is to acquire the other. This can be viewed on a personal level where our King is our soul and the King we strive to capture is the meaning of our life. This is indeed the essence of authentic living, or as Viktor Frankl calls it, “the primary motivation” of human life. In his book “Man’s Search for Meaning” Frankl notes that in today’s world many people may have the means but lack meaning in their lives and this accounts for many of the modern problems. He explains that “the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day, and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment.” Frankl illustrates this through the example of chess, where a “good move” can only be defined in the context of a particular situation. Our values inform us about the ultimate meaning of life much like in chess, where we know the main goal is the King. In order to fulfill that meaning, however, we need to choose our “moves” based on our unique circumstances.

Through the horrors of the death camps Frankl had to reaffirm the meaning of his own life and help suicidal comrades. He realized that he should not ask about the meaning of life but should rather see himself as the one being questioned by life. This can be seen as a chess-like dynamic where you realize that it is not you who is placing life in check but rather the opposite—you are in check. At that point the game requires you not to pursue your opponent’s King but to take care of your own. If you are not able to do that, it is check-mate. Frankl’s answer to his suffering consisted in responsible and noble actions, in upholding the human dignity in the face of its gravest challenge.

From this we see that the meaning of life is a “two-way street”—we have the right to expect certain things from life and strive towards them, but it is not over when we are no longer able to expect anything because life still expects things from us. When Frnakl reverses the question—not what I expect from life, but rather what life expects from me—I am reminded of John F. Kennedy, who, years later, spoke the famous words: Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. In the heights of success or in the depths of suffering, the principle is the same. In our time we are witnesses to examples such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, who donated their great wealth to serve humanity as an answer to what life expects from them.

Joseph Campbell, one of the greatest American thinkers of the 20th century, arrived at similar conclusions about the meaning of life through his study of mythology and religion. He said: “When people say they are looking for the meaning of life, what they are really looking for is a deep experience of it… You bring the meaning to it.” This is the realization that we have the power and the responsibility to discover and fulfill the unique meaning of our lives. “A deep experience” of life can only be achieved through active participation and complete dedication. As Frankl put it, the human being is not a “closed system”—the meaning is not isolated within the person, but is in the relationship of the person with the world. And so it is in chess—the purpose is achieved in the interaction between the two sides. You make a move and the world responds, acknowledging that you are connected, that you are a part of this big give-and-take, that you are responsible and what you do matters.

“Character Education with Chess” is available on Amazon.com, Kindle Edition (you do not need a Kindle device to read Kindle books—“Kindle for PC” is available for free). Buy on amazon.

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Roumen Bezergianov
06.19.2012 16:50

It is an e-book at this time–that is why it is only available on Amazon, Kindle Edition. If you are in the US or Western Europe, Australia, New Zeland, Canada, you can get it for free today–just download the free “Kindle for PC” software and then get the book. Follow the link below the article. If you are in Turkey, I know you still do not have access to the Kindle section. Just write me an e-mail to [email protected] and I will send you the book in PDF for free.

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Yury
06.19.2012 15:51

That’s a question to mr. Roumen Bezergianov, we don’t sell anything on the site at this point:)

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İsmet ÖZKOLAY
06.19.2012 14:23

I can not find on eBay it ! mostly I use eBay -even book buy- and find all books that I am looking for and if this book is number 3 on amazon -congrat.- it would be found on ebay, too .waiting to buy on ebay

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Yury
04.27.2012 00:52

Congratulations! It is a great book to have! Especially it’s free! 🙂

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Roumen Bezergianov
04.16.2012 20:38

Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/156570011/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_kstore_2_7_last

Just became number 3 best seller.

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Roumen Bezergianov
04.16.2012 20:37

Character Education with Chess is free today and is currently number 4 Best Seller under Motivational Self Help free books in Amazon.

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Roumen Bezergianov
04.01.2012 19:43

Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Intelligence are also obviously activated by chess, but here I make the point that the Existential Intelligence too can be activated with the help of chess.

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Roumen Bezergianov
04.01.2012 19:35

Some say that other sports do too, but chess is unique because it activates all forms of intelligence: cognitive, emotional, spacial, even kinesthetic.

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[email protected]
03.29.2012 16:58

Yes chess really can help in personality deelopment

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Roumen Bezergianov
03.25.2012 23:28

Thank you, Mr. Herron. I am trying to establish a strong bridge between therapy and chess–an article about my book will soon appear in the International Forum for Logotherapy, read by psychologists and psychiatrists around the world.

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Roumen Bezergianov
03.25.2012 23:00

it is quite humbling to be compared to Kasparov in any way at all. Thank you, Yuri.

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Yury
03.10.2012 00:14

This article shows how chess can be “used” in real life and also how real life is applicable to chess. It’s similar to “How life imitates chess” by Garry Kasparov, but from much different perspective.

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John Herron
03.06.2012 15:46

“Character Education with Chess” contains many great philosophies for both young people and adults. It is wonderful, inspirational reading!

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