do chess pieces think?
have you ever wondered if chess pieces really think? there they are, sitting on the board, with their own little ideas of what is to be done. We order them to do something, they move, they are either sacrificed as pawns and die, or they are used to dominate the board and win the game. With chess, as in real life, the heros dont have to be the valiant knights, the bold rooks, the holy bishops, or even the magestic king or queen. A well placed pawn, in the right area with his limited powers and abilities can dominate the board and topple the whole game to a victory.
But do they really see what happens in the game? While a game for them may last only 1 hour or so, in their brief lives that could be an eternity. So while the pawns might be lined up and the rooks fall into place for the crushing blow, do they sit back and think "yep, the world is coming to an end, the places are set, now for the crushing blow" or are they totally oblivious to the end of the world as it comes?
So the end of the world, or the chess game, is never just a decisive conclusion, but a slow and calculated manuever. The pieces are slowly placed, things are done and then the few last minutes strokes happen and the game ends. I always envisioned the world coming to an end in one big move where all the 4 horsemen of the apocolypse lie dormant in their stables playing a nice game of dice then all of a sudden look Death will look at the clock and say "ok, boys, last toss, finish up your beers and smoke, we ride now" and then they all go out and War, Pestilence, Famine and Death all head out and the world ends. However, perhaps the world will end like the game of chess, not quickly and decisively with the horsement riding out at once, but slowly and sneakily. Perhaps the 4 horsemen are amongst us now, placing the pawns, setting up the people, and slowly ecking into daily life to the point that we dont even notice their presence but they are there.
We have always had conflicts. For what is life without opposites. Everyone has fought someone, if not in all out war but in little outbursts. So, we have minor skirmishes around the world, here and there, few people die, gov't collapse, civilians disappear. Then, the fights slowly escalate to skirmishes, to battles then to wars. So, without riding out in a fierce rush of flames and all, War sneaks in upon us and leaves the steed in the stable but walks amongst us on earth rubbing shoulders with Korea, China, Japan, England, Canada, America, Germany, France and other major powers of the world. We have minor skimishes in those lands, then it escalates to a fight to a battle then to all out war.
Then we have Famine rubbing shoulders with the world. Making diet pills, diet plans and weight loss a major epidemic in the land. 'Thin is in' and Famine is making it's round in happiness. Famine gets to the point where even models have to have a certain body weight to be accepted or else they are too skinny and the model people are even complaining saying that they will lose their market if just anyone can be a model. Then we have super bugs and viruses in our world that are becoming increasinly resistant to our drugs and cures. More and more diseases pop up and we try to stop them but are having trouble.
Hand in hand, with all these other 3 horsemen walking around our world, Death is always with them. People are dying everywhere, sometimes one by one, sometimes in droves, sometimes by natural occurances, and sometimes at the hands of fanatics (be them any nationality or religion) that want to meet Death quicker than nature wants them to.
So, in the end, perhaps the world wont end when the horsement come out in a flurry and hoofs and fire, but perhaps they are already amongst us, laying the seeds of the final days, putting the final chess pieces in place and while we look at the rook, queen, king, bishop or knight to give the final blow that will end the game, perhaps it is a lowly pawn that just happens to be pushed by War in the right way that will topple the Queen and end our game.
But do they really see what happens in the game? While a game for them may last only 1 hour or so, in their brief lives that could be an eternity. So while the pawns might be lined up and the rooks fall into place for the crushing blow, do they sit back and think "yep, the world is coming to an end, the places are set, now for the crushing blow" or are they totally oblivious to the end of the world as it comes?
So the end of the world, or the chess game, is never just a decisive conclusion, but a slow and calculated manuever. The pieces are slowly placed, things are done and then the few last minutes strokes happen and the game ends. I always envisioned the world coming to an end in one big move where all the 4 horsemen of the apocolypse lie dormant in their stables playing a nice game of dice then all of a sudden look Death will look at the clock and say "ok, boys, last toss, finish up your beers and smoke, we ride now" and then they all go out and War, Pestilence, Famine and Death all head out and the world ends. However, perhaps the world will end like the game of chess, not quickly and decisively with the horsement riding out at once, but slowly and sneakily. Perhaps the 4 horsemen are amongst us now, placing the pawns, setting up the people, and slowly ecking into daily life to the point that we dont even notice their presence but they are there.
We have always had conflicts. For what is life without opposites. Everyone has fought someone, if not in all out war but in little outbursts. So, we have minor skirmishes around the world, here and there, few people die, gov't collapse, civilians disappear. Then, the fights slowly escalate to skirmishes, to battles then to wars. So, without riding out in a fierce rush of flames and all, War sneaks in upon us and leaves the steed in the stable but walks amongst us on earth rubbing shoulders with Korea, China, Japan, England, Canada, America, Germany, France and other major powers of the world. We have minor skimishes in those lands, then it escalates to a fight to a battle then to all out war.
Then we have Famine rubbing shoulders with the world. Making diet pills, diet plans and weight loss a major epidemic in the land. 'Thin is in' and Famine is making it's round in happiness. Famine gets to the point where even models have to have a certain body weight to be accepted or else they are too skinny and the model people are even complaining saying that they will lose their market if just anyone can be a model. Then we have super bugs and viruses in our world that are becoming increasinly resistant to our drugs and cures. More and more diseases pop up and we try to stop them but are having trouble.
Hand in hand, with all these other 3 horsemen walking around our world, Death is always with them. People are dying everywhere, sometimes one by one, sometimes in droves, sometimes by natural occurances, and sometimes at the hands of fanatics (be them any nationality or religion) that want to meet Death quicker than nature wants them to.
So, in the end, perhaps the world wont end when the horsement come out in a flurry and hoofs and fire, but perhaps they are already amongst us, laying the seeds of the final days, putting the final chess pieces in place and while we look at the rook, queen, king, bishop or knight to give the final blow that will end the game, perhaps it is a lowly pawn that just happens to be pushed by War in the right way that will topple the Queen and end our game.
posted by Capt_Canuck at 5:17 PM
2 Comments:
Now that you mentioned it, i watched a chess game in Melbourne where the chess pieces were actually human actors dressed up in medival clothes. But they followed instructions from the 2 chess players.
yeah, human chess, we played it at University my first year. Was quite enjoyable to watch and funny since when a piece took another piece they went through a large battle and made it look like a war.
so, if that is what life is like, would the pawns know they were being sacrificed and would they see the end coming?
Post a Comment
<< Home