Do your friends mistakenly believe you to be competent? It is probably because you play chess.
Remember Ron Weasley? If you don’t, he was the hapless, feckless and freckled friend to the saviour of a fictional wizarding world. You may recall that he was part of a trio comprising of one over-achiever in Hermione Granger, one perfectly adequate orphaned world-saver in Harry Potter and himself. His own bungling self.
Here is a boy whose key strength was his ability to be somewhat friendly. He later grew into a man who became a little less friendly. As an 11-year-old, he befriended the most famous orphan in his world and acted as his guide as best as he could. Which admittedly was not very well, frequently forgetting that Harry was new to norms and systems that he had taken for granted. Hermione usurped him in this role, leaving poor old Ron with nothing. What was his source of value to the group?
There was Hermione with wisdom beyond her years. There was Harry who was simply destined for greatness, and himself. Inept at all things. At best – passable. He needed a thing. Something people would associate with him. Quidditch? No, Harry is better at that than him. Hermione has taken book smarts, maybe he had a chance at practical use of spells? No, she has taken that too. Well, I guess he’s good at chess? Chess. Not a lot of transferrable skills. I suppose that makes Ron a good strategist. No? Maybe he’s got everlasting patience? Oh, he’s the least patient of the three of them? So, I suppose he is just specifically good at chess. Okay.
But that is good, this probably sets him up for a future as a chess grandmaster. Unless of course, chess gets less relevant as he grows up. Which unfortunately happened to be the case. Sadly, to the point where his one talent is never mentioned again. But as an 11-year-old by some contrivance of fate, the one thing he was good at happened to be a factor in saving the world. What luck?! For some mad reason, he needed to play chess to prevent magic Hitler was reviving himself.
He wins the game by bravely sacrificing himself. Before you think, ‘maybe bravery is his thing,’ I assure you, Harry Potter has the monopoly on that. But his first year as a member of ‘Team Hero’ is a smashing success all down to his chess playing ability.
He perfectly hid his general ineptitude by knowing how to play chess well.
A lesson that is perfect for us all. In moments where you feel purposeless, learn chess. You will remain useless, but at least other people won’t think that. They’ll think, ‘Wow. This person plays chess, they must be intelligent.’ In case you’re worrying whether being defeated in chess by someone who knows how to play better would damage your image in any way, the answer is no. Just call the horse a knight as often as you can, and people will still think of you as some sort of genius.
The Ipe Collection 