Chess Discovery

In chess, there is the concept of a discovered check—which I believe is a great metaphor for personal development.

If you are unfamiliar with the expression, you might expect it has something to do with a stroke of genius or some insight on the board that leads to a brilliant move. But it is much simpler than that.

In chess, a discovered check is an attack on the king made possible by moving one piece out of the way of another.

For example, imagine there is a knight between your queen and your opponent’s king. Moving the knight elsewhere gives the queen a clear line of sight to the king, revealing a check.

So what does this have to do with personal development?

I. Applying this to ourselves

Sometimes you need to get out of your own way to unleash your potential.

Imagine that the pieces you control on a chessboard represent aspects of yourself. The opponent’s pieces represent obstacles that you’ll face day-to-day. Your pieces might be beliefs you hold, habits you’ve formed, relationships you have, etc.

So then what does it mean to move your knight out of the way of your queen?

At first blush, you might take this metaphor to mean one should move negative aspects of ourselves out of the way of our positive aspects.

For example, one might imagine the knight as negative beliefs about yourself, toxic relationships, negative habits like the content you consume.

Everyone has self-limiting aspects about themselves, and the most reflective people tend to understand them and are working to change them. With some focus and introspection, it’s clear to see what aspects of yourself are holding you back. Then, you only need to get rid of them.

But I think with a little more reflection on this metaphor we can reach a more nuanced conclusion.

II. The less obvious aspects

What I love about this analogy is that the knight has value.

Unlike a bad habit or self-limiting belief, it’s not something you want to be removed from the board. But, it can sometimes hold you back from the best move nonetheless. It’s useful, but it can get in the way.

And often these things which are positive, but limiting, are the most difficult to see

Think about what positive aspects of yourself or actions that you take might nonetheless be getting in your way on occasion. Is your strict method of productivity putting a damper on your creativity? Is your adherence to time-boxing causing you to put down a task just as you got in the flow—just as you were on the edge of a breakthrough?

These positive aspects don’t need to be habits, they can also be aspects of our personality. Consider, are you the type of person that says “yes” to everything? Are you overly amiable? Both of these may be seen as positive traits, especially by those that hold them, but really reflect for a moment: Are they holding you back?

Take a moment to reflect on the traits and habits you believe are valuable. Then take a moment to see if there are any situations where those traits and habits might be limiting.

Seek out the edge cases of your personality traits. Refine yourself.

We need to remember that just because something is good for us sometimes, or even most of the time, doesn’t mean it’s the best move all the time. Coming back to chess for a moment, even though a queen is the most valuable piece on the board, bringing it out early is often considered a misplay.

Even the most positive and powerful habits can be misused.

III. Parting words

Sometimes you need to go beyond “am I following the rules I’ve laid out for myself” and ask “are these rules getting in my way?”

And do so without throwing it all out. Instead, get more nuanced with your system—make improvements. Don’t tear things down to the foundations because you sometimes get caught on a nail poking out of the wall.

In many cases, the first step towards victory is not relentless pursuit, but getting out of your own way so you have the opportunity to do something extraordinary.

2021-07-10