Lessons from Chess - Part I

As I am teaching my kids how to play chess, I am realizing how many strategies from chess are applicable to life in general as well.

For example, the goal in chess is to checkmate the other person's king. A VERY common beginner mistake is to focus on taking the opponent's pieces instead. Even some of the things we teach them such as "point" values for each piece help lead to this problem.

But in chess, as in life, you must keep the main thing the main thing. So next time, you find yourself paying a lot of attention to something you should ask yourself if this is helping you get closer to your goal or is it just a distraction.