On the eve of the most awaited soccer match in years, I had what I could call my first chess match, which is an ongoing one right now.
I separated myself from the most sophisticated game ever during my whole life. I hide myself in wilderness, where soccer fans belong. More than wild, soccer is an inessential game. According to Borges, "Football [soccer] is popular because stupidity is popular." The Argentine praised chess instead and even put it in his work:
The Game of Chess
"God moves the player and he, the piece.
What god behind God originates the scheme
Of dust and time and dream and agony?"
Borges was very aware of time so his liking for chess makes sense. We could not finish our match but we don't have any pressure to finish it. We can resume it at any time, probably to do just a couple of moves and go into suspense again. When I see the gameboard and the pieces, it seems like a portal to another dimension, a very true one.
Mexican writer and big soccer enthusiast Juan Villoro has said, "Soccer does not have any source to stop time." In his essay "Goals and Time," Villoro argues the main strategist of soccer is time.
"The game lasts 90 minutes, a play takes a few seconds and 5 to 6 plays decide the score. In other words, the problem lies in what to do with the 89 minutes left."
As my game strategies are founded in soccer strategy, last night I played soccer while playing chess. I also believe that for the Manchester United vs. Barcelona Champions League final, both coaches, Alex Fergusson and Pep Guardiola, will be chess masters.
