“The only way you’re going to win is if you watch the board and not your opponent.” Throughout my years of playing competitive chess, this quote became a valuable piece of advice given to me by my coach. Before playing, I worried about my opponent and their rating or skill level, but those words helped me move past my anxiety. Some see chess as a complex game, but to me, it always seemed simple. You need to do your best to attack, defend and outsmart your opponent. The tactics, openings/closings, and checkmates were glaringly blatant to my eyes in each game. My passion for chess evolved into playing against my relatives at family functions and challenging my friends just so I could beat them with a simple scholar’s mate. When I first started playing, I was a tiny third grader who joined the chess club at school. Soon enough, Wednesdays after school became my favorite activity. We played games and had a lot of fun. There were losses and there were wins. The club even gave us travel-sized magnetic chess sets that we could take home to play with. That tiny, blue chess set was my first official chess set and I brought it home and immediately started irritating my older brother to play chess with me. Playing at that chess club kick-started my chess career. After I learned the fundamentals of chess seven years ago, I began to play competitively. I was in sixth grade when I went along with some friends who were playing in a chess tournament. I knew how the game worked but that was my first experience with chess in a competitive setting. I saw chess clocks, notation sheets and I saw boards scattered around the lobby with kids of every age just going over their games tirelessly. Less than a month later, I signed up for my first chess tournament, starting in the reserve section. I lost all my games that day. That tournament taught me how to lose gracefully and it was a lesson I had to learn early on because there were going to be many losses throughout the next five years. Chess had a surplus of lessons and morals. Most of them were about honesty. I had to learn patience, but at the same time, I had to learn how to speed effectively. In a chess game, controlling the tempo is essential to controlling the entire game. On top of that, I had to find the right medium between aggressiveness and passiveness. There are stark differences between a strong attack and a passing move to manipulate the position. Each move is equally effective in terms of working towards a checkmate. Being able to switch between those types of moves and making the right decisions are crucial to chess. More than just learning about the mechanics of chess, the game taught me how to balance my life. Every activity I did and homework assignment on my calendar is a chess piece. If I play the game smart, I can overcome procrastination and motivate myself to keep going. In a year and a half, I will go off to college and start a new chapter of my life. Four years after that, I plan on going to law school. Since elementary school, my life goal has been to become a successful trial attorney. I want to be the powerhouse of a law firm, where I can take on the hardest trials and cases and win. With my chess experience, I learned that the game is all about setting up the right position for a checkmate. It’s a game of war and strategy. It’s not all that different in court. The attorney’s job is to control the awareness of the jury and power the trial for a favorable verdict. Because of chess, I have become more patient. I can plan out my moves accurately and therefore, cover a cohesive case for a trial. Chess and law are pretty similar to each other. I plan on using that to my advantage. Chess forever instilled in me that I am the queen in my court, in my chessboard, and in life.