Weather: 72 degrees, 1000% humidity
24 pax for chess lessons in the gloom. YHC kicked around doing a chess-themed workout for sometime, but I wanted to make it meaningful so I had to do some thinking on it. Almost the entire workout was chess related until we burned through the weinke in 30 minutes and had to fill up some time. I sprinkled in some chess trivia. Each time the pax got the question wrong, it was 10 burpees.
Warmup
16 SSH (IC)
16 TTT (IC)
16 Imperial Walkers (IC)
16 Merkins OYO
Chess trivia: How many squares are on a chessboard?
Answer: 64 √ Correct.
Run down to the football field
Pawns:
Pawns, singularly, are the weakest chess piece. However, as a unit they are the strongest force on the board. In the 1600’s, the theologian, mathematician, and chess master Francois Andre Philidor correctly remarked, “Pawns are the soul of chess.” It’s true. Almost anything you want to do, strategically, in a game of chess revolves around how the pawns are structured. In the game of chess itself, pawns are meant to represent a phalanx of soldiers shield locked. It’s also why pawns attack diagonally. In a classic phalanx you do not engage the enemy in front of you, you attack the enemy in front of the man beside you. In F3, we have a concept called Shield Lock in the lexicon.
SHIELD LOCK: The horizontal relationship between men.
You can read more about Shield lock in this blog post from the Q source: https://f3nation.com/2018/03/04/shield-lock-q1-7/
Pax were instructed to partner up with someone they don’t know very well and take a lap around the football field. Tell your partner your hospital name, one thing you struggle with, and one thing you excel at.
Knights:
Knights are the only chess piece that can jump over other pieces. In a chess game, knights become ferocious when they cross into enemy territory.
Start from the goal line and execute 32 team broad jump burpees. Make sure you cross the 50 yard line. Partner 2 lunges beside the partner doing burpees. Flip flop when P1 becomes tired.
Chess trivia: Who is the current world champion?
Answer: Magnus Carlsen from Norway X Incorrect
10 Burpees OYO
Bishops:
Bishops move diagonally and can tear across a chess board fast. However bishops are restricted to one color the entire game. Thus, it is generally considered better two have two bishops in a game. They work well together.
With your partner, sprint from one diagonal of the football field and back.
Rooks:
Rooks (the best piece, of course), were intended to represent elephants in the original game, but were replaced with siege towers because of European influence.
Rooks move side to side, back and forth.
Karaoke to the 50 yard line and back to the goal line. Then backwards run to the 50 yard line and sprint back to the goal line.
Chess Trivia: There are two special moves in chess (technically 3, promoting a pawn to a queen is considered a special move). Name them.
Answer: Castling and En Passant √ Correct!
En passant is a bit of a weird rule where in some cases you can capture an enemy pawn with another pawn as the pawn passes you. “En Passant” is French for “in passing.” The short version is, a pawn can move 2 squares on their first move. This rule was installed to speed up the game. However, players started using at as a defensive resource. If an enemy pawn is in your territory, you can not speed past them with your pawn by moving 2. The other player can treat you as if you only moved one square and can capture you by moving into the space you just passed. Like I said, kinda strange.
Queens:
The queen is the most powerful piece in the game. Just like in life, a good queen will make or break you. In the F3 Lexicon, the significant other is referred to as the M. Most people errantly believe this means “the missus,” but it in fact does not. M refers to “the Most” as in the most important relationship a man can have.
Here is what the Q source says on the M.
At the bullseye of the Q’s Concentrica is his M, his relationship with his wife, the one upon which all of his other relationships are founded. The M is the Q’s transformative relationship because through it he becomes something new—legally, practically and spiritually. Before marriage, a man is an “I”, but afterwards he is an “Us”. The Q aims most of his arrows at the M because if that fails, the rest of his relationships will fail as well.
The Queen on a chessboard combines the Bishop and Rook’s movement. With your partner, repeat the Bishop and Rook’s exercise. But this time while you are running, tell your partner about how you met your M, what’s she like, what can you do to show her more value? If you do not have an M, tell your partner about the qualities you want in one.
With your partner, sprint from one diagonal of the football field and back.
Karaoke to the 50 yard line and back to the goal line. Then backwards run to the 50 yard line and sprint back to the goal line.
Chess trivia: Which country has produced the most chess champions? Bonus question: How many has the United States produced?
Answer: Russia √ Correct.
Bonus Answer: One. Bobby Fischer
Kings:
Kings do not have restrictive, free movement like Queens. Although Kings are the most important piece on the board, the Queen is still the most powerful. Kings can move one space in any direction. (And sometimes we move backwards!)
32 Team box jumps (Jump left, jump forward, jump right, jump back in the shape of a square).
Jacob’s Ladder – It did not occur to me, but there is a maneuver in chess called the ladder. I wish I had thought about it at the time. But alas. Jacob’s ladder up the steps 1 Merkin at the top, rinse and repeat until we get to 7 merkins.
Back to the Shovelflag
It was at this point I revealed to the Pax that I play chess, and compete in tournaments and do so to beat an addiction. Early on in my marriage I was addicted to gambling. It nearly cost me everything. It wasn’t just the gambling, it was the lies, the deception, the compulsive behavior, and the hubris that all went along with it. It was definitely one of the darkest times of my life. I encouraged the pax to lean on YHC if they’re struggling with any kind of addiction. Whether it’s drinking, or pornography, or video games, or gambling. Addiction can take many forms, and I’ve been there. It’s a lonely place.
Mary
Iron Crosses – 20 OYO
LBCs – 20 OYO
Burpees – 10 OYO
Merkins – 10 OYO
Announcements:
-We need mentors. Hit up Ken Doll for details
-8/18 Jailbreak Escape Urban Challenge. Details: https://www.jailbreaklexington.com/jailbreak-escape.html
-8/18 Lexington leading F3 Mobile launch
-8/25 Stomp the Swamp. Register: https://www.runhard.org/pages/race-swamp.php
-9/7 Blue Ridge Relay
-11/10 The Cheech. Register here: https://lexingtonhalf.com/pages/race-10k.php
-12/14 F3/FiA Christmas Party
Prayer Requests:
Say What!? Shoulder surgery
Kids returning to schools, teachers