I’ve finally gotten good enough at chess to be a match for L.

This, by the way, is entirely due to Chessable. Nothing else — no book, no app, no extremely popular chess website that allows you to play against grandmaster-level robots — has helped me improve in the way that Chessable has.

I should write a whole post about Chessable later, but here’s what I want to write today:

I’m not sure I’ll ever beat L at chess.

Not because I won’t have the skills, but because now that we’re able to play a real game together, it turns out that we’re more interested in the game itself than in which of us comes out ahead.

Our current game has taken us five hours, spread over two days. Here’s where we stopped on Day 1, when we were playing each other in the traditional (winner-based) way:

Here’s where we stopped last night, after we had switched from who can make the best move? to how can we find the best move together?

When we’re both playing for the best outcome, who — or what — is winning?

Your first answer to this chess puzzle might be the obvious one: both of us.

Your second answer, if you thought about it a little more carefully, might be the game. Or knowledge. Or the great human enterprise.

My answer is love.

Happy Valentine’s Day. ❤️

Here are the moves, if you’re curious. (I played black, as you can probably guess from the photos, but it really doesn’t matter.)

1. E4, C5

2. NF3, D6

3. C3, NF6

4. BB5, BD7

5. BxD7, QxD7

6. C3, E5

7. 0-0, BE7

8. RE1, 0-0

9. D4, C4

10. D5, RC8

11. B3, B5

12. A4, QB7

13. AxB4, BND7

14. NA3, NB6

15. ND2, A6

16. BxC4, AxB5

17. Xb5, RxC3

18. BB2, RC8

19. RC1, NG8

20. F4, BF6

21. FxE5, NA4

22. RxC8, QxC8

23. ExF6, NxB2

24. QB3, QC5

25. QE3, NxA3

26. QxC5, DxC5

27. RB2, RA2

28. E5, C4

29. D6, C5

30. D7, RA8

31. NB3, GxF6

32. DxE8, RxE8

33. ExF6, RE6

34. RC1, RE3

35. B6, NA4