Planning your next move
and a recipe for an applesauce snack cake to make ahead
I’ve taken to chess in a big way lately.
I know it’s not an original obsession. The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix sparked a chess renaissance, particularly online, where chess.com reported adding 3.2 million members after the show's debut last fall.
Not a particularly strong player but an enthusiastic and determined one, I start each 10 minute game with gusto, moving pieces boldly and confidently. All goes well until I reach a point where I’m stymied. I can see that I have the advantage but I can’t quite figure out how to end the game.
That’s when I call in my husband, or the finisher, as I’ve taken to calling him. “I’m white, and it’s my move,” I tell him. He studies the board, calculating the position of each piece, taking his time to make the next right step, while I anxiously watch the clock tick down. And, then, in two or three moves, it’s done, my opponent squarely checkmated.
It got me thinking about different approaches to the game, how they might echo our approach to life, and perhaps something a little bit deeper.
Calling on your trusted allies
If you’ve never played chess, it may seem funny to hear it called a team sport. But in fact it’s the ultimate example of how working together gets you to your goal.
Like any team structure, each piece in the board has a role to play, from the lowly pawn to the powerful Queen. When an amateur player loses an important piece, like that Queen, it’s easy to lose focus and begin to make impulsive moves. Without thinking about the consequences, the player exposes other pieces to danger and opens the path for their opponent to do even more harm. And before you know it, it’s game over.
That’s where an experienced player shines. They know that each piece is there to protect and support the other. While the endgame is to checkmate the King and win, along the way, those pieces work in concert to help one another at every move. There’s no luck in chess.
It’s also important to ask for help. In chess that’s figuratively of course. But even the lowliest piece on the board, the pawn, can set the tone and position you for success. The key is looking at the board in its entirety, and not just one move at a time. It’s better to step back, reassess the situation and then come up with an improved game-plan.
As in chess, so in life
So, what are the life lessons from chess? And how might we apply the learning to life? It starts with understanding that losing focus through a temporary setback is an opportunity to reset and adjust your strategy. That understanding every person in your life, however incidental, has a role to play in helping you succeed - but you need to support them in their efforts too. That it’s important to recognize the strongest pieces in your arsenal, but ultimately, to understand that the most important piece of course…is you.
You make the moves and the decisions, and with a little planning, and maybe just taking a bit more time, the path to the endgame becomes clearer.
Back to my chess game. Have I become a better player? I’m still bold and impulsive but I can see the moves ahead more clearly. I call in the finisher less frequently and I’ve even won a game or two against him. Most of all, I’ve been reminded that, as with life, chess is a skill that comes with time, experience and a few lost pieces. But you can always start again, knowing that your team has your back and no one loss defines the journey.
Applesauce snack cake
from Cooks Illustrated
Makes one 8 inch square cake
This is a recipe where planning ahead comes into play. Step two, which calls for the dried apples and apple cider to cook together and the be cooled to room temperature, takes a fair bit of time. And the finished cake needs to cool for two hours before serving. So, make your dried apple mixture in advance and have it ready in the refrigerator, measure out the remaining ingredients and assemble and bake the cake first thing in the morning. Your weekend sleepyheads will be rewarded with a delicious treat when they finally roll out of bed.
Ingredients
1 cup apple cider
¾ cup dried apples, chopped
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
⅔ cup sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg, room temperature, lightly beaten
½ teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Heat oven to 325F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Cut a length of aluminum foil and fold it lengthwise so that it fits in the pan. Push the foil into corners and leave the excess to drape over the edges of the pan.
Bring the dried apples and cider to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook until liquid evaporates and is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
Whisk the flour and baking soda in medium bowl to combine; set aside. In second medium bowl, whisk sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the sugar-spice mixture for the topping.
Put the cooled dried-apple and applesauce mixture in a food processor, add the vanilla, and whizz until smooth. Scrape the mixture into a bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the egg and salt together to combine. Add the sugar-spice mixture and whisk continuously until well combined and light colored, about 20 seconds. Add the butter in three additions, whisking after each. Add applesauce mixture and whisk to combine. Fold the flour mixture to wet ingredients gently until just combined and evenly moistened.
Turn batter into prepared pan, smoothing top with rubber spatula. Sprinkle reserved 2 tablespoons sugar-spice mixture evenly over the batter. Bake until wooden skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours. Run a knife along cake edges to release. Remove cake from pan by lifting the foil overhang. Transfer to a cutting board, cut and serve.