Humanity

     As it was the birthday of my favourite chess player of all the times- Alexander Alekhine yesterday, I had started to think about fates of different known chess players.
     It is known that Alexander Alekhine, besides the all known fact of being the 4th World Chess Champion and an outstanding chess player had struggled with the addiction to alcohol along his career, having battles against it in the most crucial moments of his life.
     I was thinking- is it something about chess that changes us?
     It seems for me that the best chess players are... different. Maybe it is about the disappointment they deal with, because no one can play without losses; or maybe it's about the difficulties that they face while leaving a life on stand by while going to tournaments and training sessions... The fact is that something changes in every professional chess player sooner or later- I mean... Well, it's normal to face changes during a lifetime- but I talk about the things that chess changes in us- we tend to become selfish and to try to have it all only for ourselves, we tend to put our interests ahead of everyone else's-because a chess player does not make any compromises during a game.
     We are also not that good at finding solutions to deal with losses- some drink, some smoke, others swear, forget about themselves while partying, or some come to not caring; the best of us- they find better ways, like practicing some kind of sport, reading, having long walks, watching movies, listening to music...
     I believe that making chess the centre of Universe in one's life is really dangerous- there should be patient, loving and supporting people around you in order not to lose the humanity...