According to an old legend, chess was invented in an ancient kingdom of India, at the court of a powerful ruler whose palace stood at the center of a fertile land. Merchants crossed its roads, soldiers guarded its borders, and granaries filled with rice sustained its life. 

One day a wise man, known for his sharp mind and creativity, asked to see the king. He wanted to present his latest invention, which will transform the daily life of many, change the battlefield and stay for the next thousands of years. Despite all the duties, the king’s curiosity won and he accepted to see the inventor. 

Carrying a small wooden desk and a small pouch of figures, the king was shocked and angry that his precious time was to be wasted with rubbish. However, as the inventor set up the game, set all the pieces on the chessboard and slowly started to explain to the king the workings of the game of chess, a smile appeared on the king’s face. King loved the depth of the game, a battlefield contained within a wooden board, armies moved by strict rules, victory achieved through foresight rather than force.

After one game, the king spoke: “I was not convinced at first, however, you, dear inventor, have brought a great gift to my kingdom and as such I think you deserve a reward. You may ask for anything you desire.” 

The inventor bowed and spoke: “Thank you, my dear King” and he thought for a while. 

“Anything,” smiled the King. 

After a while the inventor spoke: “Well, my dear King, I would have a wish. I wish for a grain of rice to be placed on the first square of the chessboard, two on the second, four on the third, and so on, doubling the number of grains on each square until all sixty-four squares are filled.” 

King grinned at the thought of this trivial request and ordered his treasurer to carry out the task. But as the counting began, the mood has slowly changed. What started as a handful of grains became small piles, then sacks, then entire storehouses. With each square of the board, the required amount grew faster than King had anticipated. His smile was long gone before the last row. It became clear that the total number of grains exceeded all the rice in the kingdom — and more than could be harvested in many years to come.

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End of the legend. It tells the story of a wise inventor, the hidden truth of exponential growth, the power of mathematics and errors in human thinking as we saw in King’s misjudgement.  

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What if we update this story? Change it a bit… Adding to it the dilemma we face today, the very same dilemma faced in ancient India, and arguably, an identical one to the humans will face in the year 3000. What if we shift the focus from mathematics to human psyché?

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Everything stays the same until the King hears out the inventor’s wish …

The king takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, crosses his arms and leans back. He nods with his head slowly. He calls one of his advisors and after a brief whispering, he nods more and more, then he opens his eyes. Looks straight into inventor’s eyes and speaks: 

“I see you are a wise man… I see that both in the game of chess and your request… yet I am not foolish either… What’s more, I am surrounded by wise people too. Your request starts small, but it is not a little… I know,” he smiles. 

The inventor nods, knowing that the King is wise and understands exponential growth. 

“But be it!” shows with his hand and smiles, the King. 

Then he raises one finger and speaks seriously: “Under one condition.”

“Yes, sir,” responds the inventor, full of expectations. 

“There are two options, you can choose,” he says calmly. 

“The first is that you will leave this door, not asking for more, feeling truly satisfied, calm, at peace with what you have, not needing more ever! Not a single grain of rice more than you had when you came here.” 

“OR!” he exclaims… “You will leave through this door, carrying more than you can carry, with carriages full of rice, behind you, a long row of slaves, as far as the eye can see, carrying even more rice. Chessboard, after a chessboard filled with rice! Yet, you will never, ever, be satisfied! Never at peace. Wanting more. Until you have all the rice in the world and then still want more.” 

The inventor was staring at the king, not making a sound. 

“You heard me…” 

“Yes, sir,” said the inventor with a trembling voice. 

“Now, you may go and I expect to hear your decision tomorrow morning.” 

They both stood up and bowed to each other. 

Boris Bielik