Protect your queen

Recent chess advice..."protect your queen."

I'm trying to learn chess. By reading a book. And playing online. (FaceBook has a moderately functional chess application...or rather, chess.com has a moderately functional chess app on FaceBook.) I've even played a couple of real live humans with an actual chess board.

As much as I say I love learning, I'm finding chess a bit frustrating. My hunch is that seasoned players "see" the board in a different, more comprehensive way than beginners like me. I want to see it like they do, but I haven't yet learned how.

I'm also finding that a mistake in the 6th move comes alive (for my opponent) in the 19th, or the 33rd. "Oh, yeah, I moved that piece off early, didn't I?"

And cause-and-effect aren't readily apparent. I don't always see what leads to what. Mostly I'm noticing my desire to "hurry up" and learn.

A handful of books suggest that the ability to learn and adapt to change (two sides of the same coin?) are the skills of the 21st century (Veil, Senge, Conner, Kotter, et al.). Change is the only constant, and the ability to deal with change, and to learn quickly, will soon be the commodity most sought after in employees, managers, and leaders.

Why then do I so struggle with learning? Mastery, expertise, knowing...they're so much more comfortable than their opposites. Maybe that's the point--stretching beyond what's comfortable into the unknown, and staying open to surprise along the route.