Chess is a game of strategy. Chess strategy consists of setting and achieving long-term goals during the game – for example, where to place different pieces – while tactics concentrate on immediate maneuvers. The initial phase of the game is called the opening, usually the first ten to twenty-five moves, when players develop their armies and set the stage for the coming battle. Opening strategies, many with colorful names such as the Bird’s opening, the Benko defense, or the Sicilian defense, have been developed over many years. Some of these are more aggressive than defensive, but, by the end of the game, the effectiveness of a given strategy, and the tactics used to execute it, become clear as one player captures the opponent’s king and declares “Checkmate.”

In business settings, a basic question about strategy is how a firm will compete and defend itself against outside threats. The effectiveness of its strategy may be measured on a number of dimensions, such as sustainability, profits, competitiveness, and growth. Does it meet the needs of multiple stakeholders, such as shareholders, customers, suppliers, employees, and communities? If not, in the extreme, the analog to “Checkmate” in the game of chess occurs when a firm declares bankruptcy, or otherwise abandons a particular product or service offering, most often due to a lack of market demand for it.