The Inventor of Chess and the Emperor

by Albin Dittli

There is a famous story about the inventor of chess. (I don't know if this is a true story or not, but it sure gives an excellent example of how things can expand exponentially.) The emperor was very pleased with this new game and he offered the inventor a minimal compensation that would barely feed his family for the year to come. The inventor was not happy with this offer, and because he was a whiz in mathematics, he knew a clever way he could get the king to give him more.

"Oh emperor! Your offer is too great," he claimed, "I only ask a small compensation to help me feed my family. On the first day, I only ask you give me only one grain of rice for creating the first square of the chessboard. On the second day, double the amount given to me on the first day give me two grains of rice for creating the second square of the chess board. On the third day, double the amount given to me on the second day and give me four grains of rice for creating the third square of the chessboard. And continue to double the amount every day until you have compensated me for every square of the chessboard."

The emperor jumped at this offer. After all, there are only sixty-four squares on the chessboard. He ordered his men to start the compensation process. The men gave the inventor one grain of rice. The inventor went home and feed his family the one grain of rice. The emperor went back into his chamber and laughed at the "stupid" inventor, "His family will surely starve. He wasted a good opportunity to feed his family for the year to come while he could spend his days in leisure inventing more fun new games." He looked at the beautiful hand carved chess pieces and the sixty-four square chess board.

The next day, the inventor returned to the palace and collected his two grains of rice for the second square of the chessboard, when home, and feed his family the two grains of rice. On, the third day, he arrived at the palace and collected four grains of rice. That night, his family ate the four grains of rice.

On the fourth day his family, very hungry, urged him to accept the emperor's original offer, "tell him to be merciful, we'll accept only half of it," his wife plead. But the inventor wouldn't do so and he returned home from the palace with eight grains of rice (twice the previous days amount of four) and feed them to his family.

On the fifth day (his wife very angry) the inventor returned with sixteen grains of rice; on the sixth day he returned with thirty-two, on the seventh day he brought home sixty-four, and on the eighth day one-hundred twenty-eight. With barely enough rice to fill the stomach on one of his family members--the inventor was finally compensated for one full row of the chessboard.

The wife went secretly to the palace the next day and pleaded with the emperor to reconsider the deal. "No," said the emperor, "Your husband and I made a deal and word must keep at all costs." The wife was sent away . . . hungry.

On the ninth day, the inventor brought home 256 grains of rice, on the tenth day, 512, and 1,024 on the eleventh day--he finally had enough to make a small meal for his very hungry family. On the twelfth day, the inventor brought home 2,048 grains of rice, 4,096 on the thirteenth, 8,192 on the fourteenth, and 16,384 on the fifteenth. On the sixteenth day, he brought home 32,768 grains of rice. This turned out to be more that enough to feed his entire family very well, with plenty to share with his friends and neighbors. His wife looked at him and smiled. She could finally understand what would lie ahead--The inventor was finally compensated for two rows of the chess board.

Can you imagine what happened in the days to come? Every day, the inventor would bring home twice as much rice as the day before. The day the inventor was finally compensated for the third row of the chessboard, he brought home over 8 million grains of rice. This completely cleaned out all of the storage bins in the palace. The inventor had servants to help him carry it (many of whom used to work at the palace). And, he fed them and their families, very well.

By the time he was compensated for half the chessboard, he owned all of the rice in the kingdom and, by the sixty-forth day, the emperor owed him 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 grains of rice. More than the available rice on the planet! Now the emperor of course could no longer keep his word, "at all costs," and wound up in debtor's prison while the inventor, his wife, and family moved into the palace.

This is an example of how things grow exponentially!

After reading this story, would you rather have 2 million dollars right now, or a penny doubled every day for a month (meaning; 1 penny on the first day, 2 pennies on the second day, 4 on the third and so on)? Go to http://www.e-biz-toolbox.com/a_penny_a_day.php to see the solution.

When we apply this principle of exponential multiplication to network marketing and add the principle of patience to it we get a formula for success. Is sponsoring just one member a month a realistic possibility? For most people it is, especially with all of the marketing resources of the Internet.

If you sponsored just one member per month and each person in your organization also sponsored just one member per month you would have 62 members in your organization after just six months. With most programs you would be making money with 62 members in your organization. (If you aren’t making money at this point then you probably chose the wrong program).

Most people fail in network marketing because they give up to soon. The first months can be slow and you may have to endure a negative cash flow for those months. Many people quit after a few months because of the negative cash flow, just before the momentum of your team is about to kick in.

Remember how hungry our chess inventor and his family got before he started receiving enough rice to feed his family. Soon after that he had more rice then he knew what to do with.

About the Author
Albin Dittli has been writing software for the network marketing industry for 12 years and marketing on the Internet for over two years. Please visit his web site at http://www.The-Home-Business-Center.com . You can subscribe to his free ezine, eBiz Marketing Tips, by sending an email to moneystrategies@listwarrior.com .