Beginning

I faltered. “I don't know how to begin.”
“In the game of chess, unlike the game of life, you get to choose how you begin.”
“But what if I choose poorly?”
“Ah, “ she said, wrinkling her scalp. “In that way the two games are quite alike. One way or another, your choice will make all the difference.”

T.A. Barron, The Lost Years of Merlin, 222. ISBN: 04410068X