“In life as in chess, forethought wins,” said Charles Buxton, British politician and philanthropist in the 19th century.
Chess is a metaphor for the trials and tribulations of life. The structural evolution of humanity is depicted in the three parts of the game: opening, middle game, and endgame. A pawn once moved cannot be taken back. Sacrifices are needed to gain advantages. Decisions should be intuitive, not impulsive. One must wait for the right time to strike. Risks must be calculated. Keeping the king safe first and then attacking is essential. The ultimate goal is checkmating the opponent’s king.
This board of intellect, infused with the creativity of the human mind, has woven in its rich tapestry the various interpretations of human behaviour. Marcel Duchamp once remarked, “While all artists are not chess players, all chess players are artists.” A common thread runs through chess and creativity.
The romantic period of chess in the mid-1800s is testament to this statement. Adolf Anderson and Lionel Kieseritzky were compared to the maestros Brahms and Tchaikovsky. The dramatic symphony that they created by synchronising their pieces in a perfect melody resulted in the “Immortal Game” in 1851 London.
Throughout history, every human has attempted to perceive chess through his or her own lens. G.H. Hardy, a mathematician, said, “Chess problems are pure mathematics. They are the hymn tunes of mathematics.”
The rigorous calculations undertaken by players reflect their commonality. In fact, the ornate lifelike pieces of the earlier times acquired an abstract form in ancient Persia. This was due to the Koranic prohibition of depicting images, but probably also because the Persians were the pioneers of abstract algebra. al-Masudi, an Arab mathematician, urged commoners to adopt chess instead of backgammon, for it was an expression of man’s liberated mind.
Chess, an articulation of human ingenuity, has its roots in Persian courts. Chess allegory was often used to portray statecraft, society and intense emotions. Rumi said, “Love is not a game of chess, where you plan your next move, but a game of backgammon, where you trust and throw the dice.” A Game of Chess by Thomas Middleton is a satire on the state under James I. Shakespeare in the Tempest ended the play with a conversation between Ferdinand and Miranda over the chess board.
Chess, however, has been mostly understood as a game depicting military strategy. “Chess is war over the board. The objective is to crush the opponent’s mind,” said Bobby Fischer. Chaturanga, the ancient chess game in India, depicted the four arms of the army. The Prussians used a game named Kriegsspiel (German meaning war game), to test aspiring military officers.
Chess, therefore, is a reflection of the popular history and a prism to judge the people’s psyche. For instance, the Arab elephant being replaced with the Bishop highlighted the growing power of the Church in feudal Europe. Similarly, the Queen replacing the adviser or the commander of the medieval times reflects the rise of powerful queens all over Europe. Further, the commoners’ quest for liberty — not just political or economic but also intellectual — is evident in the popularity of the French salons where new ideas came to be shaped. Chess had now gone down from the lords to the masses, ending the elites’ monopoly on the mental plane. When philosophers like Rousseau and Voltaire sat over the board, there was an intellectual stimulus. The idea that a pawn could become powerful too was probably an idea that fuelled the French Revolution.
Bobby Fischer’s win over Soviet Boris Spassky amid the Cold War was seen as a symbol of American prowess in the intellectual arena. Today, Gukesh’s defeat of Ding heralds the emergence of a rising young India.
Thus, chess has, time and again, functioned as a yardstick for judging mental calibre, a muse for poetic fantasy, a device for military strategy, an abacus for mathematical calculation, a canvas for artistic expression, a mirror reflecting the various dimensions of society and a handbook for life’s lessons. These 64 squares are a world itself in microcosm. Life, however, is not in black and white but in shades of grey. Efficiently navigating through these squares is a life “well played”.
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Published - February 02, 2025 04:01 am IST
