What If The Best Chess Players Were Naruto Characters?
Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.
- Steinem, Gloria.
Chess is a constant battle between two brains, which symbolizes a confrontation between two armies. In many ways it resembles other sports like boxing or martial arts like judo, karate, jiu-jitsu to name a few.
It is not uncommon for someone who plays chess to imagine himself in a war scenario, or in a gladiator fight while playing. I've done this myself a few times, seeing myself as a war movie character or even an anime character.
I don't know about you, but I'm a huge anime fan, and Naruto was one of my favorites for a while.
But how can Naruto relate to chess? Well, considering the personality and style of play of some of the best chess players in the current scene, we can make a comparison between the two worlds. Let´s see:
Character / Top Player: Uzumaki Naruto / Magnus Carlsen.
Description: The protagonist, and simply the strongest ninja/chess player in the world.
Character / Top Player: Uchiha Sasuke / Ian Nepomniachtchi
Description: The main rival of the protagonist, who had an advantage over him when they both were young, but was surpassed by him in the adolescence. He is not far behind the protagonist's strength, and is still a dangerous and threatening adversary for him.
Character / Top Player: Gaara / Ding Liren
Description: From a land far away from our protagonist, someone quiet and very powerful.
Character / Top Player: Tsunade / Judit Polgar
Description: Simply the strongest female ninja/chess player in all of history, feared and respected for her strength.
Character / Top Player: Killer Bee / Hikaru Nakamura
Description: Very popular, practically a superstar. One of the strongest characters, rivaling in strength with the protagonist in the dispute for first place (especially in bliz and rapid).
Character / Top Player: Kawaki / Alireza Firouzja
Description: Straight from the Boruto universe, Kawaki, like Alireza, is a prodigy and the currently most promising ninja/chess player in the world, who in the future will likely face Naruto/Magnus Carlsen for the ultimate title.
Character / Top Player: Hatake Kakashi / Alexander Grischuk
Description: A fun person and a nice guy. A little older than the current generation of top players, but still one of the best.
Character / Top Player: Jiraiya / Peter Heine Nielsen
Description: A legendary ninja/chess player. Naruto/Magnus' mentor and trainer.
Character / Top Player: Hashirama Senju / Vishy Anand
Description: A leader of a generation for his village/country, calm and collected. He was considered the strongest man on Earth for some time.
Character / Top Player: Uchiha Madara / Garry Kasparov
Description: A living legend, with a power difficult to calculate. In his prime, he was practically unstoppable. He returned to challenge the new generation after a long time in retirement.
Do you agree with the comparisons? What other anime/series/film characters do you think we can also compare with the best chess players?
Leave your comment below if you would change a character or top player or add another one to the list. I know a lot of amazing players and characters were left out, so be sure to make your suggestion.
Cheers,
Sophist4Life
