WHAT CHESS IS TO ME
(I started working on this blog post in May, 2022.......)
This post has been "cooking" for a few weeks now; for some reason the world's upheavals have shaken me to the core, and caused an extra-reflective mood to set in; our heart mirrors the world, and the world mirrors our heart. Each one of us has the whole Universe inside our heart, but that is another conversation......
But we also have all of humanity inside us, and this is the reason that, if you have any inclination towards the arts, you are chosen to serve humanity by expressing feelings that are universal. You express them in your field of art, whether it is music, poetry, literature, visual arts, and maybe even chess!
Chess is different things to different people, the same way life is different things to different people.
To a chess professional, a top world-class player, chess is a job. Chess is their life's work. It is what brings beans to the table.
To a beginner, chess is excitement; perhaps a way to prove himself by beating others!
In my case, my serious chess journey started in 1972. I was in 9th grade of high school, and the Fischer-Spassky match was coming up. Chess fever had caught the US, and Puerto Rico, being a US colony, was no exception.
In my school there was a little corner, under a tree, near the locker rooms next to the basketball courts. This is the corner where the "bookworms" used to meet. I belonged to no particular group in high school. One day I was walking near the area, and the "bookworms" were playing chess! I had learned the moves when I was 9, but had not played since. But I was curious. So I challenged one of these students to a game, and I lost. I took a hard look at the person I lost to, and thought, "these guy is NOT smarter than me". I said out loud, "how can I get better at this game?", and the best player in the school said, "there are chess books in the library". And few minutes later, I was walking out of the school library with a few chess books in my hand. The one I remember the most was Alekhine's Best Games. I had eagerness and enthusiasm, but no coach, as in Puerto Rico there was no coaching structure whatsoever. So, in my case, part of my makeup was trying to prove that I was as smart as the "bookworms" (many of whom went to study at Ivy League Universities).
Now, with computers and "His Holiness the Rating" (as Bronstein would often refer to it), the emphasis on self-worth for many beginners is a number, the "rating". There is an obsession with winning as a means of increasing one's rating; there is a hunger for quick success.
In my case, going through the games of Alekhine and Capablanca was my learning "method". As if by osmosis, the logical sense that the pieces made was being transmitted to my being, and I started playing better. At that time, our Federation organized tournaments every weekend. My enthusiasm for chess kept growing, and at one point it became my obsession; I wanted to be World Champion! Studying up to 6 hours a day, playing lots of blitz and a tournament every weekend gave me some practical strength. There were serious gaps in my chess knowledge and culture, of course, but at the time I did not know it. (You don't know what you don't know).
Every person brings a unique set of elements to the table. Each person has a unique soul, a special combination of elements which sums up their sensibility, their "approach" to the game. It is a summation of the individual's spiritual, psychological, mental, emotional and even physical elements.
What isa chess to me now?
It is mostly an art form, a modem of human expression. There is beauty in chess, specially in those of us who do not have the talent and memory of an "elite" grandmaster. In the case of top world players, there is a lot of memorization of long computer lines. Since these players all have great memories, oftentimes their games are a comparison of each other's homework! Whoever did a better homework wins the day.
(Here is an example of how Praggnanandhaa surprised Vidit Gujarati in the opening, and achieved victory in their game in the Candidate's Tournament last year!)
For me, chess is a relaxing art that I enjoy looking at. Partly mathematics and geometry, partly visual arts, it is pleasing not only to the eye, but to some part of my soul that appreciates the metaphoric power of chess: it is a reflection of life's battles, both against others and against oneself. We all have to battle against our lower self, so the higher self in us can come forward.
Chess is also a game that I share with some of my friends who also love this game/art/sport/science. It is NOT a proof of my intelligence or skill, as it might have been for me 53 years ago......
Peace.
