 | Chess is an ancient game of mental skill between two players, with simple rules but great depth to the play. In art, chess is commonly used to symbolize either intellectual ability or challenge ("three moves ahead") from the perspective of the controlling player, or else role in the system ("just a pawn") from the perspective of a piece. There is a decent amount of art related to chess, from literature (e.g., Nabokov's The Defense) to poetry (e.g., Eliot's The Wasteland) to painting (e.g., Duchamp's "Portrait of Chess Players") to film (e.g., Searching for Bobby Fischer). There are also the great chess games themselves -- do they qualify as art? They certainly inspire with their beauty. Below the fold, some music, paintings, and games... |
First up, the musical Chess, which produced the gloriously 80s pop song "One night in Bangkok" (left) as well as more traditional musical fare like "I know him so well" (right). Most of the plot worked better in the context of the cold war, but the high cost of seeking perfection at chess is an enduring theme that reflects the sad reality of too many chess champions. Kasparov seems to be one of the few who has gone on to make a significant career in an unrelated field, as he fights for democracy in Russia.
Next, some modern art, this from the surrealist painter Errico, who incorporates chess into some of his work. On the left is "Knight to d4" (available for purchase here) and on the right is "Ice Chess" (available for purchase here). You may enjoy checking out his other work as well. (Used with kind permission of the artist.)
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Finally, some of the great games, taken from this list. All the images link to the chessgames.com java-based move-by-move presentation. I've clipped out one of the highlights from each game, and of course there are many more I could have picked (some much more famous) to include here. What are your favorites? Got any gems of your own? Do you think the most brilliant games qualify as "art" or not?
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I'm also curious what non-chess players think of chess-related art, and how they view chess itself (sport? entertainment? occasionally art?).
Finally, I was thinking it might be fun to do a blog-vs-blog chess match. Obviously the discussion of the moves would have to take place in a hidden setting (chat room?). Something like a move per day, with those people who were interested collaborating... anyone on board?
Previous installments in the weekend art series:
Feb 24: Madonna of the Yarnwinder and art theft
Mar 01: Pros and cons of digital cameras
Mar 08: Barber's Adagio and interpreting classical music
Mar 15: Romeo and Juliet re-imagined
Mar 29: Paul Weller, one of the best Brit rockers
Apr 05: Waves in paint, verse, and song
Apr 13: Finlandia
Apr 20: Flash fiction
Apr 26: The open road
May 04: Kentuckey Derby edition
Cross-posted from Swords Crossed --
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
One thing I've wondered about zugzwang
(#97055)is whether they happen all the time and no one is capable of recognizing it.
No one knows whether chess is 'solvable' i.e. whether you can force a loss or draw from the initial position w. perfect play.
And I gather the same is true for most middle game positions -- no one knows whether you can force a loss/draw w. perfect play there either.
Doesn't it stand to reason that no one really knows whether one side is at a disadvantage by moving in early/middle play?
We can recognize a lot of zugzwangs at the endgame. Am I misunderstanding something by claiming that we have no idea whether they're routine in earlier stages as well?
Chess anecdote for no reason
(#97021)I was in some regional championship game in 1st grade. In between games you could go watch movies and eat popcorn. I was getting pretty addicted to The NEver Ending Story but kept winning and then rushing back to watch the movie.
it came time to play in the final and I did NOT want to be torn away before the end of the movie. so I cried during the final match of the king's division and lost in about 12 moves in front of a lot of spectators.
my quote in the local paper was pretty funny. something along the lines of you shouldn't have to play chess if you don't want to.
that 2nd place showing was pretty much the pinacle of my chess career tho i still enjoy playing...
lol
(#97024)Sounds like you had your priorities straight, anyway.
The downside to chess being popular with kids is that you can sometimes get the same sort of overly competitive atmosphere that occasionally plagues youth sports.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
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parentWe're so alike it's frightening.
(#97022)I still weep at the conclusion of many of my matches.
EDIT: By the way; that is a great anecdote.
Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit. - W. Somerset Maugham
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parentThings were quite different
(#97020)in the time and place I attended high school (Texas in the late 60's). Chess was not something you wanted to be caught playing during lunch or between classes. I'm afraid that those poor kids sitting hunkered over their boards were teased rather badly.
It was much much later in life that I learned to play at all. Consequently, I'm still not very good at it. My wife and brother-in-law learned as kids and played against one another regularly. They can chew me to shreds.
When I play these days, it's against my daughters. But even that's like letting the young Orcas play with a seal pup.
Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit. - W. Somerset Maugham
Yeah, that's changed in a lot of places
(#97023)Can't speak for Texas but anecdotally I think chess is respected these days among kids of all ages and backgrounds. There are good programs (Chess in the Schools comes to mind) aimed at getting students involved in chess. I think the appeal for kids is having an opportunity to show off their cleverness, and sometimes being able to beat adults =) For educators the appeal is that chess can teach critical thinking and self control -- not to oversell that, it's mostly a game, but there are certainly some positive side benefits.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
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parentRichard Attenborough gave one of his best performances
(#97013)as a little vignette in the 1975 movie The Chess Players as General Sir James Outram. The movie itself is a classic on the theme of chess as a metaphor for life and war - I'm not sure its available in the US though.
Looks like a good movie
(#97025)but you're right, I wouldn't expect to find it at the local video store. Amazon has it for $26.99 though... thanks for the tip.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
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parentPersians playing Chess
(#97010)- Medieval Chess estamp - Persians playing chess
- Image copyright © Medieval-castles.org
- Artists Rights Society (ARS),
New York / ADAGP, Paris
Larger image under image click.
Yep, another contribution
(#97012)to Western culture from that region.
It's cool how chess retains the imprint of various cultures -- the German word for chess derives from Persian, and Wikipedia says other European languages follow suit. And many modern terms are still in the original language -- zwischenzug, zugzwang (in one of the games above), en passant, en prise, j'adoube, fianchetto, etc.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
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parent