In the words of beloved chess genius Emory Tate: "Love of chess is some Granmaster level shit. Triple exclam!!! Keep your eyes peeled and love every game."
First black IM. Almost totally self-taught, He beat five top twenty GMs(Super GMs), one year. Emory spoke five languages fluently and could get by in twelve.
Every time he walked into a tournament, there was a crowd of kids around him that just grew and grew and grew. He talked to everyone like they mattered, and he absolutely loved chess.
I am not a chess player, and have not played any game except Old Maid as a child and a little checkers. So I'm suddenly in awe of what it means to engage seriously with chess. Thank you for providing me that entry point, Samuel.
I have a friend who would play me blindfolded, with his back to the board, well into the middle stages of the game. I would tell him my move, he would tell me which move to make for him. I was in awe of how his brain worked. On and off, I tried to get into chess from elementary school to after college. But I think at every turn playing was an opportunity to flex rather than any real desire to learn the game for its own aesthetics. As such, I take this statement “On the chess board lies and hypocrisy do not survive long,” as a personal indictment.
Haha. Thank you Mac! The thing about chess is that to get even decent takes so much time it's barely ever worth it. I think anyone who doesn't become a chesshead need have no regrets about it. Anybody who does has to spend a long time trying to justify/understand what's happened to them.
Congrats on the book, Sam. Odd coincidence, of sorts: This week I became obsessed with two shows about the life of chess: My favorite: _Searching for Bobby Fischer_ and my second favorite _The Queen's Gambit_. There's a third with Kevin Kline _Queen to Play_ that I'll watch probably tonight if I can find it. Again, grand hopes for more success with the book and your obsession. I am, as you know, a big fan of Sam Kahn! xx ~ Mary
Oh so cool Mary!! Searching For Bobby Fischer was a huge deal for me. It was pretty much exactly the scene I was growing up. "Asa" btw has a cameo in it. It does feel pretty '90s now but, man, the nostalgia wells up if I watch it. Queen's Gambit is very good and deserved its accolades. I haven't seen/heard of Queen To Play. Let me know how it is!
So good! I used to love chess and sometimes played at a chess club that met at the YMCA. I was always the only woman there. This fact didn’t really bother me, just an observation. I liked the geeky men- old, young, middle that loved the game - none tried to pick me up (I was a 20-something) which was a pleasant thing too. I rarely beat any of them in a regular game, but for some reason excelled in speed chess. So much so I began to feel embarrassed about it, as though my facility with it was indicative of some sort of character flaw. Any way- brought back memories and loved your analysis of personality typed reflected in game style of play. 😊🙏🏼🫶🏼
Thank you Tracy! Really appreciate the note. I've always been very curious about the experience of being a chessplaying woman. It seems like a male world so much of the time, but there really are a lot of women who thrive in it.
Sam, what an arresting read, and I can't even play chess! Have you ever read Nabokov's "The Defence"? It's a great novel about chess and a genius chess player, Luzhin, and also an uncannily precise, nuanced, and moving description of an autistic character (although autism is never mentioned, and probably Nabokov wasn't aware of it).
*Logical Chess* by Irving Chernev is my favorite chess book of all time. The games are beautiful, the players legendary, and his commentary is at just the right level of complexity. Most of all, Chernev is never shy about expressing his deep love for the game, and I've always been inspired by his passion. Other authors have vastly surpassed him in depth and sophistication of analysis, but none have ever matched him for his enthusiasm and obvious delight in the game.
So cool Theodore! Yes, you've been this rabbithole as well. I've wondered how different my life would have been if I hadn't encountered Chernev - so user-friendly, so elegant, such a dangerous gateway! Just btw for my blog/book, I've pretty much been trying to be exactly like Chernev (or maybe Soltis) but with slightly more systemization.
Raymond Chandler’s detective Philip Marlowe plays chess, but always alone in his apartment with a pipe, replaying tournament games published in a little book from Leipzig. In one novel, a cop sees the board and asks, “Don’t it take two guys to play chess?” and Marlowe admits to him that these exercises “are not chess, properly speaking.” I suppose we’re meant to take that this is how Marlowe solves his cases, while his mind is ostensibly occupied by a chess problem.
From The High Window (1943): “Beautiful, cold, remorseless chess, almost creepy in its silent implacability.”
Thank you for this lovely tribute to the strange, beautiful, obsessive and pleasurable world of chess.
You're probably aware of a new phenomenon in the chess world - one that is too late to make it into your century of chess beginning in 1900! - but just in case you're not I want to use this comment to draw your attention to it. On YouTube there are now chess masters who perform, record and verbally notate what they call "rating climbs." In a rating climb the chess master creates a new chess player in an online format, and then plays online a series of games with matched but progressively higher rated players until the Master has reached his own native rating. The viewer watches the games and commentary in these series of videos and gets a kind of inside view into the world that the chess master sees as he contends with players who at least for a significant portion of the "climb" are going to be approximately like himself. I cannot overstate how fascinating and illuminating this is. It has also, at least for me personally, significantly increased both my skill _and my enjoyment_ of the game. I've never really studied chess - I just like to play - but for the first time since online chess began my average rating has climbed significantly just as a result of things I now see on the chessboard that I didn't before. It's amazing.
The only thing I'd add is that when mediocre chess players like myself review an extraordinary game between two great players, we are often able to get a great deal of enjoyment from the skill, the flourish, the grinding precision, the astonishing error, or the deep vision (he just resigned?) without any alteration of our chess vision or our understanding of the game (queen to d2? why?). The play is just too far above us. Ratings climbs reliably find ordinary chess players where their games actually live. From the perspective of my own experience as an ordinary player this particular teaching tool constitutes a significant development in the history of chess.
Thank you so much Chris. I wasn't actually aware of "the rating climb." It's been dizzyingly wonderful to me how well chess has done in the digital era. It truly was a sad, dark scene in the '90s. The streamed tournaments are great, so is the commentary and the press conferences. Magnus has been such a gift to the chess world and it seems like there's just an embarrassment of riches between YouTube, Twitch, etc. Btw, if you get hooked on these things, it's worth checking out The Master Game from c.1980. It was a BBC show that offered master commentary on games. It used to be free on YouTube but I think you have to pay for them now. It was like a wonderful never-repeated thing for a long time and now they replicate fairly regularly with all the livestreams.
Thank you for the tip! I found seasons 6 and 7 on YouTube, apparently for free. I'm watching a game now. Fascinating to hear masters express uncertainty, consternation, puzzlement, surprise ("oh, I was hoping he wouldn't do that") - a whole range of emotions familiar to every player!
In the words of beloved chess genius Emory Tate: "Love of chess is some Granmaster level shit. Triple exclam!!! Keep your eyes peeled and love every game."
Whoa. Emory Tate is Andrew's Tate's father. Mind blown!
First black IM. Almost totally self-taught, He beat five top twenty GMs(Super GMs), one year. Emory spoke five languages fluently and could get by in twelve.
Every time he walked into a tournament, there was a crowd of kids around him that just grew and grew and grew. He talked to everyone like they mattered, and he absolutely loved chess.
I am not a chess player, and have not played any game except Old Maid as a child and a little checkers. So I'm suddenly in awe of what it means to engage seriously with chess. Thank you for providing me that entry point, Samuel.
Thank you so much Peter. And never underestimate Old Maid!
I have a friend who would play me blindfolded, with his back to the board, well into the middle stages of the game. I would tell him my move, he would tell me which move to make for him. I was in awe of how his brain worked. On and off, I tried to get into chess from elementary school to after college. But I think at every turn playing was an opportunity to flex rather than any real desire to learn the game for its own aesthetics. As such, I take this statement “On the chess board lies and hypocrisy do not survive long,” as a personal indictment.
Haha. Thank you Mac! The thing about chess is that to get even decent takes so much time it's barely ever worth it. I think anyone who doesn't become a chesshead need have no regrets about it. Anybody who does has to spend a long time trying to justify/understand what's happened to them.
Congrats on the book, Sam. Odd coincidence, of sorts: This week I became obsessed with two shows about the life of chess: My favorite: _Searching for Bobby Fischer_ and my second favorite _The Queen's Gambit_. There's a third with Kevin Kline _Queen to Play_ that I'll watch probably tonight if I can find it. Again, grand hopes for more success with the book and your obsession. I am, as you know, a big fan of Sam Kahn! xx ~ Mary
Oh so cool Mary!! Searching For Bobby Fischer was a huge deal for me. It was pretty much exactly the scene I was growing up. "Asa" btw has a cameo in it. It does feel pretty '90s now but, man, the nostalgia wells up if I watch it. Queen's Gambit is very good and deserved its accolades. I haven't seen/heard of Queen To Play. Let me know how it is!
Queen to Play, fab: Kevin Kline fluent in French--find it!
Excellent piece
Thank you Benjamin!
So good! I used to love chess and sometimes played at a chess club that met at the YMCA. I was always the only woman there. This fact didn’t really bother me, just an observation. I liked the geeky men- old, young, middle that loved the game - none tried to pick me up (I was a 20-something) which was a pleasant thing too. I rarely beat any of them in a regular game, but for some reason excelled in speed chess. So much so I began to feel embarrassed about it, as though my facility with it was indicative of some sort of character flaw. Any way- brought back memories and loved your analysis of personality typed reflected in game style of play. 😊🙏🏼🫶🏼
Thank you Tracy! Really appreciate the note. I've always been very curious about the experience of being a chessplaying woman. It seems like a male world so much of the time, but there really are a lot of women who thrive in it.
Sam, what an arresting read, and I can't even play chess! Have you ever read Nabokov's "The Defence"? It's a great novel about chess and a genius chess player, Luzhin, and also an uncannily precise, nuanced, and moving description of an autistic character (although autism is never mentioned, and probably Nabokov wasn't aware of it).
Thank you so much Portia! Yes, it's a great book. Luzhin was largely based on Akiba Rubinstein, who is one of the players I profile in the book!
I didn't know that! My daughter plays chess, I should buy her your book as a gift.
I feel you man
Lol! Thanks so much Sasha!
*Logical Chess* by Irving Chernev is my favorite chess book of all time. The games are beautiful, the players legendary, and his commentary is at just the right level of complexity. Most of all, Chernev is never shy about expressing his deep love for the game, and I've always been inspired by his passion. Other authors have vastly surpassed him in depth and sophistication of analysis, but none have ever matched him for his enthusiasm and obvious delight in the game.
So cool Theodore! Yes, you've been this rabbithole as well. I've wondered how different my life would have been if I hadn't encountered Chernev - so user-friendly, so elegant, such a dangerous gateway! Just btw for my blog/book, I've pretty much been trying to be exactly like Chernev (or maybe Soltis) but with slightly more systemization.
Raymond Chandler’s detective Philip Marlowe plays chess, but always alone in his apartment with a pipe, replaying tournament games published in a little book from Leipzig. In one novel, a cop sees the board and asks, “Don’t it take two guys to play chess?” and Marlowe admits to him that these exercises “are not chess, properly speaking.” I suppose we’re meant to take that this is how Marlowe solves his cases, while his mind is ostensibly occupied by a chess problem.
From The High Window (1943): “Beautiful, cold, remorseless chess, almost creepy in its silent implacability.”
Yeah, I really need to read the Marlowe books - for this reason alone! I know he's playing over Capablanca games.
Thank you for this lovely tribute to the strange, beautiful, obsessive and pleasurable world of chess.
You're probably aware of a new phenomenon in the chess world - one that is too late to make it into your century of chess beginning in 1900! - but just in case you're not I want to use this comment to draw your attention to it. On YouTube there are now chess masters who perform, record and verbally notate what they call "rating climbs." In a rating climb the chess master creates a new chess player in an online format, and then plays online a series of games with matched but progressively higher rated players until the Master has reached his own native rating. The viewer watches the games and commentary in these series of videos and gets a kind of inside view into the world that the chess master sees as he contends with players who at least for a significant portion of the "climb" are going to be approximately like himself. I cannot overstate how fascinating and illuminating this is. It has also, at least for me personally, significantly increased both my skill _and my enjoyment_ of the game. I've never really studied chess - I just like to play - but for the first time since online chess began my average rating has climbed significantly just as a result of things I now see on the chessboard that I didn't before. It's amazing.
The only thing I'd add is that when mediocre chess players like myself review an extraordinary game between two great players, we are often able to get a great deal of enjoyment from the skill, the flourish, the grinding precision, the astonishing error, or the deep vision (he just resigned?) without any alteration of our chess vision or our understanding of the game (queen to d2? why?). The play is just too far above us. Ratings climbs reliably find ordinary chess players where their games actually live. From the perspective of my own experience as an ordinary player this particular teaching tool constitutes a significant development in the history of chess.
Thank you so much Chris. I wasn't actually aware of "the rating climb." It's been dizzyingly wonderful to me how well chess has done in the digital era. It truly was a sad, dark scene in the '90s. The streamed tournaments are great, so is the commentary and the press conferences. Magnus has been such a gift to the chess world and it seems like there's just an embarrassment of riches between YouTube, Twitch, etc. Btw, if you get hooked on these things, it's worth checking out The Master Game from c.1980. It was a BBC show that offered master commentary on games. It used to be free on YouTube but I think you have to pay for them now. It was like a wonderful never-repeated thing for a long time and now they replicate fairly regularly with all the livestreams.
Thank you for the tip! I found seasons 6 and 7 on YouTube, apparently for free. I'm watching a game now. Fascinating to hear masters express uncertainty, consternation, puzzlement, surprise ("oh, I was hoping he wouldn't do that") - a whole range of emotions familiar to every player!
Amazing! When I got Covid, that series was the absolute best comfort food. Enjoy.