Reviving the genius

In January of 2008, a legendary chess player and artist passed away. Robert (Bobby) Fischer, the only American Chess World Champion of the 20th century, was credited as the one who was able to break decades of Soviet domination over chess in 1972, and the story of his victory includes many elements of intrigue that transcend the chess board.

Bobby was one of my chess heroes while growing up. I still have “Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess” in my library, even though most of my chess books have been donated or lost over the years. Through his games, I understood the true artistry of chess, his wins achieved through the very “obvious” and the extremely “simple” moves; obvious only after they were done and simple because they captured the true essence of chess.

Fischer’s death reopened a window into my past and made me revisit the game and its history. I was pleased by how much my own people had contributed to the game.

“Shatranj” (chess in Arabic), was brought back from the Persian Empire after being conquered by the Muslim forces in the 7th century. Reading through literature, Arabs are acknowledged as having contributed tremendously to the game as it became popular in the then flourishing Islamic culture. Great players emerged, famous tournaments were played and many books on the topic were produced.

Al-Adli was recognized as one of the great players of his time and his Book of Chess (lost to history but referenced by others) contained a historical exposition on chess including its precursor game “Chaturanga,” and a 5-level classification of players according to skill. There was also a section on chess problems (called mansubat) and on different opening positions, which were classified by names such as The Sword, The Flank Opening, and Pharaoh’s Stones, among others.

Records show the impact of chess on people’s lives during that period: Muhammad al-Amin, the sixth Abbasid caliph, is said to have lost his throne (and his head) trying to checkmate a courtier while his castle was under siege; and around the year 700 AD Sa’id bin Jubair, a judge, became famous for his ability to play blindfold chess by turning his back to the board.

The Arabs also helped popularize the game internationally, as chess was propagated throughout Europe by three routes: Andalusian Spain, Sicily, and inally the Balkans and Turkey, initially coming with the conquering forces of Spain in the 8th century. It is written that Caliph Haroon al-Rashid presented to Charlemagne, the king of the Franks, an elaborate chess set as a gift.

Fast forward a few hundred years to the 18th century, and we find Philip Stamma, a native of Aleppo who will move later to England and France as an interpreter of foreign (oriental) languages. Philipp was considered to be one of the strongest chess masters in England at the time, and beating him made the young François André Philador known as a world champion and a grandmaster. He was also considered to be a pioneer of modern chess with his focus on the endgame and by introducing the algebraic notation. He wrote in 1737 an “Essai sur le jeu des échecs,” and in 1745 published his “Noble Game of Chess.”

More recently, a new Adli is also exerting his influence over chess, this time under the name Ahmed Adli – the world junior champion for 2007 who hails from Egypt. Yasser Seirawan, a grandmaster and four-time US champion, who was born in Damascus and moved to the US at the age of seven. He was the editor of Inside Chess magazine and has written several books, as well as help reunite the chess world, which was split with two different world champions till 2002.

In 2007, Seirawan unveiled an enhanced chess game dubbed Seirawan chess that he is now promoting. Seirawan’s variant of chess introduces two new pieces, the Elephant and the Hawk, to the existing game with objective of rendering existing opening theory obsolete and making chess fun again. These days most of the Arab countries have local chess associations and tournaments are being organized. If we take the grandmaster norm as an indicator of achievement and commitment to chess in a country, we find approximately 5 grandmasters in all the Arab countries out of a global population of approximately 900. In relative terms, we can see the demise of genius which was originally brought to the game.

Considering our rich history of contributing and spreading this game internationally, we have a responsibility to further interest in this game, which involves pattern recognition, strategy, tactics, logic and psychology. Even broader, how do we support our young artists and aspirants for the mastery of the game? Could we consider adding chess to existing school curricula to initiate the young into the game? Would inviting Yasser Seirawan to Syria to have him popularize chess and his new game affect local interest? All of these possibilities and more could be healthy proactive ways to revive our contribution to the “Noble Game.”