Making chess a national pastime
“Pawns are the soul of chess.” — Francois Andre Danican Philidor, French chess player and composer (1726-1795)
Decades ago when I learned chess, a few years after the Guyana Chess Association (GCA) was established in 1972, we were excited at the thought of exploring a new game. Here was a game that never repeated itself so it never got boring.
Chess was played exclusively at Queen’s College, St Stanislaus College and Central High School during the late 1930s prior to the birth of the GCA. As early as 1975, nevertheless, Guyana hosted the first ever Caribbean Chess Championship, which included Cuba, a veritable chess colossus in those days. Emerging from the discussions which followed the championship tournament, it became clear that the quickest way to become champions and to grasp eminence in chess was to have the dedicated involvement of others, rather than to have it contained. Such is the path which Russia, Cuba, India, Bulgaria, China and the United States of America endorsed, and they all produced world chess champions.
I have said it time and again, we cannot have betterment in chess until and unless the Guyana Chess Federation widens the game. Loris Nathoo, John and Marcia Lee and Anand Raghunauth are the vanguards for introducing new talent into the royal game. Nathoo is a vanguard due to his efforts in securing sponsors for chess, and Raghunauth and the Lees are also vanguards for their assiduous work with school children to improve their expertise in the game.
In addition to helping others, John Lee is a serious tournament director. Usually, tournament directors are disciplinarians. Lee knows the FIDE Laws of Chess meticulously, and can apply them whenever required. He is respected throughout the tournament hall whenever the games are in progress.
It is a herculean task to take a game with which many are unfamiliar and turn it into a popular national pastime. This is not insurmountable, but to be successful takes time. Progress for the development of chess is certain. There are more people attached to chess currently than ever before.
For years we watched for the rising of chess on the horizon. Now it is happening with more children playing the ancient game than ever before. During the twoyear reign of the new chess administration, perhaps, we can consider carrying chess to schools in Wakenaam and Leguan.
Children are the pawns
of chess. A pawn is the least valuable piece on the chessboard but it can be promoted to become a queen, a rook, a knight or a bishop — all meaningful pieces in the game. Piece by piece we can make this game a national pastime.