MARK RUBERY CHESS
Today’s top grandmasters appear to be quite a knowledgeable bunch with a firm grasp on fields far beyond the realm of the 64 squares. One can glean from interviews that the likes of Anand and Kramnik have a variety of interests that include subjects such as astronomy and art.
The Australian chess journalist Chris Depasquayle is known for his erudite and witty views on a game that is sometimes taken far too seriously. In the following he pursues (to great lengths!) the traditional view of those who have reached the top of this profession.
‘One of the drawbacks with being associated with chess at any serious level is that people tend to pigeon-hole you. “Oh, you play chess. That means you are good at mathematics, computers, etc., etc., and hopeless at art, craft, writing, etc. etc.”
It is true that I cannot remember last time I read a player profile that went like this:
Name: Chess Superstar
Rating: 2700+
Non-chess Interests: Hell’s Angels member, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, renovating houses, acting, farming, 16th century Italian art, geology, 19th century Australian feminist literature, particularly the novels of Maud Jean Franc.
In fact, normally, when one of these super-GMs is asked about his non-chess interests, the interview threatens to grind to a halt:
Interviewer: What about away from the chessboard, what are your interests?
Super-GM: (puzzled) Away from the chessboard? Umm, (long pause as he tries to come to grips with the term “away from the chessboard”)...
Interviewer: (prompting) What was the last book you read?
Super-GM: (relaxing) Oh, that’s easy: Informator 76.
Interviewer: (trying) What about novels?
Super-GM: (enthusiastically) Oh, yes. 76 included this amazing novelty in the King’s Indian Defence. You know the line Sokolov played against Shirov in Las Vegas...’
A curious situation arose during the last round encounter between Sveshnikov and Inarkiev during the 2001 Russian Championship.
Sveshnikov seeing that his last move allowed 1... Nc4+ winning the rook, apparently offered his resignation. Then on realising that it was in fact stalemate after 2 Ka4 Rxb8 draw, he withdrew it. He claimed that technically he did not offer the resignation and an arbiter asked them to continue. The game went on for another 60 moves, and just when Sveshnikov could claim a draw (they had passed the 50 move point without a pawn being moved and a piece been captured) he decided to resign as he did not feel right about what occurred (!)
‘I like to think of blondes as the knights in chess. It’s the horsey-shape piece that moves in an L shape. It’s what makes chess complicated, and why stupid people can’t play chess. No chess master wants to lose his knights. Blondes are the same. Without us you cannot win, and you’ve got no one to blame for complicating everything ’Courtney Love