Jonathan Rowson
Scots Grandmaster considers chess as a martial art I RECENTLY took my four-year -ld son to his first karate class. He had a great time running around and punching and kicking into the air, and I was deeply impressed by the way the children’s natural aggression was tempered by the dignity and discipline of the practice. Certain explicit actions were emphasised, like the importance of raising your knees when kicking, but it was the implicit character education that struck me most profoundly.
I was reminded of the successful execution of the crane manoeuvre which marks the climax of The Karate Kid. Danielsan, as he is called by his Japanese teacher, Mr Myagi, diligently trains to acquire the requisite balance and concentration to carry out the decisive kick, which won the day against the relatively evil protagonist from the Cobra Kai dojo, which took a very different view of what Karate is for.
This difference of emphasis is clarified in a wonderfully Socratic teaching moment in the film, which I believe should be compulsory viewing for every teacher, mostly for the subtlety with which Daniel grasps the essence of the martial art.
D: Hey – you ever get into fights when you were a kid? Mr M: Huh – plenty. D: Yeah, but it wasn’t like the problem I have, right?
Mr M: Why? Fighting fighting. Same same. D: Yeah, but you knew karate. Mr M: Someone always know more.
D: You mean there were times when you were scared to fight?
Mr M: Always scare. Miyagi hate fighting. D: Yeah, but you like karate. Mr M: So?
D: So, karate’s fighting. You train to fight. Mr M: That what you think? D: [pondering] No. Mr M: Then why train? D: [thinks] So I won’t have to fight.
Mr M: [laughs] Miyagi have hope for you.
I sometimes wish chess had this clarity of purpose. If you train in Karate so that you don’t have to fight, why do you train in chess? But perhaps the motivation is not so different, because we also sublimate a great deal of violence. English Grandmaster Jon Speelman called chess a blood sport and Nigel Short famously said that “you have to be prepared to kill people”. Both were speaking figuratively, but the point is that the experience during play is of very intense combat, and it is martial in spirit.
And yet nobody actually gets physically hurt, so we get to enjoy the experience of the fight without putting our lives on the line. And just as the Crane manoeuvre takes a great deal of practice to get right, so it takes many hours of diligent preparation to know how to marshall your forces for greatest effect.
My only regret, in making this comparison, is that as a Grandmaster I was never awarded a black belt. However, when I buy my son his pristine white Karate uniform, I’m going to give serious thought to getting one for myself.
In the following, I was struck by Grischuk’s manoeuvring skills, by also by the final move 31…Bf1 – the decisive karate chop. V Ivanchuk- A Grischuk Grand Prix, Paris. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 Be6 7. c5 c6 8. b4 Nbd7 9. Bd3 Nh5 10. Nge2 f6 11. h4 Bf7 12. Bh2 f5 13. f4 Nhf6 14. Bg3 Ng4 15. Qd2 Ndf6 16. Nd1 Ne4 17. Bxe4 dxe4 18. a4 b6 19. h5 gxh5 20. Bh4 Bf6 21. Bxf6 Nxf6 22. Nf2 Kh8 23. O-O Rg8 24. b5 Rc8 25. cxb6 Qxb6 26. a5 Qb7 27. bxc6 Rxc6 28. Rxc6 Qxc6 29. Rc1 Qa6 30. Rc5 Bc4 31. Nc3 Bf1! 0-1.