The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Chess and privilege

Is everything right in the world when a 13-year-old is the youngest Grandmaster, and the 16-year-old phenom Hikaru Nakamura wins the 2005 U.S championship? Has chess become a game of elitism and class privilege, rather than the sport of creativity and intellect?

Magnus Carlsen (2484), the 13-year-old prodigy from Norway, is absolutely astonishing. The kid drew Gary Kasparov (2831) at the Reykjavik Open chess tournament in Iceland in March, and beat former world champion Anatoly Karpov. Don't get me wrong. I'm not hating on the kid, because he is stronger than me. However, I must say in my defense that I did not start playing until I was 21. The best I have done against a Grandmaster or anyone over 2400 is a draw, but the results of these teenage chess prodigies and the overall decrease in the age of the world's grandmasters have made me question the direction of the activity.

In a monthly online chess journal, "This Week in Chess," John Watson said, "One can choose sidelines (slightly depressing ones for Black), but the mainline Grünfeld theory is getting outrageously theoretical. It's a little depressing that even 13-year-old Magnus Carlsen is involved in gross feats of memorization, here deviating from theory on move 33:"

M Carlsen - E L'Ami,Gausdal 2004 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 0-0 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Be3 Bg4 11.f3 Na5 12.Bd3 cxd4 13.cxd4 Be6 14.d5 Bxa1 15.Qxa1 f6 16.Bh6 Re8 17.Kh1 Rc8 18.Nf4 Bd7 19.e5 Nc4 20.e6 Ba4 21.Nxg6 hxg6 22.Bxg6 Ne5 23.Be4 Bc2 24.Bxc2 Rxc2 25.Qd1 Qc7 26.f4 Rc1 27.Qxc1 Qxc1 28.Rxc1 Ng4 29.h3 Nxh6 30.g4 Rd8 31.Rc7 Kf8 32.Rd7 Nf7 33.h4 (the novelty! 33.Rxb7 is 'normal', and apparently about equal...) 33...b5 34.Kg2 a5 35.Kf3 a4 36.Ke3 b4 37.Ra7 Nh6 38.g5 Nf5+ 39.Ke4 Nd6+ 40.Kf3 fxg5 41.hxg5 b3 42.Rxa4 b2 43.Rb4 Nc4 44.Kg4 Rd6 45.Rb8+ Kg7 46.f5 Rb6 47.Rxb6 Nxb6 48.d6 exd6 49.f6+ Kf8 0-1.

Now admittedly I don't play the Grunfeld, but my concern is still the same. Has technology made chess a game of socioeconomic privilege, rather than intellect and creative talent? Can the minorities of the world keep up with the change in the direction of the game and compete in high level events without the financial backing both in competition and preparation?

Even Kasparov seems to believe that the amount of theory available on opening databases makes computer chess programs like Shredder, Fritz and Junior an ace in the hole in terms of home preparation.

What really made me pay attention to this recent trend is when I was having a conversation with a young lady I am teaching to play chess. She said, "So chess is just about memorizing the best moves and playing them when you get to that position?" My immediate reaction was of course, "NO!" But in some sense that statement is true.

The question for the contemporary chess player is not how to start or finish the game, because most openings and endgames have been analyzed to their conclusions, but what to do in the middlegame - the heat of the battle.

I mean with the interest and duty that GM Maurice Ashley has placed on the African American community to produce more grandmasters; I ask myself if it is an attainable goal? The socioeconomic situation of African Americans doesn't seem to lend itself to the increasingly technological and expensive nature of the game. My opening and middlegame books easily cost me about $300 dollars over the last 4 years. Chess engines like Fritz and Shredder easily $100, a wooden board with 2 1?2-inch squares, double weighted wooden pieces and a Chronos clock come to a little under $300. This is just the tip of the iceberg and all ready we are looking at $700 worth of equipment needed just for home preparation.

The expense of tournaments coupled with the under-representation of African Americans and other people of color seems to make the goal of level competition unrealistic both in terms of playing over the board and the mere participation in the activity.

Tommy is a graduate student. My Nommo appears every Thursday. These views do not necessarily reflect those of the DAILY EGYPTIAN.

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