tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/chess-grandmasters-53346/articleschess grandmasters – The Conversation2020-12-13T22:16:15Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1506372020-12-13T22:16:15Z2020-12-13T22:16:15ZWhat’s behind the gender imbalance in top-level chess?<p>Unlike the wildly popular Netflix chess-themed series <a href="https://www.netflix.com/au/title/80234304">The Queen’s Gambit</a>, female players have struggled to climb to the top of the real-life chess world. Just 37 of the more than 1,600 international chess <a href="https://ratings.fide.com/download_lists.phtml">grandmasters</a> are women. The current top-rated female, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hou_Yifan">Hou Yifan</a>, is ranked <a href="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/8602980">89th</a> in the world, while the reigning women’s world champion <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ju_Wenjun">Ju Wenjun</a> is <a href="https://ratings.fide.com/profile/8603006">404th</a>. </p>
<p>Why? There are certainly <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01828.x">fewer</a> <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17331269/">female</a> chess players to begin with, but it <a href="https://chess24.com/en/read/news/the-gender-gap-in-top-level-chess">appears</a> <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2009.2257">unlikely</a> participation can explain the whole story.</p>
<p>The argument about chess’s gender gap often follows the classic nature-versus-nurture debate. On one side are those who believe men are “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/20/nigel-short-uk-grandmaster-men-hardwired-better-chess-players-women">hardwired</a>” to play chess, such as former World Championship challenger <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Short">Nigel Short</a>. </p>
<p>His comments <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11690553/Nigel-Short-shrill-feminists-have-turned-me-into-the-pantomine-villain-of-chess.html">caused a media storm in the United Kingdom</a>. It’s true women have been shown to exhibit <a href="https://doi.org/10.1162/JEEA.2009.7.2-3.649">higher risk aversion</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qju009">lower competitiveness</a> across many domains, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927537110000588">including chess</a>, possibly driven by differences in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0907352106">testosterone</a>. However, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268113000395">evidence is mixed</a> on whether or how these traits affect performance over the chess board. </p>
<h2>‘We are capable of the same fight as any man’</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371466/original/file-20201126-23-yb47d7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371466/original/file-20201126-23-yb47d7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371466/original/file-20201126-23-yb47d7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371466/original/file-20201126-23-yb47d7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371466/original/file-20201126-23-yb47d7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371466/original/file-20201126-23-yb47d7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371466/original/file-20201126-23-yb47d7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371466/original/file-20201126-23-yb47d7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hungary’s Judit Polgár is generally considered the strongest female chess player of all time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0">Stefan64, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the other side are those who argue the gender gap in chess is mainly due to societal and cultural pressures that put women off the game. A commonly cited example is Hungary’s <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judit_Polg%C3%A1r">Judit Polgár</a>, considered the strongest female player of all time, and the only woman ever to be ranked in the world’s top ten. Her psychologist father <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/articles/200507/the-grandmaster-experiment">believed geniuses are created</a>, not born. His three daughters, home-schooled in chess from the age of three, each achieved groundbreaking success in the game.</p>
<p>Judit Polgár reached a peak ranking of eighth in the world and shared the same view as her father when she retired in 2015, saying:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are capable of the same fight as any man. It’s not a matter of gender, it’s a matter of being smart.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The stereotype threat effect</h2>
<p>Despite Judit Polgár’s success, stereotypes about female chess players remain. Her older sister Susan, a former women’s world champion, noted:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When men lose against me, they always have a headache… I have never beaten a healthy man.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The American Bobby Fischer, on whom The Queen’s Gambit’s lead character is largely based, once <a href="https://twitter.com/olimpiuurcan/status/969224340297302021">said</a> women are “terrible chess players”, later opining that “I don’t think they should mess into intellectual affairs; they should keep strictly to the home”. </p>
<p>Another former world champion, Garry Kasparov, <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/02/garry-kasparov-wrong-women-playing-chess/">said</a> in a 1989 issue of Playboy Magazine that “there is real chess and women’s chess”.</p>
<p>These sorts of beliefs may induce a “<a href="https://www.apa.org/research/action/stereotype">stereotype threat</a>” that can explain part of the performance gap.</p>
<p>Stereotype threat is where minorities underperform solely because they’re aware of a stereotype that people of their group do worse. Confidence flags, interest wanes and a vicious cycle of self-fulfilling prophesy follows. The stereotype threat effect has been observed in experiments involving women and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022103198913737">mathematics performance</a> and in studies on <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1048984315001332#bb0375">lower representation</a> of women in leadership positions.</p>
<p>In one <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejsp.440">study</a>, researchers pitted male and female chess players against each other online. The sexes performed equally when identities were anonymous, but when the sex of the opponents was known, female players performed worse against male players and better against other female players. </p>
<p>Using a dataset of more than 180,000 players and 8 million rated tournament games, my colleagues and I <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797620924051?journalCode=pssa">recently found evidence</a> to support a stereotype threat effect for female chess players. Female players tend to perform worse against male opponents than against female opponents, even after accounting for chess strength. </p>
<p>The performance drop is roughly equivalent to a woman giving her male opponent the advantage of the first move in every single game. </p>
<h2>The winds of change</h2>
<p>There is still much to discover about what play the biggest roles in driving the gender performance and participation gaps in chess, what policies can be used to narrow them, and what these insights tell us about other male-dominated fields. </p>
<p>What we do know, however, is the chess world is starting to change. In 2001, only 6% of internationally rated players were female. By 2020 this had <a href="https://chess.stackexchange.com/a/23337/17214">risen to more than 15%</a>. </p>
<p>Part of this may be due to “affirmative action” policies, such as chess league mandates that clubs include at least one female player in their (typically eight-player) teams. This not only increases female earnings but also has a trickle-down effect for female participation. </p>
<p>Two economists <a href="https://www.sciencespo.fr/liepp/en/content/positive-effects-affirmative-action-case-study-france.html">recently looked</a> at the effect of this policy in the French chess league. The study, which is yet to undergo peer review, found not only that the share of female chess players in France significantly increased in subsequent years, but that the ratings gap for elite male and female players also narrowed.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371475/original/file-20201126-15-1qq2sdc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A girl plays chess in a public park." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371475/original/file-20201126-15-1qq2sdc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371475/original/file-20201126-15-1qq2sdc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371475/original/file-20201126-15-1qq2sdc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371475/original/file-20201126-15-1qq2sdc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371475/original/file-20201126-15-1qq2sdc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371475/original/file-20201126-15-1qq2sdc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371475/original/file-20201126-15-1qq2sdc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A recent study found mandating clubs include at least one female player in their teams in the French league found the share of female chess players in France increased in subsequent years and the gender gap in chess performance narrowed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Attitudes are starting to change, too. After his <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/magazine-35483650">famous loss</a> to <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judit_Polg%C3%A1r">Judit Polgár</a> in 2002 — the first time a female player had beaten a reigning world champion in a rated game — Kasparov was asked about his <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/02/garry-kasparov-wrong-women-playing-chess/">past opinions</a> about women’s chess. His reply: “I don’t believe that now.” </p>
<p>The current world champion, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_Carlsen">Magnus Carlsen</a>, said in a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/nov/21/magnus-carlsen-chess-interview-queens-gambit-beth-harmon-netflix">recent interview</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Chess societies have not been very kind to women and girls over the years. Certainly, there needs to be a bit of a change in culture.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Could The Queen’s Gambit spark that change? The show is Neflix’s <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/the-queens-gambit-becomes-netflix-most-watched-scripted-limited-series-7063689">most-watched scripted limited series</a>, reaching number 1 in more than 60 countries. </p>
<p>Chess-related Google searches have <a href="https://www.republicworld.com/entertainment-news/web-series/the-queens-gambit-sets-worldwide-viewership-record-for-netflix.html">soared</a> since its debut. And past <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.4.4.1">research</a> has shown popular television can have a significant impact on real-world outcomes related to gender. </p>
<p>As to whether we’ll see a “Netflix Effect” on the chess gender gap, only time will tell.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150637/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Smerdon was awarded the title of international grandmaster in 2009 and has represented Australia in seven chess Olympiads.</span></em></p>Stereotype threat is where minorities underperform solely because they’re aware of a stereotype that people of their group do worse.David Smerdon, Assistant Professor, School of Economics, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1506382020-11-25T22:41:06Z2020-11-25T22:41:06ZThe Queens(land) gambit: a brief history of chess in Australia<p>The new Netflix miniseries <a href="https://www.netflix.com/au/title/80234304">The Queen’s Gambit</a> has received <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_queens_gambit">rave reviews</a> around the world. Surprisingly for a chess-themed show, it received a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/magnus-carlsen-world-best-chess-player-queens-gambit-sexism-2020-11">warm reception</a> by the global chess community, which is usually highly critical of portrayals of tournament chess in film. </p>
<p>The experiences of star character Beth Harmon loosely <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a34516612/queens-gambit-true-story/">correlate to those of Bobby Fischer</a>, a US chess prodigy and arguably the most talented player in history. Fischer rose to fame in the 1950s, becoming the youngest ever US Champion at age 14 and breaking the record for the youngest international grandmaster one year later.</p>
<p>His meteoric rise ignited an explosion of popularity in the Western world for the historically Soviet-dominated game. Fischer’s victory in the World Chess Championship in 1972 against the Russian-born Boris Spassky came in the midst of the Cold War and captured the attention of the general population around the world. </p>
<p>This famous match is <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a34516612/queens-gambit-true-story/">emulated in the final episode of The Queen’s Gambit</a>, in which the American Harmon plays her own Soviet nemesis in Russia. </p>
<p>But chess in Australia during the 1960s, the period of The Queen’s Gambit, was a far cry from the popularity of the game in the US. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/checkmate-top-chess-players-live-longer-96019">Checkmate: top chess players live longer</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Chess in Australia in the 1950s and ‘60s</h2>
<p>Australia had no recognised chess grandmasters at the time. Its geographic isolation presented logistical and financial obstacles to chess improvement. </p>
<p>It proved almost prohibitively difficult for Australian players to acquire chess learning materials and travel abroad to tournaments. </p>
<p>The chess scene was largely dominated by two men, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Koshnitsky">Gary Koshnitsky</a> and <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/purdy-cecil-john-seddon-11466">Cecil Purdy</a>. Koshnitsky was born in Kishinev, in what’s now Moldova but was then part of the Russian Empire. He emigrated to Australia as a child, where he went on to become Australian champion. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371202/original/file-20201125-16-v6je6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371202/original/file-20201125-16-v6je6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371202/original/file-20201125-16-v6je6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371202/original/file-20201125-16-v6je6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371202/original/file-20201125-16-v6je6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371202/original/file-20201125-16-v6je6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1126&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371202/original/file-20201125-16-v6je6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1126&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371202/original/file-20201125-16-v6je6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1126&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gary Koshnitsky went on to become Australian champion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cathy Rogers</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Purdy was <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/purdy-cecil-john-seddon-11466">born in Egypt</a> but his family eventually moved to Australia, and he taught himself chess as a teen. He won the inaugural World Correspondence Chess Championship, in which individual moves were sent and received by post in the early 1950s, and earned titles of international chess master and international grandmaster of correspondence play during the same <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/purdy-cecil-john-seddon-11466">decade</a>. (He <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/purdy-cecil-john-seddon-11466">collapsed</a> while playing a chess tournament in 1979 and died that day. Reportedly, but probably apocryphally, his last words were about his final game: “I have a win, but it will take some time.”)</p>
<p>Purdy and Koshnitsky wrote a book titled <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5505174-chess-made-easy">Chess Made Easy</a>. It was hugely popular worldwide, selling <a href="https://digital.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/nodes/view/2265">600,000 copies</a> in Australia alone.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371206/original/file-20201125-17-m0i4z8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371206/original/file-20201125-17-m0i4z8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371206/original/file-20201125-17-m0i4z8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371206/original/file-20201125-17-m0i4z8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371206/original/file-20201125-17-m0i4z8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=749&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371206/original/file-20201125-17-m0i4z8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=942&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371206/original/file-20201125-17-m0i4z8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=942&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371206/original/file-20201125-17-m0i4z8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=942&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Purdy and Koshnitsky’s book was enormously popular.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://digital.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/nodes/view/2265">The State Library of South Australia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Australia’s first grandmasters</h2>
<p>Things started to pick up in the 1970s and '80s, primarily in Melbourne, where the third-largest chess library in the world, the <a href="https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/search-discover/explore-collections-theme/sport-games/chess">MV Anderson Collection at the State Library of Victoria</a>, was hosted. It was, and still is, enormously helpful as a place for chess players to acquire knowledge and meet other players.</p>
<p>The Melbourne chess scene helped develop Australia’s first two chess <a href="https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-become-a-chess-grandmaster">grandmasters</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Rogers_(chess_player)">Ian Rogers</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darryl_Johansen">Darryl Johansen</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371205/original/file-20201125-18-1d2adru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371205/original/file-20201125-18-1d2adru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371205/original/file-20201125-18-1d2adru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371205/original/file-20201125-18-1d2adru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371205/original/file-20201125-18-1d2adru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371205/original/file-20201125-18-1d2adru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371205/original/file-20201125-18-1d2adru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371205/original/file-20201125-18-1d2adru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ian Rogers was Australia’s top player for a quarter of a century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Graeme Gardiner</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The title of grandmaster is awarded by the world chess federation (also known as Fédération Internationale des Échecs or <a href="https://www.fide.com/">FIDE</a>). To earn it, a player must achieve three grandmaster “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norm_(chess)">norms</a>” (based on an outstanding performance in an international chess tournament), each of which typically requires beating several players of master level in a single event. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371204/original/file-20201125-24-10316uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371204/original/file-20201125-24-10316uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371204/original/file-20201125-24-10316uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371204/original/file-20201125-24-10316uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371204/original/file-20201125-24-10316uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371204/original/file-20201125-24-10316uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371204/original/file-20201125-24-10316uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371204/original/file-20201125-24-10316uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian grandmaster, Darryl Johansen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Graeme Gardiner</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For some, this meant living out of suitcases in Europe for periods of the 1980s and giving up the option of a regular job and steady income to pursue chess careers. </p>
<p>Rogers and Johansen blazed a trail for other Australian chess players to follow. There was substantial growth in the chess community and particularly in the development of the junior ranks during the 1990s. </p>
<p>Another significant factor was the introduction of “chess in schools” businesses in the late 1990s. Coupled with the formation of a national competition for schools, this led to a dramatic increase in the number of Australian children learning chess, a trend that continues today.</p>
<h2>A tipping point for Australian chess</h2>
<p>Despite these developments, it was still some time before an Australian player was again able to break into the grandmaster ranks. </p>
<p>When one of us (David Smerdon) <a href="https://dsmerdon.wordpress.com/about-me/">achieved a grandmaster norm in 2006</a>, it ended a drought of 13 years. </p>
<p>This coincided with a tipping point for Australian chess. By 2009, the number of Australian grandmasters had doubled from two to four, and by 2020 it had <a href="https://ratings.fide.com/topfed.phtml?tops=0&ina=2&country=AUS">risen to ten</a>. </p>
<p>In recent years, a number of individual and team achievements paint a promising picture for the future. At the 2016 chess Olympiad in Azerbaijan, an Australian earned a draw against the reigning World Champion in a rated game for the first time.</p>
<p>And in October this year, the <a href="https://www.fide.com/news/790">Australian team sensationally won the Asian Nations Cup</a>, beating top seed India (ranked fourth in the world) in the final.</p>
<p>The championship was held online due to COVID restrictions; chess has been one of the few sports largely unscathed by the pandemic, and in fact has significantly increased its membership during 2020.</p>
<h2>Queens and Kings</h2>
<p>The steep increase in popularity of internet chess has helped level the playing field for traditionally less prominent chess nations in Australia, Asia and Africa. </p>
<p>This is personified in another success of chess on the screen: the 2016 film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4341582/">Queen of Katwe</a>. It tells the true story of a 10 year old Ugandan girl, Phiona Mutesi, who learned chess in the slums of Kampala. Mutesi would eventually go on to represent her country at the 2010 chess Olympiad in Siberia, and has proved an inspiration for chess-playing girls in Uganda and other African nations. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371201/original/file-20201125-24-qhhjww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371201/original/file-20201125-24-qhhjww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371201/original/file-20201125-24-qhhjww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371201/original/file-20201125-24-qhhjww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371201/original/file-20201125-24-qhhjww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371201/original/file-20201125-24-qhhjww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371201/original/file-20201125-24-qhhjww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371201/original/file-20201125-24-qhhjww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The 2016 film Queen of Katwe tells the true story of a 10 year old Ugandan girl, Phiona Mutesi, who learned chess in the slums of Kampala.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4341582/">IMDb</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Not all the elements in The Queen’s Gambit reflect reality. No female player worldwide has ever played in a chess World Championship match, and only one (<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judit_Polg%C3%A1r">Judit Polgár</a>) has been ranked in the world’s top ten.</p>
<p>Men dominate participation rates as well: <a href="https://chessvi.com/chess-articles/few-women-chess-players/">only 15%</a> of the players with international chess ratings are female.</p>
<p>Many hope the unexpected success of the Netflix series may spark a boom for women’s chess not unlike Fischer’s impact on chess in the West.</p>
<p>Though women’s chess in Australia is still waiting for its own tipping point, there are promising signs. In 2017, a Queensland woman, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/beating-stigma-on-and-off-the-chessboard-girls-and-women-in-australian-chess-20171205-gzyru7.html">Heather Richards</a>, achieved the first victory by an Australian female over a grandmaster since the turn of the century (unfortunately, the victim was one of us - David Smerdon).</p>
<p>Hopefully, it is only a matter of time before we see the emergence of our own Australian Beth Harmon or our own Queen of Queensland.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/most-people-think-playing-chess-makes-you-smarter-but-the-evidence-isnt-clear-on-that-119469">Most people think playing chess makes you 'smarter', but the evidence isn't clear on that</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150638/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Smerdon was awarded the title of international grandmaster in 2009 and has represented Australia in seven chess Olympiads.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Graeme Gardiner has no relevant affiliations to disclose. He beat his coauthor, Grandmaster David Smerdon the last time they played, although Smerdon was about eight years old at the time. They have not played since. As Graeme puts it, "he was a far superior player to me by the age of nine or ten."</span></em></p>Chess in Australia during the 1960s, the period of The Queen’s Gambit, was a far cry from the popularity of the game in the US. It was hard to get chess learning materials or travel to tournaments.David Smerdon, Assistant Professor, School of Economics, The University of QueenslandGraeme Gardiner, PhD Student, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1419622020-07-14T12:35:24Z2020-07-14T12:35:24ZWhy does white always go first in chess?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346395/original/file-20200708-47-mexhsj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C5569%2C3679&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The white-moves-first rule became standard in the late 1800s.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/cropped-hand-of-man-playing-chess-against-white-royalty-free-image/889548238?adppopup=true&uiloc=thumbnail_similar_images_adp&uiloc=thumbnail_similar_images_adp">Nupat Arjkla / EyeEm / Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: Protests over racism have <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VxYtqgvKME">rekindled a longstanding discussion</a> about whether chess promotes white privilege with its rule that the first move always goes to the player with the white pieces. In this Q&A, Daaim Shabazz, an international business professor and <a href="https://www.thechessdrum.net/">chess journalist</a>, offers insight into whether there’s any merit to the idea that the rule is meant to uphold white privilege.</em></p>
<h2>Who decided that white should always go first?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.chessgames.com/player/johann_jacob_loewenthal.html">Johann Löwenthal</a>, a British master, put forth one of the first proposals of record to give white the obligatory first move. At the <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Book_of_the_First_American_Chess_Con/vP1dAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0">First American Chess Congress</a>, held in New York in 1857, Löwenthal sent two letters to the secretary of the New York Chess Club, Frederick Perrin. </p>
<p>On page 84 of the congress’s proceedings, it refers to one of the letters by citing “the advisableness of always giving the first move, in published games, to the player of the white pieces…” This rule was not immediately adopted, and tournament organizers maintained flexibility on the first move. In the <a href="https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=S90WAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&pg=GBS.PP1">Fifth American Chess Congress</a> in 1880, it was written on page 164 of the Code of Chess Laws, “The right of first move must be determined by lot. The player having the first move must always play with the white men.”</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346159/original/file-20200707-194396-1vaq6f9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346159/original/file-20200707-194396-1vaq6f9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346159/original/file-20200707-194396-1vaq6f9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346159/original/file-20200707-194396-1vaq6f9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346159/original/file-20200707-194396-1vaq6f9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346159/original/file-20200707-194396-1vaq6f9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346159/original/file-20200707-194396-1vaq6f9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Steinitz wrote in 1889 that the player with the white pieces should move first.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=Wilhelm+Steinitz&title=Special:Search&go=Go&ns0=1&ns6=1&ns12=1&ns14=1&ns100=1&ns106=1&searchToken=4kqfsu61t6ti4y6bxz5qs0a8m#%2Fmedia%2FFile%3ASteinitz1866.jpg">www.wikicommons.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wilhelm-Steinitz">Wilhelm Steinitz</a>, the first world champion, repeated this idea in his 1889 book, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Modern_Chess_Instructor_Elementary_e.html?id=aH9BAAAAIAAJ">“The Modern Chess Instructor</a>,” where he wrote on page XII: “The players draw by lot for move and choice of color. In all international and public Chess matches and tournaments, however, it is the rule for the first player to have the white men.” </p>
<p>Thus, there was a growing consensus that white should move first.</p>
<h2>Was that decision rooted in racism?</h2>
<p>I am not aware of any direct evidence. However, chess players were not only part of the intelligentsia, but also men of their times. On page X in the proceedings of the <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Book_of_the_Sixth_American_Chess_Con/0nYCAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0">Sixth American Chess Congress in 1889</a>, Steinitz poetically extolled the virtues of chess as being among the “intellectual pastimes of civilized nations.” This is a time when Europeans generally did not regard Africa as a place of civilization. For instance, five years earlier at the <a href="https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/6031c3a2-ada9-42b4-8045-52006e2a2b07/the-berlin-conference-of-1884-1885/">Berlin Conference of 1884</a>, Europeans had begun to execute their colonial plan and “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/lril/lrv002">aim at instructing the natives and bringing home to them the blessings of civilization</a>.” </p>
<p>Further, in the 19th century, there was an <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-blackface-111404">awful period</a> of satirizing and dehumanizing Blacks through darkened minstrel caricatures. There existed <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-did-white-become-a-metaphor-for-all-things-good-140674">the perception</a> that white was associated with that which was positive, and black was associated with that which was negative. Recent social science research shows that <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8c99/de7887c52ca2e0567214f522bf8ba17c7f82.pdf">this perception still holds</a>.</p>
<h2>Does the rule give white an advantage?</h2>
<p>It is my view that chess players, including grandmasters, overstate white’s first-move advantage. </p>
<p>Russian grandmaster <a href="https://en.chessbase.com/post/70-birthday-evgeny-sveshnikov">Evgeny Sveshnikov</a> stated back in 1994 that a player should <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Black_is_Back/prZFDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=black+is+back+adorjan&printsec=frontcover">win with white and be content to draw with black</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346933/original/file-20200710-189212-te20sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346933/original/file-20200710-189212-te20sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346933/original/file-20200710-189212-te20sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346933/original/file-20200710-189212-te20sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346933/original/file-20200710-189212-te20sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346933/original/file-20200710-189212-te20sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346933/original/file-20200710-189212-te20sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346933/original/file-20200710-189212-te20sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One chess theorist held that black is lost from the start when this move is played.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As early as 1939, American master Weaver Adams <a href="https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/white-to-play-and-win-8">claimed white is winning after the very first move</a>, at least when that first move was the pawn to the e4 square – that is, the square three spaces in front of white’s king. But he ended up losing a match to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/19/archives/al-horowitz-former-columnist-and-chess-champion-dies-at-65-writer.html">I.A. Horowitz</a>, who wanted to prove a point by taking black in every game.</p>
<p>Since A.D. 1475, <a href="https://www.chessgames.com/chessstats.html">white’s overall winning percentage has been approximately 55%</a> in nearly 1 million games. This includes percentage of total wins plus half the percentage of drawn games. Is this result because of the first move itself? Steinitz seemed to suggest otherwise when he stated on page XXXII in his classic book, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=aH9BAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false">“Modern Chess Instructor</a>,” “by best play on both sides, a draw ought to be the legitimate result.” </p>
<h2>How would things change if black moved first?</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346473/original/file-20200708-35-1m0vdeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346473/original/file-20200708-35-1m0vdeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346473/original/file-20200708-35-1m0vdeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346473/original/file-20200708-35-1m0vdeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346473/original/file-20200708-35-1m0vdeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346473/original/file-20200708-35-1m0vdeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346473/original/file-20200708-35-1m0vdeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346473/original/file-20200708-35-1m0vdeq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri, two of the world’s top players, played a game in 2019 which the player with the black pieces moved first to call attention to racial inequality.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.moveforequality.com/press">#MoveForEquality</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2019, Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri – who as of July were the <a href="https://ratings.fide.com/top.phtml?list=men">number 1 and number 10 players</a> in the world, respectively – promoted a <a href="https://en.chessbase.com/post/carlsen-and-giri-campaign-for-racial-equality#:%7E:text=3%2F21%2F2019%20%E2%80%93%20%22,the%20Elimination%20of%20Racial%20Discrimination.">#MoveforEquality campaign</a> as a way of acknowledging social inequalities. In their game, black moved first and the line was, “We broke a rule in chess today, to change minds tomorrow.” It was billed as an anti-racist statement, but some took it as a suggestion to change the rules of chess to black having the first move.</p>
<p>If black moved first, it would take some getting used to for players who are accustomed to white going first. This would be especially true for the opening moves, since the white and black chess armies are positioned slightly differently. For instance, as white, the queen is on the left-hand side. As black, the queen is on the right-hand side.</p>
<p>As it exists now, the lighter color always moves first. Some see this as analogous to racial privileges in society. The late Frances Cress-Welsing, a psychiatrist, made a chess analogy in her “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fDIhqf4yrs">Cress Theory of Color Confrontation</a>,” noting that the psychology of white having the first move was as the natural aggressor against black forces. </p>
<p>Socially speaking, an ideal solution would be to give both colors a 50% chance to move first. That is the way it was in <a href="http://history.chess.free.fr/shatranj.htm">shatranj</a>, a precursor to modern-day chess. Instead of picking which player gets the favorable color, something like a coin toss would determine which color gets to move first. Of course, this would be “equal opportunity” but result in a totally different approach to playing chess.</p>
<h2>What are the psychological effects of white going first?</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346472/original/file-20200708-3987-16q1u4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346472/original/file-20200708-3987-16q1u4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346472/original/file-20200708-3987-16q1u4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346472/original/file-20200708-3987-16q1u4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346472/original/file-20200708-3987-16q1u4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346472/original/file-20200708-3987-16q1u4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346472/original/file-20200708-3987-16q1u4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346472/original/file-20200708-3987-16q1u4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beginners learn early on about the rule that white always gets the first move.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/young-girl-playing-chess-with-royalty-free-image/844424108?adppopup=true">MoMo Productions/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>There are several psychological factors at play. A beginner of chess learns the power of “white first” very quickly. They will see that an opponent will prefer the white pieces if given a choice. They feel a sense of empowerment even when they are playing a stronger opponent. For this reason, players who play white may be more motivated to win. Conversely, we have been conditioned to believe that black should be content with a draw.</p>
<p>This relegation of black to an inferior status has been reinforced in many ways. The early chess books focused on how to exploit the white advantage over black. It was an attempt to show the power of the first-move privilege. </p>
<p>When one looks at chess books, the <a href="https://archive.org/details/64_Great_Chess_Games/page/n37/mode/2up">diagrams are generally positioned to be from the white army’s perspective</a>. This is even true for books focusing on strategic systems for black. However, the seminal “Black is OK” series by Hungarian grandmaster András Adorján feature <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Black_is_Back/prZFDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=black+is+back+adorjan&printsec=frontcover">diagrams from the black perspective</a> and provides a theoretical framework for why black has adequate resources. </p>
<p>In many of the chess puzzles, it was common to see each problem presented as white who has the winning sequence. In fact, <a href="https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2020/04/19/the-mystery-of-theophilus-thompson-solved/">Theophilus Thompson (1855-1881)</a>, the first Black player of note, had authored such a <a href="https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2014/04/21/theophilus-thompsons-book-recreated/">book of chess puzzles</a>.</p>
<p>To a great extent, books are still published in this fashion. I believe that strategic literature for a black response will continue to increase, and the game will move closer to a 50-50 result in the “white first” format. There are a great many systems where black seeks to be the aggressor. </p>
<p>Chess is more of a conversation where both sides engage in a battle of ideas. Someone has to initiate the conversation, but throughout the flow of the game, a unique story unfolds. In my view, it is not about who starts first, but what the essence of the story ends up being.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141962/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daaim Shabazz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ever since the late 1800s, it has been standard for white to go first in chess. Has the time come to get rid of that rule?Daaim Shabazz, Associate Professor of International Business, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1361152020-04-10T19:37:47Z2020-04-10T19:37:47Z3 things to consider before you let your child play chess online<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327064/original/file-20200410-69938-1io21jf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C5%2C3982%2C2628&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Chess websites abound for those interested in taking up the royal game.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/two-kids-boys-playing-online-and-surfing-in-royalty-free-image/816171780?adppopup=true">romrodinka/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: The school closures forced by COVID-19 have parents and students searching for ways to make the best of their time indoors. Here, Alexey Root, a former U.S. Women’s Chess Champion who teaches online courses about chess in education, offers tips for parents and caregivers of children who are interested in playing chess online.</em></p>
<h2>1. Put safety first</h2>
<p>Doing things online comes with safety concerns. Chess is no different. Therefore, some common online safety advice applies to chess players of all ages: Use a fake username rather than your real name. Hide personal information, such as where you live, where you work or where you go to school. Keep interactions online rather than agreeing to meet in person.</p>
<p>Additionally, children who play or learn chess online should be supervised by parents. Parents should block their children from sharing personal messages and photos with online chess opponents. Some chess websites offer child-safety features, such as disabling all chats. Nonetheless, unsupervised children may figure out how to circumvent those features. There is no substitute for parental supervision.</p>
<h2>2. Study the basics</h2>
<p>For beginners, I would recommend studying three things: basic endgame checkmates, opening principles and tactics.</p>
<p>One example of a basic endgame checkmate is checkmating with a king and queen against a king. Learning that checkmate is important, because if one is a queen ahead, one should know how to win with that advantage. Search for “basic endgame checkmates” to find instruction and bots to practice against.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327061/original/file-20200410-151414-150wgq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327061/original/file-20200410-151414-150wgq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327061/original/file-20200410-151414-150wgq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327061/original/file-20200410-151414-150wgq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327061/original/file-20200410-151414-150wgq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327061/original/file-20200410-151414-150wgq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327061/original/file-20200410-151414-150wgq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327061/original/file-20200410-151414-150wgq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Every player should know how to win when it’s a king and queen against a queen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/checkmate-royalty-free-image/172857034?adppopup=true">AlexVeluscek/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Opening principles should guide your first 10 moves. They include controlling the center of the board, “developing” your knights and bishops – that is, getting them into play – and castling. Castling is where a king moves two squares toward a rook, and that rook then hops over the king, landing near the middle of the board. That two-part maneuver makes the king more secure and the rook more active. Openings are probably the hardest thing for beginners to study online, since there are many initial moves that fit opening principles.</p>
<p>Beginners should also practice tactics, which are moves that result in immediate, tangible gains. Tactics are easy to find online. Most chess websites offer tactics problems that are tailored to your level. Get a tactics problem right, and the site gives you a harder one to solve. Get a problem wrong, and your next problem will be easier.</p>
<h2>3. Stress fair play</h2>
<p>In chess, success is often defined as winning a game, winning a tournament, or gaining points for your chess rating, which is how chess players measure their skill level compared to others. <a href="https://en.chessbase.com/post/promoting-fair-play-among-child-chess-players">Players cheat</a> in online tournaments even when there is no prize money at stake, usually to try to raise their ratings. </p>
<p>If a chess player cheats online, there are often consequences. Many chess-playing websites have robust cheating-detection mechanisms. Players’ accounts are routinely penalized rating points or even banned if cheating is detected.</p>
<p>To encourage fair play, call to mind the old expression: “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” For example, rather than defining success as whether a child won or lost, look at the time spent on each move of the game. Many online sites will measure that time. Praise children for taking an appropriate amount of time on each move. When you redefine chess success as thinking, instead of just winning, it’s an important step toward fair play.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136115/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexey W. Root does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Playing chess online offers a variety of ways for children to get good at the royal game, but it also comes with a few pitfalls. An expert in chess education provides some advice.Alexey W. Root, Lecturer in Education, University of Texas at DallasLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1292932020-01-03T20:58:49Z2020-01-03T20:58:49ZWhy there’s a separate World Chess Championship for women<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308384/original/file-20200102-11919-ep6giu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ju Wenjun, the reigning Women's World Chess Champion, will defend her title against Aleksandra Goryachkina, of Russia this month. Photo from an earlier encounter in September 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Llada</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s Note: The Women’s World Chess Championship match is from <a href="https://www.fide.com/calendar/50113">January 3-26, 2020</a>. The first six games will be played in Shanghai, China and the remaining six games, plus any tiebreak games, will be played in Vladivostok, Russia. The match features Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun of China against challenger Aleksandra Goryachkina, of Russia. Here, Alexey Root, a lecturer teaching courses about chess in education at The University of Texas at Dallas, answers questions about the Women’s World Chess Championship.</em></p>
<h2>1. When did the Women’s World Chess Championship begin?</h2>
<p>The Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) was established in 1924 and, in 1927, held the first Women’s World Championship and the Men’s Olympiad. <a href="https://www.mark-weeks.com/aboutcom/aa03c08.htm">According to Mark Weeks</a>, who served as the Chess Guide for About.com, FIDE organized just these two events for its first two decades. Eventually, FIDE gained control of other prestigious chess events, most notably the World Chess Championship. </p>
<p>The present <a href="https://www.fide.com/news/143">Women’s World Chess Championship cycle</a> parallels the World Chess Championship cycle. The World Chess Championship cycle is open to both men and women, though only men have reached its final stage, a two-person match for the champion’s title. Preliminary stages include the Candidates Tournament, an eight-player double round robin where the winner becomes the challenger for a title match.</p>
<h2>2. In most sports, such as tennis, golf, basketball and the like, there are separate categories or leagues for women because men tend to have some sort of inherent physical advantage. Why is there a separate championship for women in chess when chess is about decisions as opposed to muscle mass and physical speed?</h2>
<p>Most chess tournaments are open, to all ages, all genders, and all nationalities. In the United States, the annual “<a href="https://new.uschess.org/national-events-calendar/">U.S. Open</a>” is one example. However, segregated championships exist, by age (junior championships), geography (state chess championships), by gender, and even by profession (U.S. Armed Forces Open Chess Championship). These segregated tournaments allow those playing to get media attention, benefit financially, and make friends with people with whom they share some similar characteristics. Separate tournaments don’t speak to whether there are advantages or disadvantages.</p>
<p>Likewise, separate tournaments for girls and women don’t mean that girls and women are more or less capable than boys and men at chess. However, there may be less interest in chess among girls and women compared to boys and men. Based on 2019 statistics, <a href="https://www.chess.com/news/view/team-battles-femme-batale-north-america-vs-europe-tuesday">14.6% of US Chess members are female</a>, and that is a new, record-high percentage. Thus logically, and in reality, a smaller base of females means fewer women than men at the top of the chess rating list, as one <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6598839_Sex_Differences_in_Intellectual_Performance_Analysis_of_a_Large_Cohort_of_Competitive_Chess_Players">study found</a>. Offering occasional female-only tournaments may make chess more attractive to girls and women, for the financial, social, and publicity reasons mentioned above.</p>
<h2>3. What would happen if there was no separate world chess championship for women?</h2>
<p>The Women’s World Chess Championship match is the culmination of a two-year cycle of events. Those events financially help the current top women players to concentrate on chess exclusively, as there is prize money for each event in the cycle. If the cycle were abolished, then it would be much harder for those women players to make money from playing in chess tournaments. Women would also become relatively invisible in media stories about chess.</p>
<p>A four-time Women’s World Chess Champion, Hou Yifan, is <a href="https://ratings.fide.com/top.phtml?list=men">ranked at #75</a> among men and women combined. Though she is the highest-rated woman on the list of active chess players, as #75 she likely would not qualify for the Candidates Tournament in the World Chess Championship cycle and the prize money and media attention associated with it. Sponsorship money might also be lost to the chess world, as some sponsors <a href="https://new.uschess.org/women/womens-girls-regional-event-guidelines/">specifically target chess for girls and women</a>.</p>
<p>However, segregated tournaments for girls and women are not universally supported. For example, Judit Polgár, the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Judit-Polgar">highest-rated woman of all time who at her peak in 2005 was ranked #8 in the world</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/30/chess-grandmaster-women-only-tournament-play-men">wrote</a> that she makes it a point to never separate girls and boys – nor award special prizes for girls – in the children’s tournaments that she organizes. “Meanwhile, national federations use their resources, and public subsidies are creating more female-only competitions,” Polgár wrote. “It is high time to consider the consequences of this segregation – because in the end, our goal must be that women and men compete with one another on an equal footing.”</p>
<p>To get to equal footing, however, separate championships may provide a leg up. <a href="https://chess24.com/en/embed-tournament/fide-womens-world-championship-2020">The prize fund for the Women’s World Chess Championship match is 500,000 Euros</a>, and you can follow the championship’s games at this same link. Perhaps that prize money will enable the two competitors to invest in more chess training for themselves so that maybe, someday, they can compete also in the World Chess Championship. </p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129293/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexey W. Root does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the Women’s World Chess Championship takes place in China and Russia this month, Alexey Root, an expert on chess in education, weighs in on the benefits of having a separate championship for women.Alexey W. Root, Lecturer in Education, University of Texas at DallasLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1272902019-12-18T13:51:32Z2019-12-18T13:51:32Z5 ways chess can make you a better law student and lawyer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306196/original/file-20191210-95165-1oc422q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Legal battles require the same skills seen at the highest levels of chess.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-lawyer-playing-chess-train-his-1196627311">Elnur/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4233011">Paul Morphy</a> was a 19th-century New Orleans chess prodigy who was the de facto world chess champion during much of his short life. He rarely lost when he played throughout Europe and the United States. He was also a lawyer who graduated from what is now Tulane Law School. As a student, he was said to have memorized the Louisiana Civil Code in English and French. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306198/original/file-20191210-95111-1l2e5b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306198/original/file-20191210-95111-1l2e5b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306198/original/file-20191210-95111-1l2e5b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306198/original/file-20191210-95111-1l2e5b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306198/original/file-20191210-95111-1l2e5b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306198/original/file-20191210-95111-1l2e5b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1064&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306198/original/file-20191210-95111-1l2e5b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1064&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306198/original/file-20191210-95111-1l2e5b2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1064&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Paul Morphy in New York in 1859.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paul_Morphy_standing_New_York_1859.jpg">WikiMedia Commons</a></span>
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<p>His father was a prominent Louisiana judge.</p>
<p>There are other talented chess-playing lawyers, though none, in my view, as brilliant at chess as Morphy. Three 20th century champions all <a href="https://www.quora.com/Chess-Would-Paul-Morphy-in-his-short-prime-be-competitive-with-the-Grandmasters-of-today">agree </a>that Morphy was among the greatest chess players of any era.</p>
<p>The general view is that <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Paul_Morphy.html?id=hdsPr9XiJ6wC">he would have the chess grandmaster title</a>, the highest title in the world of chess, if he were alive today.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1UdCHtYAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">law professor</a> and <a href="http://www.uschess.org/datapage/ratings_graph.php?memid=12542397">high-level amateur player</a>, I believe that playing chess is great training to be a successful law student and lawyer. Here are five reasons why.</p>
<h2>1. Intellectually rigorous</h2>
<p>Much like law school, chess is intellectually rigorous. Playing chess at the highest level is so hard that Microsoft founder Bill Gates <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/crosswords/chess/magnus-carlsen-picks-up-where-he-left-off.html">lost after only nine moves</a> in an exhibition blitz game with the current world champion, Norwegian Grandmaster <a href="https://www.chess.com/players/magnus-carlsen">Magnus Carlsen</a>. One might have expected Gates to last longer given his genius. </p>
<p>A chess player must concentrate for as many as five or six hours in serious tournaments, and a single lapse can cause a loss. Learning to concentrate is also invaluable for law school.</p>
<p>Aspiring law students often take undergraduate classes that are part of a “pre-law” program. Government or criminal justice majors are typical since they involve some focus on the legal system. These are important intellectual fields. </p>
<p>Yet, <a href="https://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leiter/2008/04/which-undergrad.html">informal studies</a> suggest that students who major in especially difficult areas, such as philosophy or mathematics, perform better on the <a href="https://www.lsac.org/lsat">LSAT</a> – the exam required for entrance into law school. Just as math and logic serve lawyers well in the courtroom as they fashion their arguments, so, too, is it with chess players on the chessboard as they make their moves.</p>
<h2>2. Requires identifying issues</h2>
<p>Students who perform well on law school exams and the bar exam must succeed at “issue spotting.” That is to say, unlike undergraduate exams, which may require the student to summarize what they have learned, law school exams require students to figure out what legal issues are buried within the facts of a given case. Then the student should apply the right legal principles to the facts. The student often must draw analogies and see patterns. Lawyers must also spot issues and draw analogies when their clients present problems.</p>
<p>Similarly, good chess players survey the chess board, with a clock ticking, and must find a strong move among many possible <a href="https://www.chess.com/article/view/quotthink-like-a-grandmasterquot-by-alexander-kotov">candidate moves</a>. They will <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Improve_Your_Chess_Pattern_Recognition.html?id=UyVBCwAAQBAJ">look for patterns</a>, such as typical methods of attacking a king. Sometimes, the move will be a tactical strike, such as the bold sacrifice of a queen leading to checkmate. Those players who cannot see many possibilities will not win many games. Both the chess player and lawyer must discover the key aspects of a situation.</p>
<h2>3. Strategies essential</h2>
<p>Strong performance in law and chess involves <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Modern_Chess_Strategy.html?id=aClc5YZ13GMC">strategizing effectively</a>. Chess may therefore be <a href="https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/2019/10/08/chess-is-a-serious-game-but-reading-about-it-is-a-delight/?slreturn=20191110111106">law’s most common metaphor</a>. </p>
<p>Success requires the ability to plan, envision how one’s opponent will respond, and then figure out how to reply. As a former litigator, I not only had to think about what to do, but I also had to assess whether my adversary would have an effective contrary plan. I also had to know the weaknesses in my case. Similarly, a strong chess player will know the problems in their position.</p>
<h2>4. Principles and rules apply</h2>
<p>Both law and chess have rules, general principles, and exceptions or loopholes. The law is often codified as a statute. Likewise, chess has rules, though they often lack the ambiguity of statutes. Beginning chess players then learn accepted principles. For instance, they are taught that during the opening part of the game, they should get certain pieces into play, use those pieces and pawns to control the center of the board, place their prized king in a safe position by making a special move known as “<a href="https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-to-castle-in-chess">castling</a>,” and keep moves by their valuable queen in reserve. Yet strong chess players may violate these principles, for <a href="https://chessimprover.com/9-lessons-to-learn-from-bill-gates-9-move-loss-to-magnus-carlsen/">surprise or other purposes</a>. </p>
<p>Prosecutors also have common approaches. In criminal cases with multiple defendants, prosecutors are trained to go after the “small fish” first, and then use those successes to land the “big fish.” This is like capturing the pawns before checkmating the king in chess. The <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/2019/08/29/criminal-kingpin-or-just/">press even uses these chess terms in describing criminal cases</a>. </p>
<h2>5. Takes competitive zeal</h2>
<p>Success in both law and chess requires competitive instincts. Indeed, chess has a <a href="https://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-ratings---how-they-work">rating system for players</a> and law school has <a href="https://www.bcgsearch.com/bcgguide/decoding_class_rankings_what_should_therecruiter_Look_for.php">class rank for students</a>. Chess requires a will to win strong enough to <a href="https://abovethelaw.com/2015/06/3-things-law-students-and-young-lawyers-can-learn-from-chess-grandmaster-garry-kasparov/">maintain concentration</a>.</p>
<p>Chess players often experience ups and downs during single games, as well as tournaments. They must cope with adversity, including losing. Similarly, a single law school exam can be the only basis for the student’s class grade, so everything is at stake at once, though the student has likely worked all semester. Lawsuits can also take years and require persistence. My cases and trials were always roller coasters with good and bad days.</p>
<p>Another similarity is that the chess player and lawyer must be well prepared. In chess, one can often find an opponent’s games <a href="https://database.chessbase.com/?lang=en">online</a> and see their playing style. In law, one can learn about the judge who will be hearing a case and alter one’s approach accordingly.</p>
<p>Admittedly chess is just a game so most people play it for fun, whereas practicing law is a profession. Few chess players will reach the heights of Paul Morphy. Nevertheless, as one who has played chess at high levels and litigated federal and state court cases, I believe that chess develops important intellectual, emotional and competitive skills that are very useful in the legal field.</p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127290/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Kende is a member of the United States Chess Federation and the American Bar Association. </span></em></p>The same skills and talents that enable chess players to dominate the board will also serve aspiring lawyers well in the courtroom, a law scholar argues.Mark Kende, Professor of Law, Drake UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1123792019-03-25T10:43:33Z2019-03-25T10:43:33ZA chess program helped this 8-year-old raise $240,000 and get his family out of a homeless shelter – here’s what to look for in a chess program for your child<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265174/original/file-20190321-93032-70kq05.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Third-grader Tanitoluwa Adewumi was crowned as a New York State Scholastic chess champion on March 10.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gofundme.com/just-tani">GoFundMe</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Before he won the primary (K-3) championship section of the <a href="http://chessevents.com/nyscholastics/">New York State Scholastic Championships</a> earlier this month, 8-year-old Tanitoluwa Adewumi was living in a New York City homeless shelter with his family, who came to the United States from Nigeria as refugees.</p>
<p>But after The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/16/opinion/sunday/chess-champion-8-year-old-homeless-refugee-.html">told the story</a> of how Tanitoluwa – or “Tani,” as he is called – <a href="https://nyssc-197622.appspot.com/web/pcc_Standings.html">went undefeated</a>, despite only playing chess for about a year, the P.S. 116 third-grader catapulted to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tani-adewumi-homeless-third-grader-refugee-takes-chess-world-by-storm/">national fame</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1106994321121837056"}"></div></p>
<p>Since then, thousands of people have collectively given more than US$240,000 to a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/just-tani">GoFundMe page</a> that told the story of his family’s plight. Someone <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/23/opinion/sunday/homeless-chess-champion-tani.html">gave the family an apartment</a> rent-free for a year. And former President Bill Clinton invited Tani and his family to visit his Harlem office, <a href="https://twitter.com/BillClinton/status/1108099328718057473">tweeting to Tani</a>: “You exemplify a winning spirit – in chess and in life.”</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1108099328718057473"}"></div></p>
<p>Learning chess through the P.S. 116 chess program changed Tani’s life. </p>
<p>I’m a former U.S. Women’s Chess Champion and the author of “<a href="https://www.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorporate/product.aspx?pc=F2132P">Children and Chess: A Guide for Educators</a>.” Here are three of the top considerations for parents searching for a chess program for their child. </p>
<h2>1. Safety and structure</h2>
<p>The number one feature for a chess program (or any program) must be safety. Even though a chess game is played one-on-one, there should <a href="https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/gss01/#a">never be one-on-one contact, out of the view of others</a>, between a chess teacher and a child. </p>
<p>Beyond safety, look for a chess program that structures children’s time. For example, an instructor introduces a chess concept. Then paired students practice that chess concept while the instructor monitors each student’s progress. That cycle of teaching and practice repeats with another chess concept. Each class should also have free chess play, often toward the end after students have practiced the chess concepts. </p>
<p>But not every class period will have instruction, practice and free play. If your child likes to compete, look for a chess program that offers ladders or tournaments that enable students to see where they rank. Competitions can take place among the students within the chess program only or may additionally involve players from outside of the chess program. Competitions mean winning, losing, and dealing with the emotions that accompany those results. Investigate how the chess program addresses the emotional side of chess.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265029/original/file-20190321-93032-xw97ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265029/original/file-20190321-93032-xw97ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265029/original/file-20190321-93032-xw97ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265029/original/file-20190321-93032-xw97ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265029/original/file-20190321-93032-xw97ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265029/original/file-20190321-93032-xw97ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265029/original/file-20190321-93032-xw97ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265029/original/file-20190321-93032-xw97ie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Spectators watch as two young people battle it out in a game of chess in Washington, D.C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jamaal Abdul-Alim</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>2. Instructor’s knowledge</h2>
<p>If your child aspires to be a chess master, then he or she needs an instructor with chess expertise. <a href="http://www.uschess.org/content/blogsection/14/195/">United States Chess Federation (US Chess) ratings</a> and <a href="https://ratings.fide.com/">World Chess Federation ratings</a> indicate knowledge of chess. For example, a chess expert (rated 2000-2199) is in the top 4 percent to 1.5 percent of players rated by US Chess. One of Tani’s chess teachers at P.S. 116, Shawn Martinez, who has a US Chess master title, has a current US Chess rating of 2188.</p>
<p>When Martinez was a middle school student, he learned to play chess at I.S. 318. The film <a href="http://brooklyncastle.com/">“Brooklyn Castle”</a> tells the story of the I.S. 318 chess program, which has won multiple national championship titles. Elizabeth Spiegel, one of three chess coaches at I.S. 318, is also an expert. Her US Chess rating is 2052.</p>
<h2>3. Try before you buy</h2>
<p>When Elizabeth Spiegel won the 2019 “Chess Educator of the Year” award from The University of Texas at Dallas, where I am employed as a lecturer, she <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__CPZu4ckjM&feature=youtu.be">recommended</a> that children have trial lessons with several different chess coaches. She also advised that parents sit in on each lesson and talk with their child afterward about which instructor works best for the child.</p>
<p>Chess programs vary. Some programs aim for children to socialize and play chess with each other for fun. There may not be an emphasis on ratings or trophies. Other chess programs may promise that each child will gain a certain number of rating points in a specified time period. Parents should pick a program that seems to align with their goals and their children’s goals. After talking with other parents and children who are involved with the program, give the program a try.</p>
<p>If the fit is poor, switch to a different program. If the fit is good, then your child has played his or her first moves in what could be a lifetime of enjoying chess.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112379/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexey W. Root does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For 8-year-old Tanitoluwa Adewumi, a chess program ended up being a ticket out of a homeless shelter. A chess education expert explains what to look for in a chess program for your child.Alexey W. Root, Lecturer in Education, University of Texas at DallasLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1110412019-02-11T11:45:40Z2019-02-11T11:45:40Z5 ways to develop children’s talents<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258025/original/file-20190208-174883-v8ljpe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Early starts are key to developing children's talents, experts say.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/little-boy-playing-chesssmart-kidfashion-children5-209594251">Eugene Partyzan from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Some people think talent is born. The often-told <a href="https://www.biography.com/people/wolfgang-mozart-9417115">story</a> of Mozart playing piano at 3 and composing at 5 reinforces such beliefs. </p>
<p>But here’s the rest of that story: Mozart’s father was a successful <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leopold-Mozart">musician, composer and instructor</a>. He was devoted to teaching Mozart and helping him practice hard and achieve perfection.</p>
<p>Despite all this, Mozart did not produce his <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=AOIF3rtM8nUC&pg=PA212&lpg=PA212&dq=hayes+10+year+rule&source=bl&ots=72sj0djtOL&sig=ACfU3U1zIFOB4l-ydNuz0pAQpHTS2SorCg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi_2d2sma3gAhUGiqwKHfzHAK4Q6AEwAnoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=hayes%2010%20year%20rule&f=false">first masterwork</a> until his early 20s – after about 15 years of arduous practice and top-notch instruction.</p>
<p>Talent, I argue, is not born, it’s made – and parents can make a big difference.</p>
<h2>Conditions for success</h2>
<p>Although some might believe that talent is rare, psychologist Benjamin Bloom <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/15009/developing-talent-in-young-people-by-dr-benjamin-bloom/9780345315090/">said otherwise</a> after he investigated top performers in six talent domains: “What any person in the world can learn, almost all persons can learn if provided with the appropriate conditions of learning.”</p>
<p>Those appropriate conditions include five things: an early start, expert instruction, deliberate practice, a center of excellence, and singleness of purpose.</p>
<p>Children can’t ignite and stoke these talent factors on their own. Instead, as I argue in my 2019 book, “<a href="https://www.abc-clio.com/Praeger/product.aspx?pc=A5938C">Nurturing Children’s Talents: A Guide for Parents</a>,” children need a talent manager, most often a parent, to nurture talent growth. I make this case as an educational psychologist who specializes in learning and talent development.</p>
<p>Let’s take a closer look at these talent factors and parents’ influence.</p>
<h2>1. Early start</h2>
<p>The seeds of talent are usually planted early and in the home. One study revealed that 22 of 24 talented performers – from chess players to figure skaters – were introduced to their talent domains by parents, <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1058967">usually between ages 2 and 5</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258033/original/file-20190208-174864-1ejswup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258033/original/file-20190208-174864-1ejswup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258033/original/file-20190208-174864-1ejswup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258033/original/file-20190208-174864-1ejswup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258033/original/file-20190208-174864-1ejswup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258033/original/file-20190208-174864-1ejswup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258033/original/file-20190208-174864-1ejswup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many phenoms get an early start, research shows.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mother-daughter-playing-tennis-608993510">Purino from www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some of those parents were elite performers or coaches themselves. One was national championship volleyball coach <a href="https://journalstar.com/sports/huskers/volleyball/john-cook-earns-national-coach-of-the-year-award-from/article_9ac14a39-1aa4-53e9-ba03-78a54965b54b.html">John Cook</a>, who <a href="https://www.theindependent.com/sports/cooks-closer-after-lessons-on-off-court/article_b213b98a-35e6-11e2-bbcc-001a4bcf887a.html">raised All-American volleyball star Lauren Cook</a>.</p>
<p>“I think my daughter had an advantage because of my job,” <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02783193.2018.1466841">coach Cook said</a>. “She grew up around volleyball. When she was a little kid, we set up a mini court in the basement and would play volleyball on our knees.”</p>
<p>Some parents were not linked to the child’s eventual talent area but provided a nurturing early environment that sparked a talent interest. Such was the case for Adora Svitak, an accomplished child writer and presenter. </p>
<p>Adora published two books by age 11 and made hundreds of international presentations, including a <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/adora_svitak?language=en">TED Talk viewed by millions</a>. Adora’s parents, John and Joyce, were not writers or presenters, but they set the stage for Adora’s accomplishments. As her mother describes, they read “interesting and fascinating” books to her for more than an hour each night. “Reading really helped shape Adora’s love for learning and reading,” she said. </p>
<p>In addition, they encouraged Adora’s early writing, offered guidance, helped her publish her books and arranged speaking engagements. Joyce eventually quit her job to manage <a href="https://www.adorasvitak.com/">Adora’s career</a>. She <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Nurturing_Children_s_Talents.html?id=PaE8uQEACAAJ">said</a>, “It is a full-time job, and it can be hard. But, I don’t just manage somebody; I manage my daughter.”</p>
<h2>2. Expert instruction</h2>
<p>Parents go to great lengths to provide or arrange expert instruction. Chess grandmaster <a href="https://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=2047896">Kayden Troff</a> learned how to play chess at age 3 while observing his father, Dan, and older siblings play.</p>
<p>With few chess resources near their Utah home, Dan assumed chess-coaching duties. To do so, Dan studied chess 10 to 15 hours a week during lunch breaks and after hours. </p>
<p>He read books, watched videos, and studied grandmaster games that allowed him to create a book with specialized lessons to instruct Kayden during nightly training sessions. Eventually, when Dan could no longer keep pace with Kayden’s growth, he arranged for Kayden to take lessons from grandmasters via the internet. </p>
<p>To pay for lessons costing US$300 a month, Dan, a banker, and his wife worked extra jobs as custodians and spent 400 hours organizing an annual chess camp.</p>
<h2>3. Deliberate practice</h2>
<p>Practice among the talented is never casual, it’s deliberate: goal-directed and beyond one’s comfort zone.</p>
<p>State high school swim champion <a href="https://swimswam.com/nebraska-200-im-state-champion-caroline-theil-gives-verbal-texas-a-m-aggies/">Caroline Thiel</a> described her taxing practice routine this way: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Some days in practice you’re just so exhausted. You’re sore and your entire body aches, and it’s hard to find motivation. Your brain shuts down but your body keeps going through the muscle aches, heavy breathing and throwing up. People don’t realize how hard swimmers practice; they think we just jump in the pool and swim a few laps.” </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258039/original/file-20190208-174851-gynzdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258039/original/file-20190208-174851-gynzdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258039/original/file-20190208-174851-gynzdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258039/original/file-20190208-174851-gynzdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258039/original/file-20190208-174851-gynzdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258039/original/file-20190208-174851-gynzdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258039/original/file-20190208-174851-gynzdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258039/original/file-20190208-174851-gynzdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Becoming a champion swimmer takes arduous practice.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-children-swimming-backstroke-pool-lane-1188286228?src=vQPOLBXxK6jnqLHBHeH4Ww-1-4">Kekyalyaynen from www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. Center of excellence</h2>
<p>When I asked Jayde Atkins, a national high school rodeo champion, why she is so talented, she said, “Look at all I have, I should be good.” Jayde was <a href="https://rodeonews.com/association/meet-the-member-jayde-atkins/">raised on a horse ranch in central Nebraska</a> and began riding at age 2.</p>
<p>Her parents, Sonya and J.B., are riders and professional horse trainers who taught her the ropes and practiced with her for hours each day. The Atkins had well-bred horses and a big trailer to transport them to nearby towns for rodeo competitions. The family ranch was a self-made center of rodeo excellence.</p>
<p>Most talented performers do not a have a center of excellence outside their back door. In those cases, they may travel to get to one. Consider three tennis players from Lincoln, Nebraska, my hometown. With their parents’ blessing and support, <a href="http://reckeweytennis.com/about-us.html">Jon and Joel Reckewey</a> left home as teenagers and moved three hours away to Kansas where they trained at the prestigious <a href="https://journalstar.com/sports/lincoln-tennis-player-sock-at-the-top-of-his-game/article_0f457569-1211-58b6-8d12-0c40e6e46966.html">Mike Wolf Tennis Academy</a>.</p>
<p>Wimbledon and U.S. Open doubles champion <a href="https://www.kcur.org/post/how-kansas-city-based-team-helps-tennis-player-jack-sock-compete-around-world#stream/0">Jack Sock</a> traveled weekly to that same tennis academy as a boy before his entire family eventually relocated to Kansas. With parents’ support, budding stars often gravitate to centers of excellence, where top coaches and rising stars flock.</p>
<h2>5. Singleness of purpose</h2>
<p>Talented people display a singleness of purpose. </p>
<p>One chess parent I interviewed told me, “The extraordinary time we put toward this one activity takes him out of a lot of fun and games.” Another parent said, “He’s not interested in school; he’s interested in chess. He just lives and breathes chess.” That same parent said, “We once took chess away (because of low school performance) and he was miserable. It was like yanking out the soul.” </p>
<p>When I asked chess parents why their children dedicate themselves to chess the way they do, they were unanimous about how much joy and satisfaction their children got from pursuing chess.</p>
<p>Parents support this singleness of purpose. However, on occasion, they may find themselves supporting more than one passion. For instance, McKenzie Steiner is an all-state softball player and rising country music star. Her father, Scott, was McKenzie’s longtime softball coach, logging thousands of hours a year on the diamond and practicing pitching in the backyard, and also serving as her country band assembler, promoter and manager. </p>
<h2>Talent journey</h2>
<p>Although stories of pushy parents abound, the parents I spoke with recognize that children must drive the talent train with passion and hard work and that parents can only help keep the train on track. They helped because they saw a need that only they could meet. They would no sooner ignore a talent need than a medical need. And, of course, they help because they love their children and want them to be fulfilled.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111041/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kenneth A. Kiewra does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For a child to excel in a particular field, specific conditions are essential. A scholar of educational psychology explains what those conditions are.Kenneth A. Kiewra, Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Nebraska-LincolnLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1061592018-11-09T11:46:09Z2018-11-09T11:46:09Z5 things to know about Fabiano Caruana and his quest to become world chess champion<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244047/original/file-20181106-74778-4fokz9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">American grandmaster Fabiano Caruana, shown here at the 2017 Tradewise Gibraltar Masters tournament, could become the first American-born world chess champion since Bobby Fischer.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Llada/American Chess Magazine</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Bobby Fischer became the first American-born world chess champion in 1972, it spurred a dramatic increase in interest in chess. For instance, after Fischer’s world championship victory against the Soviet Union’s Boris Spassky, membership in the United States Chess Federation <a href="http://www.uschess.org/images/stories/Yearbooks/2017yearbook.pdf">swelled</a> from just under 31,000 in 1972 to more than 59,000 the following year.</p>
<p>Could there be a similar effect if Fabiano Caruana defeats reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen, of Norway, in London this month to become the first American-born world chess champion since Fischer? In a Q&A with education editor Jamaal Abdul-Alim, Daaim Shabazz, an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=_uHxozkAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">international business professor</a> and <a href="http://www.thechessdrum.net/welcome.html">chess journalist</a>, explains what a Caruana victory could mean for the United States, where an estimated <a href="http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/6376-agon-releases-new-chess-player-statistics-from-YouGOV-Fide">35 million people</a> are regular chess players. </p>
<p><strong>What characteristics enabled Fabiano Caruana to become a contender for the world chess championship?</strong></p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243758/original/file-20181103-12015-1mlezuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243758/original/file-20181103-12015-1mlezuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243758/original/file-20181103-12015-1mlezuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243758/original/file-20181103-12015-1mlezuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243758/original/file-20181103-12015-1mlezuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243758/original/file-20181103-12015-1mlezuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243758/original/file-20181103-12015-1mlezuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243758/original/file-20181103-12015-1mlezuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fabiano Caruana, shown here at age 10 in 2002 in Bryant Park in New York City, where he challenged 15 players simultaneously. He won 14 of the matches.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-Domestic-News-New-York-United-/1fe221ebb6e6da11af9f0014c2589dfb/27/0">Bebeto Matthews/AP</a></span>
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<p>One of the things I saw in Fabiano early on was not being afraid to play the strongest competition available. He didn’t fear losing. I once saw Caruana lose a game when he was around 9 or 10 and he didn’t seem to carry any of the usual childish pouting from a loss.</p>
<p>This self-control may have been developed because of his early diet of competitive open tournaments. In these competitions you must forget about a bad result quickly or risk distraction in the next game. In a recent interview, he mentioned his ability to <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/videos/244841784?t=12m16s">come back from losses</a> as one of his top strengths.</p>
<p>In his November 2018 Chess Life article “Caruana versus Carlsen,” Grandmaster Ian Rogers described Caruana’s <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/342/nov2018cl_%28dragged%29.pdf?1541523016">“hard-working, calculation-heavy, fearless style.”</a></p>
<p>I believe this to be an essential trait in his psychological makeup. Given the comments made in a <a href="https://youtu.be/_39_E_uL1i4?t=539">recent interview by Chess.com</a>, he seems self-assured in his chances against Carlsen. </p>
<p><strong>What are Fabiano Caruana’s odds of winning?</strong></p>
<p>In many chess circles, Carlsen is the considered the favorite. Surprisingly, <a href="https://twitter.com/STLChessClub/status/986723875240243201">some predictions are as high as 75-25</a> in his favor. A September <a href="https://en.chessbase.com/post/carlsen-vs-caruana-looking-back-and-looking-ahead">ChessBase.com poll</a> put Carlsen’s advantage at 56-43. I have looked at articles <a href="https://www.chess.com/article/view/will-fabiano-caruana-beat-king-magnus">showing a number of games between the two</a>, but some offer the safe prediction that the match would be close. Caruana stated at the 2018 Sinquefield Cup that his “<a href="https://www.chess.com/news/view/caruana-i-think-my-chances-are-about-50-50">chances are about 50-50</a>.” </p>
<p>As one who has <a href="http://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2014/09/11/is-caruana-the-next-contender/?fbclid=IwAR39bO8KxH1vvxgWBdiDyFqtoscQlEb2MOffqwVtzTF4gK5lFK9uAZDf1Gk">closely followed</a> Caruana’s rise to the top of the chess world, I believe Carlsen is in for a fierce battle. What makes it interesting is that both players are at different trajectories. In the past couple of years, Carlsen has not shown the same dominance that led him to be the top-rated player seven years ago. </p>
<p>Meanwhile Caruana gradually ascended to the number two position some years ago, but battled inconsistency. In the past couple of years, he has stabilized his play, won various top-level tournaments and – as of November 2018 – Carlsen is only <a href="https://ratings.fide.com/top.phtml?list=men">three rating points</a> higher than Caruana. The margin is so close that it makes them virtually indistinguishable in terms of their chess ratings, which indicate their strength as chess players. Carlsen has a definite advantage in match experience and tenacity, while Caruana’s advantage may come in his composure and theoretical preparation. In my view, Caruana has an even chance.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243760/original/file-20181103-83632-8bgy16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243760/original/file-20181103-83632-8bgy16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243760/original/file-20181103-83632-8bgy16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243760/original/file-20181103-83632-8bgy16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243760/original/file-20181103-83632-8bgy16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243760/original/file-20181103-83632-8bgy16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243760/original/file-20181103-83632-8bgy16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">World champion Norwegian Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen plays American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana in St. Louis in August. It was their last match before battling for the World Championship title.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/2018-Sinquefield-Cup-Magnus-Carlsen-vs-Fabia-/d492dd2b9c294b53a2998bd0c960e648/4/0">Dilip Vishwanat/AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p><strong>What will be the impact of a Caruana victory?</strong></p>
<p>On an international level, a new champion would shake the seven-year grip that Carlsen has had as the world’s top-rated player. This may prove healthy for the global expansion of chess as players from other nations see that they have a chance at the title.</p>
<p>When Fischer broke Soviet domination, it also had similar globalizing effect.</p>
<p>Also, chess may gain more appeal as an educational tool. Caruana was homeschooled and spent time traveling abroad – as did Carlsen – so more people may consider home schooling as a way to position their children for success in life.</p>
<p>On the other hand, a Caruana win may not have a lasting impact on the general public. As <a href="https://www.chess.com/member/danielrensch">Daniel Rensch</a>, an international master and vice president of content at Chess.com, stated in the Fall 2018 edition of American Chess Magazine: “November may come and go with no tangible change for chess in the U.S.”</p>
<p><strong>Will a Caruana victory have the same impact as the Bobby Fischer victory in 1972?</strong></p>
<p>Nothing can replicate the <a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18228004">“Fischer boom”</a> that occurred after his politically charged Cold War era victory over the Soviet Union’s Boris Spassky. With the world gripped in an ideological battle, chess had two combatants who were polar opposites. </p>
<p>The mercurial Fischer mostly worked alone while Spassky had the weight of the Soviet empire behind him. The match almost didn’t happen, but last-ditch attempts by high U.S. chess officials got Fischer on a jet to Reykjavik, Iceland, and he won a thrilling match charged with controversy. However, Fischer became the darling of the world and spawned a wave of interest in chess never seen before.</p>
<p>Whether a Caruana victory can spark the same interest in chess remains to be seen. However, his genial persona should do much to dispel the faulty notion – sometimes reinforced by media and popular culture in movies such as “<a href="http://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2015/10/03/movie-pawn-sacrifice-fair-to-fischer/">Pawn Sacrifice</a>” – that chess is a game for rarefied geniuses who tend to be socially awkward.</p>
<p>If Caruana wins the championship, it could also lead young players to stick with chess longer than they would otherwise.</p>
<p><strong>If Caruana loses, how long will it be before we see another American contender for the world chess championship?</strong></p>
<p>Given America’s <a href="http://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2016/09/15/the-anatomy-of-usa-gold-at-16-chess-olympiad/">recent re-emergence to prominence in chess</a>, even if Caruana loses the championship, we could see another contender within a decade. Caruana is only 26 and currently the No. 2 player in the world, so he’ll be back.</p>
<p><a href="http://wesleyso.com/">Wesley So</a>, a Filipino who represents the U.S., is a possibility, and I believe <a href="https://hikarunakamura.com/">Hikaru Nakamura</a> still stands an excellent chance to compete for the world championship.</p>
<p>Incidentally, there is a wave of talent emerging in American chess, but the question is one of retention. While at the 2018 Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Ray Robson, a three-time member of the Olympiad team and recent graduate of <a href="http://www.webster.edu/spice/chess-team/accomplishments.html">chess powerhouse Webster University</a>, told me his plans to focus on chess in the coming year to see how far he can go. I reminded him of the young grandmasters like <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-column/2018/04/09/coppell-chess-prodigy-compete-us-chess-championship-st-louis">Jeffery Xiong</a>, <a href="https://new.uschess.org/news/gm-sam-sevian-wins-philadelphia-international-four-im-norms-achieved/">Samuel Sevian</a> and <a href="https://new.uschess.org/news/interview-cake-gm-awonder-liang/">Awonder Liang</a> nipping at his heels. He acknowledged this and also mentioned several foreign arrivals, such as Cuba’s top player <a href="https://grandchesstour.org/gm-leinier-dominguez">Leinier Dominguez</a>, who is now living in the U.S. </p>
<p>There are many scenarios, but American chess will have world champion contenders in the near future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106159/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daaim Shabazz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Daaim Shabazz, an international business professor and chess journalist, explains what’s at stake as American grandmaster Fabiano Caruana fights for the World Chess Championship in London this month.Daaim Shabazz, Associate Professor of International Business, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1063102018-11-09T11:45:25Z2018-11-09T11:45:25ZMyths and unknowns about chess and the contenders for the World Chess Championship<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244596/original/file-20181108-74775-1y38rie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Reigning Chess World Champion Magnus Carlsen, left, from Norway, and American challenger Fabiano Caruana will face off in the World Chess Championship, which begins Nov. 9 in London.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Britain-Chess-World-Championship/cb70fb4f09de45d3849ab90dab335bfd/7/0">Matt Dunham/AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If Fabiano Caruana wins the World Chess Championship match against champion Magnus Carlsen this month, he will be the first American to hold the championship title since Bobby Fischer won it in 1972. The match between Caruana, age 26, and Carlsen, age 27, of Norway, takes place in London, England, from Nov. 9 to 28.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://new.uschess.org/international-events/couch-potatos-guide-2018-world-chess-championship/">winner will take home about US$700,000 – or 50 percent more than the loser</a>.</p>
<p>Here are five myths and unknowns about the world chess championship contenders and the game of chess.</p>
<h2>1. Parents name their babies after chess champions</h2>
<p>When Woman Grandmaster Jennifer Shahade and her husband, Daniel Meirom, learned that they were having a son, she told her father that she would name the baby either Fabiano or Magnus. “It started as a joke and then we realized how much we loved it,” Shahade told The Conversation. Shahade’s son Fabian was born in January 2017, before Fabiano Caruana became the challenger for the World Chess Championship but after Shahade had admired Caruana’s 7-0 win and sportsmanlike attitude in the <a href="https://uschesschamps.com/2014-sinquefield-cup">2014 Sinquefield Cup</a>. </p>
<p>Other parents may have had the same idea. According to the <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/index.html">Social Security Administration</a>, the name “Magnus” first made the list of the top 1,000 baby names in the United States in 2013, the same year that Magnus Carlsen became world chess champion. It will be interesting to see if the name “Fabian” – or “Fabiano” – experiences a surge if Caruana wins the match and becomes the World Chess Champion. </p>
<p>Status: Unknown.</p>
<h2>2. Chess is not a sport</h2>
<p>People may not think that it requires much stamina to move chess pieces and pawns from one square to another. However, as mentioned in my 2006 book <a href="https://www.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorporate/product.aspx?pc=F2132P">“Children and Chess: A Guide for Educators</a>,” chess players sitting at the board experience a quickened heartbeat and higher blood pressure, similar to what athletes experience when they compete in their sports.</p>
<p>Many, if not most, chess players <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/03/sports/bobby-fischer-chess-caruana.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimesworld&fbclid=IwAR12tfOTjQ2caDeOrcxWRBoB0030kMWrTVZueTACeKHg3wVhXaayGLIpL-8">view chess as a sport</a> and approach it as such. For instance, the 2018 U.S. Open chess champion Timur Gareyev – a grandmaster known for playing numerous players at once while blindfolded – has promoted the <a href="https://new.uschess.org/news/timur-gareyev-to-attempt-blindfold-world-record/">benefits of exercise for chess players</a>.</p>
<p>Carlsen and Caruana stay in top physical shape to meet the demands of chess. Carlsen <a href="https://new.uschess.org/news/who-is-magnus-carlsen/">plays soccer, basketball and tennis</a> and also enjoys hiking and skiing. Caruana also plays basketball and soccer and partakes in <a href="https://new.uschess.org/news/who-is-fabiano-caruana/">indoor rock climbing</a>.</p>
<p>Status: Myth.</p>
<h2>3. You need 10,000 hours of practice to be a chess master</h2>
<p>The 10,000 hour rule has been popularized by books such as Malcolm Gladwell’s <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/malcolm-gladwell/outliers/9780316017930/">“Outliers: The Story of Success</a>.” However, according to <a href="https://www.crcpress.com/The-Psychology-of-Chess/Gobet/p/book/9781138216655">“The Psychology of Chess</a>,” a new book by University of Liverpool psychology professor <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/psychology-health-and-society/staff/fernand-gobet/">Fernand Gobet</a>, some need less than 10,000 hours.</p>
<p>Though grandmaster is an even higher title than “master,” Carlsen became a grandmaster at age 13. Caruana got his grandmaster title at age 14. “The quickest players needed only 3,000 hours of deliberate practice to reach master level,” Gobet wrote, based on his research using data from the World Chess Federation. On the other hand, some chess players spend 25,000 hours of deliberate practice – and never make master. Gobet arrived at these findings in a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226396370_Deliberate_Practice_Necessary_But_Not_Sufficient">study</a> conducted with his then-Ph.D. student Guillermo Campitelli.</p>
<p>Status: Myth.</p>
<h2>4. Starting chess as an adult gives you an advantage</h2>
<p>While one might think that adults have the edge in improving at chess, due to their emotional maturity for handling wins and losses and their fully developed intellects, it just is not so. “Starting young clearly helps,” Gobet told me in an <a href="https://www.utdallas.edu/chess/files/interview-fernand-gobet.pdf">interview for Chess Life magazine</a>. “In our <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226396370_Deliberate_Practice_Necessary_But_Not_Sufficient">study</a>, individuals who started playing chess at or before the age of 12 years old had 1 chance out 4 of becoming a master, as compared to 1 chance out of 55 for people who started to play after the age of 12. So, there is truth in the saying that ‘You have to start young at chess to become really great at chess.’”</p>
<p>Status: Myth.</p>
<h2>5. Chess helps prevent Alzheimer’s</h2>
<p>An <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=117588&page=1">ABC news story</a> published March 6, 2018 stated, “Chess, jigsaw puzzles and other mentally challenging activities may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease, a study published today says.” A 2013 <a href="https://en.chessbase.com/post/checkmating-alzheimers-disease-210513">ChessBase News article</a> likewise cites chess as one of several mind sports that “will be beneficial to an older adult.” Yet rigorous research that specifically examines the impact of chess on Alzheimer’s does not exist. Right now, chess just seems a likely way to maintain mental agility as one ages.</p>
<p>Status: Unknown.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106310/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexey W. Root does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With the World Chess Championship set to begin Nov. 9 in London, Alexey Root, who teaches online courses about chess in education, tackles some myths and unknowns about the royal game.Alexey W. Root, Lecturer in Education, University of Texas at DallasLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/960192018-05-07T02:28:48Z2018-05-07T02:28:48ZCheckmate: top chess players live longer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217719/original/file-20180504-103131-11sgska.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Chess players live up to 14 years longer than the general population.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 2014, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/aug/15/deaths-world-chess-olympiad-norway">a chess competitor collapsed</a> during his final match of the Chess Olympiad in Norway. Within hours, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/aug/15/deaths-world-chess-olympiad-norway">another was found</a> dead in his hotel room. Earlier, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Bagirov">a chess grandmaster died of a heart attack</a> while playing a tournament game in Finland in 2000. Within the same year, <a href="https://www.chess.com/chessopedia/view/gipslis-aivars">another player died after having a stroke</a> during his tournament in Berlin.</p>
<p>These incidents <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-stress-of-playing-chess-can-be-fatal-30643">led many to believe</a> the stress of playing chess could be harmful and even fatal. So we decided to test the theory playing chess at an elite level elevates the risk of premature death.</p>
<h2>What does the science say?</h2>
<p>Perhaps unsurprisingly, few studies have been done on mind sports and risk of premature death. We <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00221325.1969.10533881?journalCode=vgnt20">found just one study</a> on chess players conducted in 1969 that found professional chess players had shorter lifespans than amateur players who had careers outside of chess, but it involved just 32 players born before the 20th century.</p>
<p>In contrast, there is considerable evidence that outstanding athletes engaged in physical sports have a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40798-015-0024-x">significantly lower rate</a> of premature death compared to the general population.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-computers-changed-chess-20772">How computers changed chess</a>
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<p>We compared elite chess players with Olympic medallists to determine whether it’s your mind or muscle that best predicts how long you will live. Author <a href="http://davidsmerdon.com/">David Smerdon</a> is an academic and a chess grandmaster, so he also contributed data to this study.</p>
<p>Grandmasters and Olympians represent players at the very highest levels of their respective professions. Wikipedia publishes online <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chess_grandmasters">a list of more than 1,700 grandmasters</a> with dates of birth and death and the countries they represent. </p>
<p>The International Olympic Committee website contains <a href="https://www.olympic.org/athletes">information on nearly 130,000 athletes</a>, from which we selected around 15,000 medallists who represented the same countries as the chess players . </p>
<p>We compared chess players’ life expectancy with the general population from the countries they represented to assess their relative longevity.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0196938">results of our study</a> debunk the myth chess grandmasters live short lives. In fact they live longer – up to 14 extra years compared to the general population (particularly in countries such as Russia, where life expectancy is relatively <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/18/science/why-russian-men-dont-live-as-long.html">low</a>).</p>
<p>Top chess players appear to have similar patterns of longevity to Olympians. The figure from our paper shows survival rates relative to the general population increase with time for both groups and at similar rates.</p>
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<h2>How does chess increase longevity?</h2>
<p>The fact a chess grandmaster enjoys the same advantages in longevity as an Olympian is surprising. As the popularity of mind sports continues to grow, an important question is whether proficiency in these types of sports causes an increased life expectancy, or whether other factors are behind this effect.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/think-quickly-outside-the-square-how-is-speed-chess-different-20197">Think (quickly) outside the square – how is speed chess different?</a>
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<p>As chess players are usually seated when they play, many would assume they lead sedentary lives, but a <a href="http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/20384179">Polish study</a> showed chess players actually exhibit a higher level of physical fitness than the general population.</p>
<p>There’s evidence suggesting <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa022252">playing board games</a> can reduce the risk of dementia, a <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-australians-die-cause-3-dementia-alzheimers-57341">leading cause of death</a>. </p>
<p>While higher levels of intelligence are known to have a positive effect on <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.01301001.x">longevity</a>, the evidence of the link between IQ and one’s ability at board games such as chess is inconclusive. Several studies have failed to find a superiority of expert players in a variety of intellectual dimensions, including selective attention, inhibition and executive <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22837083">cognitive function</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12589886">logical and computational skills </a>, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1348/000712602761381402">visual memory</a>, and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21834406">complex planning</a>. </p>
<p>Attaining the exalted grandmaster title may increase life expectancy through psychological, social or economic boosts. <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0196938">We found</a> grandmasters in Eastern Europe had a higher survival relative to the general population than those in North America and Western Europe. So it’s plausible the income and social status from being an elite player are greater there.</p>
<p>Isaac Asimov once <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/342964-in-life-unlike-chess-the-game-continues-after-checkmate">wrote</a> that “in life, unlike chess, the game continues after checkmate”. Not only does the game of life continue after checkmate, but excelling in mind sports such as chess means one is likely to play the game for longer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96019/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Clarke receives funding from Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research and the National Health and Medical Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>An Tran-Duy receives funding from the ARC and the NHMRC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Smerdon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Deaths of chess players led to alarm the game could cause fatal stress. Some researchers have tested that theory.Philip Clarke, Professor of Health Economics, The University of MelbourneAn Tran-Duy, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Health Policy, The University of MelbourneDavid Smerdon, Assistant Professor, School of Economics, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.