Why a billion people are watching a board game
By Jason Henderson
14 November 13
GQ Magazine
The dull and unfashionable image of chess could enjoy a facelift this month thanks to a titanic world championship clash unfolding in India. Proud patzer* Jason Henderson investigates why this month’s game could be bigger than Bobby Fischer.
Is chess the greatest board game ever? Or is it just a boring game? Opinions are, appropriately enough, sharply divided into black and white.
Fans of this ancient pastime insist it is an art, science, sport and war all rolled into one. It is a test of wills. It is life in miniature. It is, as one player once said, “As much a mystery as women.”
Critics, meanwhile, argue it’s not a game but a disease. It’s a pure waste of brains, especially when you can have fun with Angry Birds instead. Also, can anyone take anorak-wearing geeks seriously?
For many of us, though, chess is simply a series of bad moves. This is hardly surprising, given the number of possible moves is greater than the number of atoms in the solar system.
Plus, there has been little to capture our imagination since the Cold War confrontation in 1972 between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky – a duel that dominated world news and led to an explosion of interest in chess in the Western world after Fischer, a tormented genius from America, beat his Russian rival in style.
Yet now, 41 years later, a world title match has emerged to solve chess’s credibility crisis and help claw it back into the mainstream. It sees prodigious youngster Magnus Carlsen of Norway attempting to wrest the global crown from five-time champion Viswanathan Anand of India and the head-to-head is expected to be watched by more than one billion people.
Full article.
Fascinating battle between the young pretender and one of the old guard … looking forward to it hotting up over the next few games!