Chess
as it was when it was first introduced into Europe about a millennium ago
differed in several aspects from the chess that we know today. Modifications
and variations effected upon the rules of gameplay and the forms that the chess
pieces took have distinguished modern chess from its ancient precursors in many
unique ways. Having covered these in the previous part of this article, let us
now proceed with the final part of this article, where I will be briefly
covering on the modern history of this ever-popular game.
While
the Church in the first half of the previous millennium often perceived chess
to be an illness and a vice in society, the Church in the second half viewed it
in a different light altogether. Indeed, chess had swelled so much in popularity
that from the 1500s onwards, Protestant movements around Europe that strongly
criticized many pastimes as “ungodly pursuits” often stood in defence of chess.
This further propelled the popularity and general acceptance of chess as a
“legitimate” pastime, consequently making it an integral part of European
society.
In
the latter half of the previous millennium, literature on the theories and
strategies of chess grew, as more and more books were written on the subject by
skilled mathematicians and seasoned players who dedicated much of their time
studying the game. Early chess masters such as Luis Ramirez de Lucena (1465 –
1530), Giovanni Leonardo de Bona (1542 – 1587) and Ruy Lopez de Segura (1530 –
1580) contributed much to studying and analysing different elements of chess
openings and endgames.
Chess masters of the Renaissance era. From left: Luiz Ramirez de Lucena (1465 - 1530), Giovanni Leonardo de Bona (1542 - 1587) and Ruy Lopez de Segura (1530 - 1580)
Come
the 18th and 19th centuries, the centre of European chess
life shifted from southern Europe (Spain and Italy) to northern European
countries such as France and England. Luxurious coffee shops such as the Café de la Régence in Paris and
Simpson’s Divan in London became prominent centres of chess life, where many
professional chess players would gather to challenge each other and exchange
knowledge. It was during this era that chess masters such as François-André Danican Philidor (1726 – 1795), Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais (1795 – 1840) and Alexander
McDonnell (1798 – 1835) carved their names in the world of chess.
Café de la Régence in Paris, one of the most renowned centres of European chess life in the 18th and 19th centuries
One
of the most celebrated chess events of this era was a renowned series of six matches
between La Bourdonnais and McDonnell in the summer of 1834 in the Westminster
Chess Club in London, of which the outcome was victory for the former. Until
today, this series of six matches has been widely regarded as one of the
earliest unofficial World Chess Championship tournaments, with La Bourdonnais
being regarded as the unofficial World Chess Champion at that time when such a
title was not yet in existence.
Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais (1795 - 1840)
With
the progress of the 19th century, chess rapidly grew to become an
organized sport. Chess clubs mushroomed throughout Europe, and numerous chess
books and journals were published by and for chess enthusiasts. Friendly and
competitive matches between chess clubs became a norm, whereby chess
professionals would gather together, play matches against each other and
exchange ideas on chess theories. Nonetheless, with the growth of chess as a
modern sport and pastime, the game was still regarded as being exclusively a
gentleman’s game; a game played by elite, aristocratic and educated men. Such
an image of chess remained until the early 20th century.
The
modern development and organization of chess also meant that its rules of
gameplay became more well-defined and standardized throughout the world. This
standardization of rules thus made it possible for large-scale chess
tournaments to be organized at the international level. The 1851 London Chess Tournament,
proposed and organized by English chess master Howard Staunton (1810 – 1874),
was the first such tournament ever to be held in such a large scale, having
been participated by chess masters from the UK, Germany, France and Hungary,
including Staunton himself. The tournament saw Adolf Anderssen (1818 – 1879) of
Germany emerge victorious, subsequently being crowned the unofficial World
Chess Champion of that time.
The Immortal Game, one of the most celebrated chess games of all time, played by Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky during a break in the 1851 London Chess Tournament. It is described as a game that is "perhaps unparalleled in chess literature"
As
international tournaments, both formal and informal, became a growing trend in
the rapidly transforming world of chess, many chess players started to realize
that the game was lacking a vital element – a standardized set of chess pieces.
The problem arose due to the fact that chess pieces differed in appearance
according to region. Chess pieces used by the English may not look the same as
those used by the French, while the Germans used yet another set of chess
pieces which looked different altogether. The absence of a standardized design
for each chess piece proved to be a major disadvantage between international
players, particularly if one player was unfamiliar with the chess pieces that
his opponent was using.
The
earliest solution, which in fact later became the most widely accepted
solution, was proposed by Nathaniel Cook a few years prior to the 1851 London Chess
Tournament. With the help of his brother-in-law, John Jacques, Cook produced a
unique design for each chess piece that combined elements of neoclassical and
Victorian influence. Patented in 1849 and mass-produced thereafter by John
Jacques of London (an established company headed by John Jacques himself that
manufactured and supplied sports and game equipment), the new set of chess
pieces soon after became a hit within the English and European chess community.
This was not without the help of Howard Staunton himself, who publicly approved
and even promoted the new chess set on behalf of the company. The chess set was
consequently called the Staunton chess set, which then became the official set
endorsed by the World Chess Federation in 1924 for future use in all
international chess tournaments.
Original Staunton chess set
In
the wake of the 1851 London Chess Tournament, one major problem came to
attention: the amount of time players took to make a move. Participants of the
tournament frequently took hours to think before deciding on a move, and this
became a huge setback to the smooth organization of the entire tournament. In
subsequent years, time limits were suggested and employed in official
tournaments. Several variants of such time rules existed, in which some
tournaments allowed each player five minutes to decide on a move while others
allowed a certain period of time for a fixed number of moves to be made e.g. 2
hours for 30 moves. Players who failed to conform to the time rules were either
fined or, more severely, forfeited from the game. In some tournaments, players
who made a particular number of moves within a predetermined time frame were
rewarded with additional time for subsequent moves. These time rules thus
became a new and integral part of every official chess tournaments thereafter.
In
an era when digital clocks were still non-existent, timekeeping in chess was
often accomplished using either sandglasses or pendulums. As technology
progressed at the turn of the 19th century, analogue clocks became
the accepted standard for timekeeping, and these were then replaced by digital
clocks since the 1980s. Presently, official chess tournaments employ two
parallel clocks per game, whereby a player is required to press a button to
activate the timer after completing a move.
Parallel clocks used in official chess tournaments
Talks
and suggestions about crowning the world’s strongest chess player as the World
Chess Champion had been rife since the 1851 London tournament, but it was not
until 1886 that the prestigious title became officially recognized. Since
Anderssen’s decisive victory in the 1851 London tournament, several
international tournaments equivalent to today’s World Chess Championships had
been played, which saw Anderssen’s unofficial title being transferred into the
hands of Paul Morphy (1837 – 1884), an American, in 1858. Nevertheless, because
Morphy made an early retirement from active chess before being defeated by any
worthy opponent, he was not the only one who was unofficially recognized as the
World Chess Champion at that time. Wilhelm Steinitz (1836 – 1900), an Austrian
by birth, who narrowly defeated Anderssen in a tournament in 1866, also reigned
as unofficial World Chess Champion alongside Morphy at that time. Indeed, this
match between Steinitz and Anderssen is now widely accepted by historians and
chess professionals as the first ever official World Chess Championship.
Match between Adolf Anderssen and Wilhelm Steinitz in 1866. This match is now widely accepted as the first ever official World Chess Championship
The
1886 World Chess Championship was undoubtedly the first ever official
tournament that was held with a predefined aim of declaring the World Chess
Champion. Played by Wilhelm Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort (1842 – 1888), a
Polish by birth, the championship saw the two prominent players battling it all
out for the prestigious title in a series of 20 matches in New York, St. Louis
and New Orleans, in which the first player to achieve 10 wins was considered the
winner. The outcome of the competitive tournament was a decisive win for
Steinitz, who won 10-5 and thus became the first person to be officially
declared the World Chess Champion.
Wilhelm Steinitz (left) playing against Johannes Zukertort (right) in the 1886 World Chess Championship, resulting in Steinitz being declared the first official World Chess Champion
In
spite of this, the 1886 World Chess Champion was, in actual fact, not organized
by any official body governing the game. It was more of an informal series of
matches that garnered much media attention and scrutiny across the world of
chess. Until 1946, if one wished to become the World Chess Champion, one had to
challenge the existing champion and self-organize the match. Financing for
travel and venue had to be borne by the challenger himself, and if he defeated
the incumbent, he would be declared the new champion.
In
order to ensure a smoother and more organized process of holding championship
tournaments and governing chess rules, attempts were made at several
international tournaments, namely the 1914 St. Petersburg, 1914 Mannheim and
1920 Gothenburg tournaments, to establish an international chess federation.
Nonetheless, World War I and its aftermath hampered such attempts. Finally,
during an international chess tournament held in Paris alongside the 1924
Summer Olympics, a successful attempt was made to establish the Fédération Internationale des Échecs
(FIDE), or World Chess Federation, which was rather powerless and poorly
financed in its first few months after initiation.
International chess tournament held alongside the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris
With
FIDE’s gradual growth and expansion, it soon gained more influence in the
worldwide chess arena. In its 1925 and 1926 congresses, it expressed its desire
to become the official body responsible for managing future world championships,
and it worked hard towards achieving that goal. In 1927, FIDE successfully
organized its first official Chess Olympiad in London, which saw the
participation of 16 international teams. However, because it did not involve
any match for the World Champion title against the incumbent champion, the
Chess Olympiad could not be considered a World Chess Championship.
In
attempting to gain recognition and acceptance as the official organizer of the
World Championship, FIDE proposed a system in which potential challengers for
the championship will be screened and selected by a committee. This proposal
did not go down well with the international chess community. Instead, another
selection system proposed by the Dutch Chess Federation was more favoured,
whereby ex-champions and rising star players were to be gathered in a
preliminary tournament to select the next challenger for the championship. In
line with its proposal, the Dutch Chess Federation then went on to organize the
AVRO Tournament in 1938 which, despite not being officially endorsed as a
selection tournament, managed to attract the best chess masters in the world at
that time, including incumbent World Champion Alexander Alekhine (1892 – 1946)
and former champions José Raúl Capablanca (1888 – 1942) and Max Euwe (1901 –
1981). This stirred much controversy amongst the worldwide chess community, but
things were soon cut short with the outburst of the Second World War in 1939.
Alexander Alekhine playing against Reuben Fine in the 1938 AVRO Tournament
As
the Second World War rampaged much of the world, international chess
competitions saw an absolute standstill and FIDE went into a nearly decade-long
hiatus. By the time the war ended in 1945, much of the world was in a deep
economic slump following excessive spending on defence and military affairs.
Although FIDE once again became active in 1946, it was faced with severe
financial deficits and the inability on the part of many countries to send
representatives for tournaments due to lack of funding. Nonetheless, the
biggest dilemma that FIDE was confronted with was the death of Alexander
Alekhine, the reigning World Champion at that time. This literally meant that
Alekhine “died and brought his title with him to the grave,” as no one was able
to defeat him and thus succeed the much coveted title.
Many
solutions were proposed, but FIDE ultimately chose to bring together all the
surviving participants (or substitutes proposed by their respective
governments) of the 1938 AVRO Tournament in another major tournament to
determine the new World Champion. This resulted in the 1948 World Chess
Championship, held partly in The Hague and partly in Moscow, which marked the
beginning of FIDE’s official right to organize and coordinate all future World
Championship tournaments. Participated by five chess masters of that time,
Mikhail Botvinnik (1911 – 1995) of the then Soviet Union emerged victorious and
was crowned the new World Champion.
The five chess masters who participated in the 1948 World Chess Championship. From left: Max Euwe, Vasily Smyslov, Paul Keres, Mikhail Botvinnik and Samuel Reshevsky
Since
then, the World Chess Championships under FIDE have undergone much modification
and have even been embroiled in controversies from time to time. This included
a period of breakaway from FIDE under the leadership of former World Champion
Garry Kasparov (1963 – ), who went on to form the Professional Chess
Association (PCA) in 1993 as a rival organization to FIDE, even organizing its
own World Championships that resulted in more than one World Champion for several
years after PCA’s inception. (I will not go into detail about these
controversies.) Nevertheless, the World Championship tournaments reunified
under FIDE once again in 2006, and is now officially recognized as the ultimate
international chess tournament through which a chess master can seek to
challenge the reigning World Champion for the prestigious title. FIDE is now
recognized by the international community as the ultimate organization
governing the game of chess, boasting a membership of more than 150 countries
worldwide.
Former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov
Indeed,
from its vague beginnings in the obscurities of a yet unknown India at that
time, chess has spread its wings to become one of the most widely acclaimed games
of today’s modern world. Not only does chess enjoy much popularity as both a
pastime and a competitive sport worldwide, it has also served as a brain
squeezer for many skilled mathematicians and chess masters who sought to find
solutions to the various statistical problems posed by the game or chessboard
itself. Doubtless to say, the popularity of chess has never waned since the
days of chaturanga, and it is here to
stay perhaps for as long as mankind still breathes.
Fédération
Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) or World Chess Federation, the international governing body for chess, currently headquartered in Athens, Greece
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