Art and chess are inter-linked

Venue proves art and chess are inter-linked as oblivious players ignore their surroundings
By Mail Today Reporter
PUBLISHED: 13:50 EST, 7 May 2012 | UPDATED: 13:59 EST, 7 May 2012

Chess players, it is said, are oblivious of their surroundings when focused on the chessboard, which is the centre of their universe.

Yet, when defending world chess champion Viswanathan Anand takes on Boris Gelfand of Israel, the venue, too, will be a matter of discussion.

First, the State Tretyakov Gallery is one of the major landmarks of the Russian capital, Moscow. Also, it is for the first time that a world championship is being held in art gallery. Quite appropriately, it would seem, for chess players, spectators and fans equate the mind game with art.

Anand loves his classical music and appreciates art. When he plays against Gelfand he may have neither the time nor inclination to breathe in the artistic atmosphere of the venue. But he has visited the venue and is in full agreement with the choice for this match.

Continuing with his love affair of chess stars, music and art, Mark Taimanov, who is equally proficient at chess and music, after losing a major match 0-6 to Bobby Fischer in 1971, famously said: ‘I still have my music.’

From March 10, when the official opening ceremony will decide the colours with which the players play in the first game; thereafter they alternate white and black for each subsequent game.

The gallery has been in existence since 1856, and since 1892 the state has been taking care of it.

It now forms part of the 23-hectare property along the Moscow River and opposite the Gorky Park, and is called the Central House of Artists.

It has some of the most artistic and famous buildings of Moscow and dates back to the Soviet era and was built for the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

The State Tretyakov Gallery’s current façade building was designed in 1902-04 by painter Viktor Vasnetsov and is in the south of Moscow Kremlin. It also includes the 17th century Church of St Nicholas. The collection is said to have more 130,000 exhibits.

The venue has elicited positive response, with former world champion Garry Kasparov commenting: ‘One can only welcome bringing chess and art together.’ Another former world champion, Vladimir Kramnik, said: ‘In one sense, art, music, chess and science are all related spheres.

Whichever fan you look at, they’re either a doctor of science or a musician. The fact that none of these areas has much money is another matter: it’s not golf or show business.

Perhaps we shouldn’t limit ourselves to any one sphere: we need to popularise our game through all available channels, for various social strata.

‘In any case it’s obvious that holding the match in a major global-level museum is a big plus for chess.’

Interestingly, Kramnik’s World Championship match, which he lost to Anand, took place in Bonn, at a big exhibition centre.

Anatoly Karpov recalled having played in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 1976 and admitted: ‘The idea of playing in a museum is very interesting. I remember playing in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 1976.

It was a strong international tournament, and I got a lot of pleasure from going to look at a picture between moves, something I did over two weeks. I played fast in those days!’

Back in 1995, when Anand played Kasparov in the PCA World Chess final, the match took place at what was then called ‘Roof of the World’, the 107th floor of the World Trade Centre in New York.

Also, one of the most wellknown tournaments of the past in Moscow, was played at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in 1935.

More recently in the US, about 20 years ago, the Marshall and Manhattan Chess club played a couple of fiveminute team matches at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, surrounded by mounted knights in armour.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk