Chess Takes World
By Matthew Hennessey
February 21, 2008
When people think of chess, they usually think of Russia. But chess excellence has now gone global: The current World Champion is from India, and the current World Junior Champion is an Egyptian. Since 1991, Russian players and teachers have fanned out in a chess diaspora, gradually affecting how, and where, the game is played.
For all but three years between 1948 and 2000, Russian players laid exclusive claim to the title of World Chess Champion. The lone exception came in 1972 when the American maverick Bobby Fischer, who died last month in Iceland at the age of 64, wrested the title from Russian Boris Spassky. While his victory would become a defining cultural moment of the Cold War, Fischer’s tenure at the top was merely an interlude. He relinquished the title in 1975 to Anatoly Karpov, and Russians held the top spot for the remainder of the century.
That winning streak was no accident. To the Soviets, chess was political.
“The Soviets set out to dominate world chess,” said New York–based chess teacher and historian Christopher Maksymowicz in an interview with Policy Innovations. “It was a decree from Joseph Stalin. It was an expression of the superiority of the Soviet Union over the West, over capitalism.”
Chess training academies were lavishly funded in the Soviet Union, and promising players were groomed from a young age. The resources of the Soviet state were mobilized in support of champions like Mikhail Botvinnik, Tigran Petrosian, and Garry Kasparov. “If you were any good as a chess player, you didn’t live like an average Soviet,” said Maksymowicz.
The end of the Cold War had a withering effect on Russia’s state-sponsored chess dominance. During the 1990s, funding for the chess academies dried up; many closed.
Here is the full article.
exceptionally silly article about Krylenko is referenced in the text. The author has whatsoever no knowledge on the subject beyond a few names and dates.
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The ‘Here’ link to the full article is faulty (blank).
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No mention that — Several Chinese women among themselves held the Women’s World Chess Champion title for 12 of the past 17 years; including currently.
This was a sudden and stark break from decades of Russian/Soviet dominance.
Susan’s reign in the 1990’s was among the 5 other years.
It looks likely that India’s Humpy Koneru will be the major threat to win the title this summer.
GeneM
CastleLong.com …for FRC-chess960
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Yes, by pouring money into it, the Soviets excelled at a non-productive endeavor.
This is a great article. I vividly recall Fisher’s Interlude at the top of the chess world in 1972. It was truly a defining Cold War moment. People around the nation who never had any interest in chess were cheering the victory as well. It was really cool at the time. Good article !!
By pouring money into them, the uS succeeds at many non-productive endeavors. Such as baseball, American football, rap music, etc. Just because something is not productive, doesn’t mean its not worthwhile.