ON CHESS
Spassky won over at tender age
Saturday, January 9, 2010 2:57 AM
By SHELBY LYMAN
Chess often has an unusual appeal for children.
Perhaps it’s the social prestige of the game or its focus on blending the elements of time, space and force — in short: survival, winning and self-empowerment.
Consider the experience of Boris Spassky, as presented in The Genius and the Misery of Chess by Zhivko Kaikamjozov.
Spassky’s epiphany occurred at a chess pavilion furnished with tables and built-in chessboards in a park on Russia’s Kirov Islands. Until that moment, the game had aroused only casual interest.
“What I saw was a fairy-tale world,” he is quoted as saying. “I was captivated by an uncontrollable passion. Passion for what? The chessmen? The festive feeling of the place? I can’t really tell, but I was enthralled, and this seemed the only thing that mattered.”
The next morning, Spassky returned to the park just to watch — choosing not to play for a week or two.
“I just took pleasure from watching the movement of the pieces on the board,” he said. “They were freshly lacquered and had a very distinctive, unique scent.”
Thus, a 9-year-old was transformed into a future world chess champion.
Source: Columbus Dispatch
Spassky is the best world champion ever.