Chess field of view. The checkered world in contemporary art

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Chess is one of the favorite games of mankind. The confrontation of the minds of opponents, bending over the chessboard, has been embodied in literature, sculpture, painting - and works on this topic appear constantly. Where is the largest chessboard located, who is afraid of the checkered field, and why it is not round - you will learn from today's review about chess in contemporary art.

Strategy

What initially attracted chess to our distant ancestors was the ability to fight without shedding blood or uncovering swords. War chariots and elephants, siege tours and simple infantry - all ancient types of troops were reflected in chess - so this game is one of the first virtual strategies.

Meanwhile, if now we see a sports competition in chess, then the mind of the ancients, experienced in mysticism, perceived the confrontation between white and black figures as a very serious, sacred duel of minds. The passion with which our ancestors played this game is not inferior to the passion of modern gamers.

It is curious that the biggest winnings in the entire history of mankind were received not in poker or roulette, but in playing chess - of course, if you believe the ancient legend about the inventor of chess Setu. This great Indian shared his discovery with the king, immediately beat him and asked for a prize - one grain for the first cell on the chessboard, and twice the previous one for each subsequent one. How many is 2 to the 64th degree, the poor king had yet to find out …

And now chess serves as an image-symbol of purely intellectual confrontation - a peaceful game that allows men to satisfy their aggressive instincts without shedding blood.

Law and order

But chess is not the same as in war. Necessity reigns here, and all figures are obedient to the will of the creator up to the willingness to sacrifice themselves for the sake of victory. Each one knows its place and available moves, and everything develops according to the iron laws of logic.

The lined and checkered chessboard has become something of a mysterious intellectual kingdom, a land of pure reason. And it is from this that the negative attitude towards chess, the fear of it, which is easy to notice in many works of artists, stems.

After all, the very idea of order is repugnant to the artist's creative nature. His whole life is a challenge against iron necessity, the invasion of the blessed chaos into the realm of life's routine. The world, shackled by chess captivity, is repugnant to the poet. That is why this image often pops up in films about great dictators; and one of the heroes of the Strugatsky brothers on the pages of the book "The Doomed City" had a chance to play fantastic, live chess with Stalin himself.

Space

But - not only negative feelings are caused in people by the desire to streamline the Universe. After all, it is so great, and man is so helpless … One will involuntarily grab the opportunity to put the Universe on the shelves.

Perhaps this was what the great mathematician and philosopher Rene Descartes, the inventor of coordinates, wanted. A universe divided into squares - is this not the greatest chess in the world? After all, the plane is infinite … And even more so - space. However, the chessboard can also be three-dimensional. And, of course, it can be round.

But, whatever it may be, to grasp some image in the chess structure means to order it, divide it into good and evil, into black and white. It remains only to place the pieces … To raise our eyes to the enemy … To raise the first modest pawn … Let the battle begin!