Regis Wa
Why enjoy chess?
Chess is a fun game. Winning is more fun than losing.
Many players (myself included) purchase more books, CDs, and other materials than they fully use. Decades ago I picked up Polgar's Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games and while I highly recommend it, I wasn't able to blaze through it like Pandolfini, Waitzkin, Silman, de la Maza, or Brennan; and it lacks the compelling narrative present in Seirawan, Alburt, Nunn, Lasker, and Dvoretsky. While I'm nowhere near as prolific as Monokroussos, like many amateurs I have competed against masters in state and national championships. So why do players bother studying, traveling, and competing - what motivates a player to study, to learn, and to compete?
- Art / Aesthetic (curiosity and enjoyment)
- Wealth / Motivation (money and reputation)
- Sport / Self-motivation (ego and alter ego)
I'll address the simplest motivation first.
Wealth
Money or reputation motivates many people to do many things. This particularly holds true in the case of the bike-shed effect; people fiercely fight for what they believe they can control, and what could be easier to control than one's own moves? There isn't as much money in chess as there is in other sports, but the entry barrier to participation is low: anyone with access to a board and set can play, and any group of players can form a club and a team. While amateurs won't profit from playing, at least they can meet many friends along their journeys.
Art
Chess is an art inspiring countless derivates. A handful of pieces can create difficult puzzles, and problemists compose new rules! The knight and pawn's movements as well as the castling and stalemate rules are complex; without these, chess wouldn't be the same.
For a serious treatment of chess as art, please see the World Chess Hall of Fame or any museum with a chess exhibit.
Sport
Players can compete either directly against each other, or against graded puzzles in magazines, books, CDs, etc. Players frequently share their wins and draws, or their stories about "the one that got away". Honestly, I just wanted to share this game, but figured the blog post could be more interesting if I tried to not make it about myself. Oh well, you've gotten this far so you'd better enjoy it!
Truly, this was a fun game and one of my better endgames, even if I saw the winning 61. Ne7+ then immediately stopped paying attention and forgot about it. So it goes.
Photo credit: Regis Wa
