Black-and-white thinking
November 8, 2018 |
One bishop’s head had an annoying habit of separating from his body. The churchman’s entourage, clad like him entirely in white, was equally scruffy. And not much better could be said for their black counterparts, with whom they shared a rough-sawn wooden home.
When unboxed and arrayed together, however, they became marvelous.
Relics of my father’s childhood, they offered me my first acquaintance with chess (and bishops, for that matter). I learned all their names, each one’s peculiar way of moving, and how to think a few moves ahead—plus how to reconnect heads with bodies.
For me, those battered wooden chess pieces evoke not only fond family memories but also the wondrously tactile character of an age-old game better renowned for its mental intricacies. I hope someday to inherit them.
This week both the physical and the intellectual aspects of chess were on display in the Conaton Board Room, as chess master Russell Wilson worked circles around the room, simultaneously playing numerous opponents—including students in Adam Konopka’s first-year-seminar on chess as well as other members of our Xavier community.
Other duties kept me from witnessing the event on Tuesday. If the same was true for you, don’t despair. Both Adam’s seminar and the “simul” game will return next semester.
It’s part of our new Queen City Classic Chess on Campus partnership with the Cris Collinsworth ProScan Fund, building upon the non-profit organization’s impressive Chess in Schools program through which hundreds of Cincinnati’s children first encounter the empowering game in their own schools.
So if you too have an old chess set that you’ve neglected for too long, now’s a great time to reacquaint yourself with its pieces. Oh—and keep your eyes open while you walk across campus in the months ahead. You may just see chess boards start to appear.
David Mengel
