Chess is more global as Muslim countries make their mark

Fifty years ago this month, the world's eyes were trained on Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, where the American Bobby Fischer was playing against the Russian (then Soviet) Boris Spassky for the world chess championship title. It was the height of the Cold War, the US and USSR were at loggerheads, and the geopolitical significance of the 24-match clash, spread over nearly eight weeks, was considered so great that then National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger had to get on the phone to persuade a cantankerous Fisher to play after he complained about everything from prize money to TV cameras, arriving two days late after threatening to pull out.

Fischer eventually crushed Spassky 12.5-8.5 by the 21st game in what, in hindsight, was the triumph of individual brilliance against institutional strength. If the victory was expected to herald America as a chess power, it did not happen immediately. The USSR continued to dominate world chess, particularly since the eccentric Fischer disappeared into oblivion, eventually regaining the world crown through Karpov and Kasparov (albeit as a dissident).

The break-up of the Soviet Union scattered its many grandmasters across Russia and the breakaway states. The US too was a beneficiary of this, with some GMs eventually making their way to America. Today, Russia still has the highest number of GMs (250+); the USA is a distant second (103), with many of its GMs immigrants or children of immigrants. Ukraine, with 89 GMs is also a powerhouse, as are many European nations such as Germany (94), Spain (57), and France (53).

The real surprise though is India -- considered the birthplace of chess -- which got its first Grandmaster (Vishy Anand) only in 1988, and added two more (Dibyendu Barua and Pravin Thipsay) by the turn of the century. In the two decades since, this elite cohort has grown to 75, its 75th GM coming last week a week shy of the country's 75th Independence Day. China too is a powerhouse, racking up more than 50 GMs.

The politics surrounding chess too has changed. Gone is the superpower clash that pitted the US and USSR. Instead, in keeping with what has become a multipolar world, many nations that are adversarial in the geopolitical field jostled for supremacy at the Chess Olympiad 2022 that concluded in Chennai this past weekend. Although Russia and China did not compete, countries such as the USA, Iran, Israel, Palestine, Azerbaijan, and Armenia battled it out for primacy. While the vastness of the field (187 countries participated) meant many bitter adversaries did not clash directly in the 11-round format, there were notable face-offs such as USA v Iran, Armenia v Azerbaijan, Czech Republic v Slovakia etc, without any overt pathology.

One of the best things to happen to the Olympiad was that almost all Islamic nations participated (only Pakistan pulled out objecting to the Olympiad torch passing through Kashmir), after a brief injunction some years ago in some countries by clerics who regarded chess as "haram." In fact, Muslim nations now have some of the strongest teams in the world, and it came as no surprise that Uzbekistan, with GMs such as the prodigiously talented brothers Absulsattorov and Yakkubboev Nodirbek,

Blurb: In keeping with what has become a multipolar world, many nations that are adversarial in the geopolitical field jostled for supremacy at the Chess Olympiad 2022