Chess and Character
Sow a Thought;
You reap an Act.
Sow an Act;
You reap a Habit.
Sow a Habit;
You reap a Character.
Sow a Character;
You reap a Destiny!
- Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Which are the most important personality traits that help us to play good chess? Two, in my opinion: a sound character, and a sense of fun. In the context of over-the-board play, a sound character may be defined as one that stands stable, balanced, and focused throughout the game, irrespective of external pressures. Playing with a sense of fun is a little more complicated: it is part imaginative, part artistic, part enjoying the play itself, and part adventurous, all rolled into a correct mix, as necessary for a particular game or the player’s personality.
How do we unearth such qualities in a chess player during a game? By playing over the games, by understanding the flow of a game, and by picking out important moments. Not just following a game with assessments by the chess engines - a sad poor habit of our times - but by identifying crucial moments, and observing how strong players handle such moments.
As we watch the fascinating Candidates Tournament 2024 in Toronto, Canada unfold, some of the early fascinating moments are already a treat.
The very first round brought the top two seeds against each other: Americans Fabiano Caruana against Hikaru Nakamura. Caruana is obviously the bookies’ favourite in this tournament, while Nakamura is an amazingly resourceful player with a huge fan following all over the world. And the fireworks started very early!
Coaches all over the world have been teaching young children the fairy tale of how the Sicilian Najdorf was invented. That 5…a6 is actually a prelude to playing 6…e5, so as not to allow White the chance to play 6.Bb5 check. And here we are, as the cheeky Nakamura playing the very move 5...e5, which still is attached with a question mark in many Opening manuals! How do we call it? A bluff or a strong Grandmaster’s faith in his preparation. But Nakamura’s chess can hardly be constrained under such cliches, as he showed more brilliance as the game continued.
It is when Nakamura dazzles with 21…d5! that a young student of the game should watch and learn his lessons. Before this move, the position looked somewhat worrisome for Black, and he needed to come up with the best of the defences. Nakamura’s resourceful play saw the brilliant continuation 22.Rb4 Bc3 23.Rxb5 Rxb2!! showing his deep understanding of the tactical nuances of the position. After all, the game of chess is too deep and too brilliant to be constrained to be almost entirely depending on opening preparation.
Nakamura - early fireworks. Picture courtesy: FIDE / Michal Walusza.
In the first round, at one moment, it looked like young Praggnanandhaa was in dire straights, as White seemed to be threatening a checkmate with 33.Re8+ and threatening the black rook on f3 at the same time. But this was the precise moment when Pragg uncorked 32…Ne5!?
Faced with such threats to his own king, it is difficult for a player to keep his head and find such an imaginative and effective defence, but this is when a player shows his strength of personality. After all, defence is always more difficult than attack on the chessboard, and only cool heads can find such resources under pressure.
Praggnanandhaa - cool and imaginative. Picture courtesy: FIDE / Michal Walusza.
For a moment, place yourselves in the place of Ian Nepomniachtchi. He played the two previous world championships, against Carlsen and Ding Liren, and lost both. Almost no one predicted his chances favourably in the current tournament. But the 33-year-old Russian powerhouse is showing the same strength of personality over the board, casually setting aside any hints of difficulty in facing younger opponents, some of them almost just half his age.
Nepomniachtchi - bold and forceful. Picture courtesy: FIDE / Maria Emelianova.
It is not his score we are interested in - almost - but his attitude and courage over the board. In the second round, playing with white pieces, Nepo showed his mettle, playing with so much force and boldness. One look at the position after 20.h5!? and you will understand the strength of his personality. Playing one of the most important tournaments of his career, burning with ambition to fight for the World Champion title one more time, only a warrior with courage will approach a game in such a fashion. One look at white pieces will send any puritan of the game into a deep shock, with such scattering of the army and an exposed king. But when a chess player has nothing but courage and a desire to gamble his own fate, does he get rewarded. And rewarded he was, winning the game against Alireza Firouzja.
We can all claim that we understand the game of chess by using an analysis engine and try to summarize what happened in the game technically. But only by noting such important moments which reveal the players’ important decisions which reveal their inner characters, that a student of the game get to understand the strength of character and sense of adventure needed to play the game properly.
After all, what is a game of chess, but just one’s personality revealed through one’s moves.
