Chess and Islands - A contemplation by chess guru Jim Stevenson

For my latest blog, chess instructor, and member of the Hammersmith Chess Club, Celtic Tigers and the Scottish seniors' chess team, Jim Stevenson, has kindly sent an entertaining contemplation on his island travels to compete in tournament chess, memories of old masters and exciting news about new ones.

Jim writes:

Barbara invited me to write a short piece touching on the theme of chess and islands. My meandering tournament chess travels have taken me to several delightful island locations over the years. Whether that be in one of my favourite sunny getaway destinations, for example Malta, where we played in a grand, but faded old hotel which perhaps had seen better days, and whose claim to fame was having featured in one of the earlier James Bond movies. Or perhaps in one of the more unusual locations for an international chess event; Stornoway on the island of Lewis, where the famous Norse chess pieces were discovered. 

I've even played a round of the Scottish championships in the National museum of Scotland, surrounded by an impressive collection of the boney, Lewis artifacts. Is it possible that similar discoveries could yet be found on Orkney and the other islands spread across the Viking invaders, route?

There is another connection between chess and islands. Chess theory talks about "pawn islands", this being the term used to describe groups of connected pawns. The fewer of these you have, the better your position, or so they have decreed since the days of world champion José Raoúl Capablanca, a century ago. That's a little bit unfair on islands, as I'm sure Orcadians would agree.

In the world of chess we are eagerly awaiting the upcoming World Championship match scheduled to begin this week in Dubai. Many of us can still vaguely recall the legendary duel between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky, which briefly made chess front page news half a century ago and which got me interested too. Or the ensuing bitter power struggles between  Soviet (and an ex-Soviet defector) superstars Victor Korchnoi, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov. Chess was controversial then, with larger than life, antagonistic personalities infused with a colourful backdrop of world politics, meddling, mystic gurus and KGB trained parapsychologists, along with coded cartons of yoghurt. They even made a hit West End musical about it all.

Fast forward a few decades and all is now so sanitised and business-like. The current champion, former Norwegian wunderkind Magnus Carlsen, has reigned serenely for almost a decade, winning his last championship match in a lamentable blitz (high speed) play-off a tense 0-0 tie against his American challenger, Fabiano Caruana. Dutifully adhering to the well-worn 'chess is insufferably dull' stereotype, they actually played out a dozen increasingly cautious draws as the match unfolded. Yet there was no sense of drama as everyone, no matter how little they followed grandmaster chess, knew who would blink first.

For as Magnus had indicated in interviews long in advance, he was supremely confident that he would win any play-off due to his iron nerves and superior technique at high speed, sudden death chess. This proved to be an accurate assessment as he won the tie break 3-0 in short order. But chess is not football: major championships should definitely not be decided by the equivalent of a penalty shootout. Fischer versus Spassky it was not.

Magnus tries his best to make chess popular and 'normal'. He plays sports well, enjoys a beer, used to do a bit of modelling work, earns plenty of money and scowls and curses with relaxed, fashionable flair.

He even topped eight million players to briefly lead the fantasy premier league a few years ago, which is arguably harder to achieve than winning the World Chess Championship! But alas, his chess is just too sound and solid, too technically accurate and superior, to be understandable or interesting to the general public.

But now we have a new challenger. The splendidly named Ian Nepomniachtchi. 'Ian' is contained within 'island' , now there is a truly tenuous link. Try spelling or even pronouncing Nepomniachtchi after a glass or two of decent red. Or better still, try spelling it in Russian. 

Nepo is a refreshingly loose cannon in the rather rarified air of top grandmaster chess. The man-bun sporting, rarely completely shaved Russian star plays wonderfully dynamic and occasionally unpredictably wild chess and is a speed demon to rival Magnus himself.The protagonists are about the same age, Nemo born six months earlier in 1990 and in their junior years he initially had the better head to head record between them.

It should be a stirring battle. A genuine clash of styles. If the Russian takes an early lead, it should be a very close contest. Especially if he can drag Carlsen onto the dangerous rocks of his thoroughly prepared opening schemes, he has excellent practical chances. Will we see a return to the age of Fischer against Kasparov, a new champion playing classic openings like the fabled Grünfeld Defence and the Najdorf Variation, aiming to win with the black pieces? I'm told that chess players of a certain vintage pine nostalgically for this.

Absolutely nothing against Magnus, who has been a great and worthy champion, but I will be rooting for Nepo. If you have a spare moment, I recommend you follow the match. Who knows, perhaps it will rekindle your interest in the ancient, but now once again quite fashionable, game.