World Chess Championship 2018: Where’s it going?

No American has ever won the World Chess Championship, since Bobby Fischer’s win in 1972. By the end of this month, we shall know if Fabiano Caruana will make America great again. Like Fischer, even Caruana is from Brooklyn, the most populous borough of New York City. And like Fischer’s win had done then, many are hoping that, possibly with Caruana’s win now, there would be an explosion of interest in ‘Chess’ once again, in the United States. And that young people would favourably view this cherished game of mental agility.

‘Chess is the gymnasium of the mind’ some people say. But sadly, in these times of instant gratification, ‘mind sports’ which requires time and patience are often overlooked in favour of those with quick rewards. And the value of this game is being eroded by the 21st century busyness of our generation. In the World Championship, currently being played in London, Magnus Carlsen from Norway is defending the title he had held since 2013, when had beaten India’s Viswanathan Anand. In fact, Carlsen successfully defended his title once again, against Anand in 2014 and against Sergey Karjakin in 2016. He is now battling it out with Caruana, the US hopeful.

Held from November 9 to November 28, this championship – which has become biennial since 2014 - is a three-week, twelve-game match. What I found interesting and somewhat shocking is this. On Monday evening (19 November) Game 8 turned out to be a draw. Just like all the earlier seven games. And it’s now a ‘four-all’ dead-lock. So, it is unclear how the remaining four games will decide who the World Chess Champion for 2018 would be. Game 9 will start on November 21 and those interested can follow the four remaining games live at: www. chess.com/wcc2018.

Both grandmasters have been giving it their best. And the Norwegian Carlsen, in many games, had to actually defend himself, and save himself from losing, by managing to play to a draw. “Chess requires a lot of stamina,” says his US rival Caruana in TIME magazine (19 Nov 2013). “You’re playing six, seven hours at a time. You’re burning a lot of calories, and you can easily get mentally tired. If your physical form is not good, then you’re likely to crash at some point.” That is why, perhaps, he had had severe physical training in summer, with jogging, shooting hoops, and playing tennis.

This event is actually held by FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs) or World Chess Federation, an international organisation that connects the various national chess federations around the world. In this country, the Bahrain Mind Sports Association, founded in 1999, has been overseeing the conduct of the game of Chess, along with other games like Checkers, Scrabble and Bridge. I am particularly proud that a community club to which I belong, here in Bahrain, conducts an Annual Open Chess Championship every year.

This FIDE-rated tournament is being organised by TKS (Telugu Kala Samithi) in association with BMSA and sponsored by Devji Jewellers, for many years now. But then, that is beside the point. Coming back to Caruana. Will he, who hasn’t won a world championship yet, win, and join the ranks of Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov, Antoly Karpov, Boris Spassky, Viswanathan Anand and Vladmir Kramnik? Only seven Americans are currently in the top 100 of the world chess rankings. And that is one reason why the US needs a ‘Caruana win’, to boost the national interest in the game.

And who knows? Maybe then, the terms ‘English opening’ or ‘queen’s gambit’, ‘Trompowsky’s attack’ or ‘Sicilian defence’ will become more popular in US. And the country would wage wars on the chess board, than on the world map.