Suresh Subrahmanyan 

 While I cannot totally admit that the game of chess is a closed book to me, it can be safely stated that beyond being aware of how each of the pieces moves on the chess board, I will not be able to claim even the slightest degree of proficiency. On the odd occasion, I have made a few smart moves with a friend. Within five minutes of the start of the game, I hear the words “check mate,” not uttered by me and it’s all over in a trice. After that, I don’t have the heart to play further.

Under these circumstances, following the game has also been an arduous task when international stars square off, timer at the ready. Several decades ago, one would follow world chess championships involving the likes of Spassky, Fischer, Karpov, Korchnoi and others, mostly from Eastern Europe countries, the American firebrand Fischer being an exception.

One reason for even distant interest in the game could have been that back then chess had a great deal of political significance. When Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky went eyeball to eyeball over the 64 squares for the world championships at Reykjavik in 1972 it was, in a sense, Richard Nixon taking on Leonid Brezhnev. In those days, chess was a metaphor for international intrigue. The chess wizards themselves were merely pawns, doing their masters’ bidding against the kings, queens and knights. The bishops were merely supplicants while the rooks stuck to the straight and narrow. In short, it was Communism vs Capitalism.

Things have changed now. Ever since Vishwanathan Anand had the world and India agog with his brilliant moves, India is now home to a profusion of international grand masters. In truth, many of them are mere boys and girls. It comes as no surprise, therefore that D. Gukesh, all of 18, is vying for the title of World Chess Champion against Chinese opponent Ding Liren in Singapore. And it promises to be a battle royal. India against China. If nothing else, I decided that out of sheer patriotism, I should follow this tournament for world chess glory. Particularly at a time when the two uneasy neighbours are exhibiting signs of a thaw.

That’s all very well but the first challenge was to figure out where to watch this board game, far removed from being a spectator sport. Research told me that YouTube was a good option. When I first tuned in, all I could see were the two protagonists just staring at each other. They were so still, not even the merest blink of an eye was in evidence.

After about six minutes of this fine imitation of still life, Gukesh suddenly came to life, got up and started walking around, which took his stock-still Chinese opponent completely by surprise. Gukesh went walking, then sat down. After a few minutes of perambulating, Ding too sat down and the two of them started again with the staring.

I am aware there are some rules governing how much time a player might take to make his move. Time was not pressing on them. Now that I was getting the hang of things, I decided I would scan the nation’s news front before returning to chess. Someone was complaining about the poor performance of the government with GDP clocking in at a miserable 5.4 percent. Is anyone really worried about GDP figures? Are we travelling or eating less because of the declining GDP? I rest my case.

Now back to chess. Amazing news from Singapore! Ding has moved his black pawn up one square to bravely confront Gukesh’s threatening bishop. It took 50 minutes but he seemed well-satisfied. Soon they went back to sitting and staring at each other. By now, Ding had committed to memory how many hairs there were on Gukesh’s face. Gukesh was at a disadvantage here because Ding appeared to be completely hairless, facially speaking. The prodigy from Tamil Nadu fell to humming one of A.R. Rahman’s latest tunes sotto voce. Ding was not pleased. At this point, I broke for lunch.

I then took a brief siesta and returned to the scene of action. In about 90 minutes, the two chess wizards had made as many as three moves between them. I decided to call it a day. Next morning’s papers revealed that Gukesh had outwitted Ding taking an overall lead of 6 games to 5, still 4 games of action to go. This short-lived lead was nullified the next day by Ding. That’s what happens with chess when you take your eyes away for a few hours.

I am now having second thoughts on how closely I wish to follow this time-consuming game. I think I will turn my attention to bridge, a card game about which I am clueless. Now to find that book on contract bridge by Edwin Kantar that my uncle presented to me 35 years ago. Will it be a bridge too far? Who can tell? In which case I shall take up Chinese checkers.

“Check mate.” That was Ding drawing level with Gukesh. The battle rages on.

(Suresh Subrahmanyan is a Bengaluru-based former advertising professional)