It is astounding to contemplate that a game like chess, often played within four walls, can have geographical underpinnings across time and space. From a historico-geographical perspective, the game was invented in India as 'chaturanga', spread to Persia as 'Shatranj', took the North African-Spanish route and flourished in Western Europe as chess. An iconographic analysis of the names of chess pieces reflects the socio-political situation that surrounded the game. Gajah (war elephant), as one of the dominant pieces, speaks about the Indian military strategy, and Mantri (Minister), positioned close to protect the king, reflects the administrative set-up during those times. Over time, these pieces evolved into a bishop and a queen, respectively. Moreover, the queen, being the most powerful piece, corroborated the increasing prominence of women in Western European courts.
Stepping into the Cold War era, chess emerged as a strategic playground for geopolitics. The USSR held a dominant position in Chess until Bobby Fischer, a young United States Grandmaster (GM), defeated Spassky in what has been hailed as 'The Game of the Century'. Thus, a sixty-four-squared checkered rectangle transformed into a battleground for dominance between the two Blocs. Today, the essence of geopolitical dominance is palpable, with the Indian GM Gukesh D defeating the Chinese counterpart Ding Liren for the World Chess Championship. The match underscored the 'power' that circumscribes both nations, setting the stage for the two developing superpowers to venture into a sphere of dominance in the coming years.
In the Indian context, chess exudes a distinct regional character, with the state of Tamil Nadu producing 31 out of the 85 GMs of the country. This is primarily credited to the Indian chess legend Vishwanath Anand, who clinched five World Championships in the first decade of the 21st century. His achievements set the stage for India's emergence as a global player in chess and fostered the expansion of chess culture in his home state. The fervour for chess reached its zenith in the region when the World Chess Olympiad was hosted in the city of Chennai in 2022. The cityscape was adorned with white and black, with murals at major public attractions. Chess had found its home in India once again, and the city of Chennai was hailed as 'The Mecca of Indian Chess.'
The controversy around venue selection for the World Chess Championship 2024 had once again solidified spatial attributes around the game of chess. The proposed site, New Delhi, was changed at the last moment to Singapore. This was done to neutralize the 'home advantage' ascribed to the Indian GM Gukesh D, had the match been played in the country of his origin. The incident confirms spatial politics around topophilia, a term that refers to the strong sense of place and attachment to a particular location. The paranoia about not playing in India cannot be deemed unreasonable, given the country's phenomenal acculturation of chess. India has been minting GMs more than any country in the world. The podium finish in both the open and women's categories at the World Chess Olympiad 2024 is a testament that India is a fertile ground for nurturing sporting talent that can have a reverberating impact on the global sports landscape.
Furthermore, the digital growth of chess post-COVID-19, the embodiment of chess players, and the role of Chess in place-making are several other dimensions that can be explored in this direction. Overall, a spatial interpretation of Chess can help administrators, scholars and policy makers to find the causational factors behind the variance of chess participation at the national scale. A spatial framework can contribute to the culture of Chess and other sports in India.
(Arnav Anshuman is a PhD Research Scholar at the Department of Geography, University of Delhi. He is academically engaged in sports, ethnography and everyday life. He calls himself a big-time foodie, a chess addict and an expert at starting conversations)