Ajedrez: Un complejo juego de habilidad
Una principal atracción del ajedrez es su complejidad, la cual puede ser fascinante. El ajedrez y el juego de damas se juegan sobre la misma clase de tablero... uno que está dividido en sesenta y cuatro casillas o escaques, con ocho filas de ocho escaques cada una. Pero en el ajedrez hay muchas más jugadas posibles. Por citar un ejemplo, ¡se dice que hay tantas como: 169.518.829.100.544.000.000.000.000.000.000 maneras de hacer las diez primeras jugadas! ‘¿Pero cómo son posibles tantas diferentes jugadas sobre un tablero que solo tiene sesenta y cuatro escaques?,’ quizás pregunte uno. Esto se debe a las diferentes clases de piezas que se usan en el ajedrez y a la variedad de movimientos que puede hacer cada una.
En el ajedrez participan dos jugadores oponentes, cada uno con un juego de dieciséis piezas. Estas incluyen ocho peones, dos caballos, dos alfiles, dos torres (algunas veces llamadas roques) y un rey y una reina. Estas seis diferentes clases de piezas tienen cada una un valor o fuerza diferente que se refleja en la variedad de movimientos que cada una puede hacer.
Los peones, por ejemplo, ordinariamente pueden avanzar hacia adelante en línea recta, un paso o casilla a la vez. Las torres mueven en línea recta hacia adelante, cualquier distancia hacia atrás u horizontalmente, tanto como lo permite el tablero. Los alfiles, similarmente, se pueden mover cualquier distancia en línea recta, pero solo diagonalmente. Los caballos, a diferencia de las otras piezas, solo pueden hacer un movimiento en forma de L. La reina, la pieza más fuerte del tablero, mueve en cualquier dirección hacia adelante, hacia atrás, horizontal o diagonalmente, tanto como lo permite el tablero.
El propósito de este arreglo de las piezas es el de defender a su rey y atacar al rey oponente. El juego se gana cuando a uno de los reyes se le da “jaque mate” y ya no se le puede defender con buen éxito. El jugador con el rey en jaque mate es así obligado a rendirse, con lo cual termina el juego.
Por lo tanto, es la diferencia de movilidad de las varias piezas lo que hace posible la enorme variedad de movimientos. Algunos dicen que la complejidad del juego y su dependencia de la habilidad del jugador hacen que el ajedrez atraiga a las personas cuyos trabajos seglares no están a la altura de sus capacidades intelectuales. “En el ajedrez no existe el elemento suerte,” explica Burt Hochenberg, editor de Chess Life & Review. “Uno no puede decir que la pelota rebotó en falso.”
Un juego altamente competitivo
Sin embargo, el oponer una mente contra la otra, con el elemento suerte completamente eliminado, tiende a suscitar un espíritu de competencia entre los jugadores de ajedrez. De hecho, frecuentemente se describe al ajedrez como una ‘lucha intelectualizada.’ Por ejemplo, el destronado campeón de ajedrez del mundo Boris Spassky declaró: “Por naturaleza no tengo un impulso combativo. . . . Pero en el ajedrez uno tiene que ser un luchador, y yo me convertí en uno por necesidad.”
Esto ayuda a explicar por qué no hay mujeres entre los principales jugadores de ajedrez... los más de ochenta grandes maestros del ajedrez son hombres. La actriz Sylvia Miles declaró con respecto a esto: “Para ser un jugador de ajedrez profesional, uno tiene que ser un asesino. Si el espíritu de competencia en las mujeres norteamericanas alguna vez llega a ser tan fuerte, entonces creo que tendremos algunas importantes jugadoras.”
El espíritu de competencia en el ajedrez puede alcanzar un alto grado de agitación, que se refleja en las actitudes y el lenguaje de los jugadores de ajedrez. “No hay comparación con ningún otro deporte en el esfuerzo por destruir la psiquis de su oponente,” explica el jugador de ajedrez Stuart Marguiles. “Nunca oí a nadie decir que venció a su oponente. Siempre es que lo aplastó, lo destruyó, lo mató o lo asesinó.”
Es cierto, quizás los jugadores con los que uno está familiarizado no usen esa clase de lenguaje. No obstante, el espíritu de competencia entre los jugadores puede llevar a consecuencias desagradables, como lo informó el verano pasado el Times de Nueva York: “La mayoría de las familias se las arreglan para confinar al tablero de ajedrez los inevitables conflictos que surgen en el juego. Pero en algunos hogares, las tensiones permanecen mucho después del jaque mate.”
leido en: g73 8/7 págs. 17-18
A major appeal of chess is its complexity, which can be fascinating. Chess and checkers are played on the same kind of board—one that is divided into sixty-four squares, with eight rows of eight squares each. But in chess there are so many more possible moves. Just for put an example, there are reportedly 169,518,829,100,544,000,000,000,000,000,000 ways of making the first ten moves! ‘But how are so many different moves possible on a board of only sixty-four squares?’ one might ask. This is due to the different kinds of pieces used in chess and the variety of moves each can make.
In chess there are two opposing players, each having a set of sixteen pieces, or men. These include eight pawns, two knights, two bishops, two rooks (sometimes called castles) and a king and a queen. These six different kinds of pieces each have different values or strengths, reflected by the variety of moves each can make.
The pawns, for example, can ordinarily move only straight forward, one step or square at a time. Rooks can move any distance forward, backward or sideways in a straight line, as far as their path is clear. Bishops, similarly, can move any distance in a straight line, but only diagonally. Knights, unlike other pieces, can only make an L-shaped movement. The queen, the strongest piece on the board, can move any distance forward, backward, sideways or diagonally, as far as her path is clear.
The purpose of this array of pieces is to defend their king and to attack the opposing king. The game is won when one of the kings is “checkmated” and can no longer be successfully defended. The player with the checkmated king is thus forced to surrender, ending the game.
So, then, it is the difference in mobility of the various pieces that makes possible such a tremendous variety of moves. Some say that the game’s complexity and dependence on player skill make chess appealing to those whose secular work does not come up to their intellectual capabilities. “In chess there is no chance element,” explains Burt Hochenberg, editor of Chess Life & Review. “You can’t say the ball took a bad bounce.”
However, pitting one mind against another, with the element of chance eliminated entirely, tends to stir up a competitive spirit in chess players. In fact, chess is frequently characterized as an ‘intellectualized fight.’ For example, dethroned world chess champion Boris Spassky noted: “By nature I do not have a combative urge. . . . But in chess you have to be a fighter, and of necessity I became one.”
This helps to explain why there are no topflight women chess players—the more than eighty chess grand masters in the world are all men. Actress Sylvia Miles observed regarding this: “To be a professional chess player, you have to be a killer. If the spirit of competition in American women ever does become that strong, then I think we’ll get some major female players.”
The spirit of competition in chess may be stirred to fever pitch, which is reflected in chess players’ attitudes and language. “There’s no comparison in any other sport in the attempt to destroy your opponent’s psyche,” explains chess player Stuart Marguiles. “I never have heard anybody say that he beat his opponent. It’s always that he smashed, squished, murdered or killed him.”
True, players with which one may be acquainted may not use such language. But, nevertheless, the spirit of competition between players can lead to unpleasant consequences, as the New York Times last summer reported: “Most families manage to keep the inevitable conflicts that arise in games to the chessboard. But in some homes, tensions linger long past checkmate.”
Read in: g73 8/7 págs. 17-18
A Complex Game of Skill
A major appeal of chess is its complexity, which can be fascinating. Chess and checkers are played on the same kind of board—one that is divided into sixty-four squares, with eight rows of eight squares each. But in chess there are so many more possible moves. Just for put an example, there are reportedly 169,518,829,100,544,000,000,000,000,000,000 ways of making the first ten moves! ‘But how are so many different moves possible on a board of only sixty-four squares?’ one might ask. This is due to the different kinds of pieces used in chess and the variety of moves each can make.
In chess there are two opposing players, each having a set of sixteen pieces, or men. These include eight pawns, two knights, two bishops, two rooks (sometimes called castles) and a king and a queen. These six different kinds of pieces each have different values or strengths, reflected by the variety of moves each can make.
The pawns, for example, can ordinarily move only straight forward, one step or square at a time. Rooks can move any distance forward, backward or sideways in a straight line, as far as their path is clear. Bishops, similarly, can move any distance in a straight line, but only diagonally. Knights, unlike other pieces, can only make an L-shaped movement. The queen, the strongest piece on the board, can move any distance forward, backward, sideways or diagonally, as far as her path is clear.
The purpose of this array of pieces is to defend their king and to attack the opposing king. The game is won when one of the kings is “checkmated” and can no longer be successfully defended. The player with the checkmated king is thus forced to surrender, ending the game.
So, then, it is the difference in mobility of the various pieces that makes possible such a tremendous variety of moves. Some say that the game’s complexity and dependence on player skill make chess appealing to those whose secular work does not come up to their intellectual capabilities. “In chess there is no chance element,” explains Burt Hochenberg, editor of Chess Life & Review. “You can’t say the ball took a bad bounce.”
Highly Competitive Game
However, pitting one mind against another, with the element of chance eliminated entirely, tends to stir up a competitive spirit in chess players. In fact, chess is frequently characterized as an ‘intellectualized fight.’ For example, dethroned world chess champion Boris Spassky noted: “By nature I do not have a combative urge. . . . But in chess you have to be a fighter, and of necessity I became one.”
This helps to explain why there are no topflight women chess players—the more than eighty chess grand masters in the world are all men. Actress Sylvia Miles observed regarding this: “To be a professional chess player, you have to be a killer. If the spirit of competition in American women ever does become that strong, then I think we’ll get some major female players.”
The spirit of competition in chess may be stirred to fever pitch, which is reflected in chess players’ attitudes and language. “There’s no comparison in any other sport in the attempt to destroy your opponent’s psyche,” explains chess player Stuart Marguiles. “I never have heard anybody say that he beat his opponent. It’s always that he smashed, squished, murdered or killed him.”
True, players with which one may be acquainted may not use such language. But, nevertheless, the spirit of competition between players can lead to unpleasant consequences, as the New York Times last summer reported: “Most families manage to keep the inevitable conflicts that arise in games to the chessboard. But in some homes, tensions linger long past checkmate.”
Read in: g73 8/7 págs. 17-18
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