Chess Is Art!

Chess has often been described as a mix of sport, art and science. This laconic definition long ago became an axiom for many generations of chess players. However, in the last 20 years or so, things changed dramatically. Yes, it is still sport; just look at the ESPN-like coverage of any major chess event. And since computers play an ever-growing role in chess with every passing day, no one will argue with the science part.

But what about art? Here is what GM Garry Kasparov writes about GM Mikhail Tal's annotations for his game versus GM Bobby Fischer in 1959 Candidates Tournament: "Well, at that time it was customary to turn any annotated game into a poem, whereas now the impassive machine instantaneously..." and Kasparov goes on to quote an engine variation which kills Tal's poem.

There was once a lengthy discussion in the Chess.com forum titled "Chess is not art" which started with this statement: "Why do people say that chess is an art? Chess is pretty much the complete opposite of art." While it is difficult to argue with Kasparov that computers can indeed kill the artistic side of chess, our favorite game still has a rich culture and history which should preserve chess as a form of art. Let me show you some examples from the recently-concluded 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournament.

First, this game between GMs Gukesh Dommaraju and Fabiano Caruana:

What will the engine tell you about the 14.b4 move? That it is the third best move after 14. Rab1 (+0.42) and 14.b3 (+0.33) and the evaluation now is +0.30. Very exciting, right? But every chess move has its own story, and cold engines cannot tell you these stories! When I saw the move 14.b4 played in this game, I immediately remembered its old relative played in the following famous game:

This boring game looks like a typical "grandmaster draw" and yet it has its own distinctive story. Before this round, GM Mikhail Botvinnik was so far ahead of the field that a draw in this game against GM Max Euwe would guarantee Botvinnik the world championshipe with three rounds to spare! Here is a rough translation from his book The Episodes Of Chess Battles of what happened after he played 14.b4:

Here I felt like I couldn't play anymore and offered my opponent a draw. At this point Euwe's tournament situation was quite joyless, so I had no doubt that he would accept my offer. To my astonishment Euwe answered that he would like to keep playing. I got mad and my fighting spirit came back to me. "Fine", I said, "We'll keep playing." At this very moment Euwe sensed a complete change of the situation and shook my hand congratulating me with my win of the tournament."

You can see this moment at the following documentary at 0.55:

But the story doesn't end here. Botvinnik wrote that organizers realized that they didn't film the historic moment when the move 14.b4 was played, the move that brought the Soviet Union the world championship. Unfortunately, at this point new world champion already left the playing area to celebrate his success. Luckily, the person who showed the game on a giant demo board had a very similar suit, so they asked him to make the historic move 14.b4 for their documentary.

Therefore, as Botvinnik points out, the viewers had no idea that the hand that played 14.b4 in the documentary wasn't Botvinnik's! It is a pity that I was not able to find the documentary where the moment the move b4 was played is shown. Maybe this episode was cut after all.

Anyway, the story of the move 14. b4 is still not over yet! According to Botvinnik, IM Elisaveta Bykova took this b4 pawn with her as a talisman in hope that it would help her to become a world champion as well. And indeed, she won the Women's World Championship five years later! Moreover, IM Yakov Estrin, the person who made the historic 14.b4 move for the documentary and therefore touched this magic pawn, also became a world champion in correspondence chess!

Now tell me if Gukesh should have played the best computer move 14.Rab1, or the lucky move 14.b4?

Meanwhile, in the Women's Candidates Tournament, the following very dramatic game was extremely important for two players who entered the round tied for second place, GMs Aleksandra Goryachkina and Lei Tingjie:

Of course the "impassive computer" instantly shows the moment where White could make a draw:

Humorously, in a previous Women's Candidates Tournament, GM Kateryna Lagno had the opportunity to use exactly the same idea against GM Tan Zhongyi. Here is how that game ended:

But here is the amazing draw that she missed:

When you look at the amazing white knights who accomplished their "Mission: Impossible" you almost want to tell them "Atta boy, great job!" But part of me feels sorry for the black pawns. They are moving towards their lifelong dream of becoming a queen and, right at the moment when their dreams come true, they get killed due to a knight fork.

It reminds me of the final scene of the movie The Professional where the protagonist played by Jean-Paul Belmondo gets killed one step from the helicopter waiting for him. The heavenly music by legendary composer Ennio Morricone amplifies the dramatic effect.

Now play through the following composed problem by IM Vitaly Chekhover which shows the same idea: a knight moves away from a passed pawn only to kill it at the very last moment. While you are supposed to root for White and their brave knight, look at the situation from Black's perspective. Play the moves slowly and watch how Black's pawn moves closer to her dream while already in the crosshairs. And when she queens only to get killed due to the fork, you can imagine the black king yelling "Noooo!" as his cry slowly fades away in Morricone's music.

Now you know my opinion on this subject. Yes, chess is sport and science, but as long as humans keep playing our wonderful game, it will remain art as well!