Chicago Chess 'Social Experiment'
Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
Lindia Paul of WBEZ91.5 profiles Cecil Locke whose chess party draws people of all backgrounds in Chicago. Are you up to a chess feature this weekend? (Photo left: (WBEZ/Linda Paul) Just south of the Art Institute, another Chicago cultural institution: The Touch and Go Chess Party.)
If you live anywhere near Chicago, no doubt you’ve seen the statues of two formidable lions guarding the entrance to the Art Institute.
But what you may not have noticed – or maybe you saw it, but didn’t know quite what to make of it – is another art installation of sorts, less than 300 feet from those famous lions.
Cecil Locke is the owner, founder and creator of the iconic ‘Touch and Go Chess Party” at the northeast corner of Jackson and Michigan Avenue.
This colorful one-of-a-kind display is basically a 26-foot-long outdoor chess and checkers table with Whirlygigs and teddy bears above, that spin and bob in the wind.
The space above the table is important to Locke. Tourists from all over the world, and locals too, take pictures of his creation, and he doesn’t want “negative space” above his chess display. He wants the photographs to be filled from top to bottom with beautiful objects and bright, happy colors like pink and yellow.
Artist and social experimenter Cecil Locke.“If you’re not an artist, you’ve got to be an engineer to build this,” he said. “Because it’s a lot of wing-nuts and you have to put things in sequence. It all boils down to electrical piping, hinges and wood.”
Locke studied art at Kennedy-King College and he describes his installation as a look at chess “through the eyes of an artist.” His street performer’s license allows him, in a sense, to perform chess in a public place, and others can join in if they want to.
“To me, it’s an experiment,” Locke said. “It’s an art project. “But it’s also a social experiment. You know, it’s what the public do when a highly decorated table is on a busy street corner.”
The demographic results of Cecil Locke’s experiment are impressive. There’s a steady stream of complete strangers who play chess together: Middle-aged men and women, young people, Asians, blacks, whites, Latinos. All this in a city that’s notoriously segregated.
Read more »Labels: cecil locke, chess feature, chicago chess, linda paul
Chess bridges an 83-year Gap!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
A quaint story for a chess-filled Sunday - Three times a week, the 88-year-old Porter man arrives at a children's club to teach the game of chess — and the art of gamesmanship — to eager and ready youngsters. He’s been playing the game for longer than most of their parents have been alive.
It is amazing what chess can do! There are 83 years between the two opponents, but nothing stops them from speaking to each other on equal terms across the chessboard.
Christofersen, who has an easy laugh, a piercing stare, untamed white hair and a wild beard, is hard to miss. He stands out like a vintage bottle of wine in a cellar full of Kool-Aid drink boxes.
He looks like Father Time himself. Pants hiked up high. Dapper yet dated suit jacket. A “Chess Master” button near his lapel.
These days, he lives with his son Paul Christofersen in Porter. Paul often drives his father to the Boys & Girls Club. On a busy day, his dad faces five or more young chess opponents.
“Checkmate,” the old man tells a dejected Isaac.
The boy shrugs but, as he’s been taught, shakes the old man’s hand as a girl watches on. Another young player, 10-year-old Jacob, sits down and takes his turn against the chess master sitting in the middle of the noisy play room.
Read the full story here!
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Labels: chess feature
Two nice chess feature stories from around the world
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
We like to read all the chess feature stories from around the world even if they have a very local flavour. Here are two simple and interesting chess features. Enjoy reading and marvelling how wonderful our game of chess is.
Blind Ambika Finds Peace Playing Chess
Twenty-five years ago when he took to chess, he never knew how to play the game and neither was interested in playing it. But now after two-and-a-half decades, he takes chess as his religion and has mastered the game of sixty four squares. Such is the story of Ambika Prasad Singh, a visually challenged chess player, who plays the game as a hobby and uses it as a tool to find peace.
Ambika was not blind by birth. It was when he was eight years of age that he contracted chicken pox and lost both his eyes due to the deadly disease. But he never used it as an excuse and did carry on with his life. “I never knew what happened to me. I was too small to actually feel dejected emotionally, but as time passed by I slowly realized and started feeling morally low. I took it as my fate and moved on with my life as there was nothing much I could do. I faced problem initially but with time, I learnt to live with it,” said Ambika. Read further here.
Chess contenders in a muted zone
The silent world of the chess player has reigned in the Millennium Hotel this week as 148 national and international players challenge each other in the Queenstown Chess Classic.
Distributed around the hotel's giant lobby each day since Sunday have been 74 chess boards with a player on each side making not a sound, as pawn, rook, bishop, knight, king or queen were moved on the boards. The players do not make eye contact. Some get up and walk around the room for a bit - others do not move an inch. There are national champions and others just learning, but they all have one thing in common and that is the chess code of silence. Read further here.
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Also see her personal blog at
Labels: blind chess, chess feature
Some chess anecdotes from Cuba!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hello everyone,
It's always charming to read chess news from Cuba. We found this nice chess article by Daaim Shabazz with some lovely old chess photos.
He writes: "The country has a rich chess culture for more reasons than having produced a World Champion in Jose Raul Capablanca. I visited the island of 11 million to better understand the economics, social dynamics and culture of the country. Cuba is a nation with a rich and storied history. Its chess history is not as eventful, but everpresent on the island. There is a compulsory chess program in the schools. Chess is fully entrenched in the culture as the Capablanca Chess Club on Infanta and Humboldt Street is bustling with activity during the afternoon. Thick smoke billows amidst the clicking sounds of chess clocks."
Polanica-Zdroj, 1967. Seated (L-R): Furman, Flohr, Euwe, Uhlmann, Hort. Standing (L-R): Arlamowski, S. Witkowski, Graetz, Horbacki, Orbaan, J. Schmidt, J. Adamski, R. Ortega, Kalarow, Filipowicz, Suttles, Liebert, Sliwa, Kuszewski, Kozlowski, Kostro, Turski.
"Chess was not only played in the club, but on the streets. Chess imagery was also seen on street murals and sculptures. There were also the famous photos in the Habana Libre Hotel of Bobby Fischer playing Fidel Castro and Che Guevara playing in a simultaneous exhibition. I met a security guard at the Hotel Colina and it turns out he was a chessplayer. He took me to Muraleandro to view the art district there. On the way, we saw street players playing blitz. I played two games and split them. The players were fair players, but apparently unschooled in openings."
"I visited the club several times and on the first day met a player named Vladimir Barreira who told me he was from Santiago and came to Havana to have a better shot at improving his economic lot. Some time later, I mentioned Olympiad medallist WGM Oleiny Linares-Napoles and he stated that she was a friend and also hailed from Santiago. I was told that there was a chess program on television."
"One afternoon, I happened to find a recap of a 1974 Olympiad game done by a female commentators..."
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com Labels: chess article, chess feature, chess in cuba
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