“Amazed that ABC is covering such meaningless topics.”

The discussion of racism, which has become almost universal in recent weeks, got to chess. Australian radio station ABC tried to raise the question: does prejudice contain a rule according to which white pieces always go first. However, the search for racist subtext in this game aroused only criticism from the chess community.

The fact that the radio station plans to raise a discussion on the topic of "racism" in chess, said on his Twitter a former representative of the Australian Chess Federation, John Adams. He refused to join the broadcast, as, in his opinion, there was no point in discussing this issue.

“The producer of an ABC radio station from Sydney just called me for a comment about chess. The radio station came to the conclusion that chess is a racist game, since whites always go first. They need a comment from a chess functionary about whether to change the rules of the game ... Given the tragic consequences of the coronavirus, I am amazed that ABC is covering such meaningless topics, ”Adams wrote.

Later, the former functionary expressed satisfaction that subscribers supported his position, and again criticized the radio station for choosing a topic for discussion.

“I was told that against the background of everything that happened, they would like to discuss what white people go first, and whether they should go first, taking into account the racial context. The response to my tweet showed that common sense triumphs. People want the national broadcaster to focus on more pressing issues. They experience economic difficulties, health problems, they have to sit in quarantine. They don’t want their money to be spent on all kinds of nonsense, ”Adams said in a conversation with The Daily Telegraph.

“Some are asking on Twitter if the discussion of the racist aspect of chess is“ political correctness brought to absurdity, ”he added.

  • Gettyimages.ru

The program, dedicated to white and black pieces in chess, was still aired by ABC, but its host James Valentine said that he only wanted to discuss some issues without raising the topic of “racism” in the game. The guest of the radio station was a member of the Australian Chess Federation Kevin Bonham, who also denied speculation about a possible racist subtext in the sequence of moves of white and black pieces.

“The figures themselves do not represent teams consisting of players of different races, they only conditionally depict opponents in military uniforms of different colors, if that will be more clear to you,” Bonham reminded.

The specialist also noted that it does not matter in chess who goes first - white or black. Existing rules are necessary only in order to clearly determine who made the first move with a visual representation of the parties.

Black's first move and the party against racism

The rules of the International Chess Federation unequivocally require that the player with white pieces make the first move, after which the opponent playing black could start the game. However, this was not always the case.

Until the second half of the 19th century, it was assumed that the first move could be made by a black chess player. In the famous "Immortal Party", played in 1851, Adolf Anderssen went first, but used black pieces, while his opponent Lionel Kiziritsky played white. In the future, for a more convenient analysis of this legendary game, their colors “changed”.

Chess theorist George Walker in 1841 proposed using the rule that the player who got the right to go first chose the color of the pieces. But in the future, the tradition that the player with the white pieces started the game began to spread, which became a mandatory rule over time.

Interestingly, world champion Magnus Carlsen and Dutch grandmaster Anish Geary once decided to break it. In the spring of 2019, on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, they held a party in which the Norwegian walked as the first black pieces.