Chess and Racism

The police killing of George Floyd has triggered anti-racism protests around the world and has given rise to the movement #blacklivesmatter and have also highlighted the deep-rooted racism in the society and in the minds of the people.

The article aims at highlighting and analysing the racism that is existing in the game of chess and how it unknowingly starts creating a discrimination towards the colour 'black' in the minds of the people.

The Background

Chess, the game of strategy, played popularly worldwide by people from every age group, gender, religion and nationality. The history of chess can be traced back around 1500 years; started in the North of India and then spread throughout the Asian continent. According to the FIDE, the international governing body for chess and which is also responsible to define the laws of the game states that - The player with the white pieces commences the game and have a first move advantage.

This is the point where the deep-rooted racism in the field of sports gets highlighted, the point where discrimination, inequality and a psychological barrier, that white is superior to black gets highlighted!

The First Move Advantage

The first-move advantage in chess refers to the inherent advantage of the player (White) who makes the first move in chess. White has the advantage because White is one move ahead. Therefore, with perfect play by each side White will checkmate Black just one move before Black checkmates.

Statistically speaking, White's winning probability stands at 37.50%, Black's is 27.60% and Draw Game at 34.90% according to chessgames.com, an online database of every recorded professional chess game. This vast difference of results showcases a clear distinction in advantage for white over black

The Mind Games

The White player has an endless number of strategies to open with; gambits, defences and attacks, this gives white a clear chance to dominate the entire game. The black has to appropriately respond to what white has played. It is this restrictive nature of the game, where black’s strategy is dependent on that of white.

If described in simple words, the White controls and dominate the game most of the times and the Black generally defends and is highly dependent on White's move. The White always remain one move ahead of the Black or it will make more sense when written vice versa, the Black always remain one move behind that of White.

The games rules and strategies create an impression or an illusion in the mind of young people, the kids and even the senior citizens that the colour White is stronger, more powerful and is superior to the colour Black.in every aspect.

Racism in other Games

Chess is not the only game which has racism, take Carrom for instance; The person who strikes first gets white, also the white coin has a value of 20 points whereas black have a value of 10 points.

Racism can be found in the game of pool as well, the cue ball (White) aims at knocking the 8th numbered black ball off the table in order to win the game. This discrimination and imbalance in the rules lead to an incline towards the colour white and makes it superior to the black which later on might lead to racism.

Recent Developments

World chess champion Magnus Carlsen and Dutch rival Anish Giri took the iniciative of highlighting the existing racism in chess by taking part in a U.N. international campaign against racism "Move for Equality" The campaign shows the duo play a game with Carlsen making the opening move with the black pieces - instead of white - thereby breaking the age-old chess rule. The campaign celebrates the International Day for the elimination of Racial Discrimination which falls on March 21.

Conclusion

The game of Chess is just one medium through which we can highlight the existing deep-rooted racism, there are many more. Racism has its branches all across the fields and its high time we understand and acknowledge the sensitivity of the subject and take appropriate actions against it. The article could be concluded with...

"Racism will never end as long as White gets the first move advantage in the game of Chess."

Thank you for reading!