MARK RUBERY CHESS

The American GM, Yasser Seirawan, is known better these days for his online commentaries of major tournaments where his sage observations are sprinkled with many entertaining anecdotes.

In the book ‘Interview with a Grandmaster’ by Aaron and Claire Summerscale (2002) he fielded a question on why he decided to become a chess professional… “I think it’s really a simple answer. I really enjoy the game so very much. It’s full of endless possibilities, so endlessly entertaining. The other thing is that I really enjoy meeting other chess players and I believe in the chess world I have some enduring friendships. As a chess player I get to visit some wonderful places and meet some wonderful people which is why I knew by the age of 16 that this was a cool game and something I wanted to play professionally.

It’s a great hobby, a great sport and I have a nice life. However, as attractive as the lifestyle may be, it’s a risky one. It is really rather sad when you think that this is a sport, a game that really strengthens the mind and forces responsibility and reasoned though. It’s one the few things that does that. Chess is an intelligent game, simply not marketable to the general population. It’s too much like hard work and people are simply not prepared to work for their leisure.

Here in America one of the reasons that the big sports - football, baseball and basketball - are so popular, is because of people like Michael Jordan. He’s not just a cool person; he makes $47 million a year. And here, that makes you a hero, whether or not you score the winning shot. If our success is based on financial means, society will keep saying, loser, loser, to the chess players. It makes chess professionally very hard. Sometimes I feel like saying ‘OK mum, I’ll go back to school and become a doctor.” – Yasser Seirawan