The Chess Files
The answers are out there.
By Jim Eade
Today’s chess mystery is: Is chess talent born or
created. Many people contend that
there are child prodigies in chess, just as there are in music and
mathematics. A story about the 19th
century American champion, Paul Morphy, seems to confirm this. He is said to have learned the game
simply by watching his father and uncle play. He reportedly astounded them by pointing out an illegal move
his father had made and his uncle had not noticed.
This would be impressive anecdotal evidence indeed, if a
similar story wasn’t told about the great Cuban champion, José Raúl Capablanca, as well. It seems that the only people convinced
of an innate ability to play chess well are chess players!
The
scientific evidence to date indicates that there is a definite correlation between chess ability and facility with
spatial relations. The hard truth
is that although you may be born with a predisposition to play chess well, you
still have to work at it.
If you have a chess mystery you would like solved, write to
me at jimeade@comcast.net, and I’ll
take a crack at it.
Today’s position was shown to me by my old friend the late Grand Master Arnold Denker. The
Denker Tournament of High School Champions is held every August. White mates in three moves.
Solution: 1. Qg4+ Bxg4 2. Rxh6+ gxh6 3. Bf7#
