White moves first; is chess racist?

CHULA VISA, California — Chess is one of the most remarkable games of recorded history; its roots can be traced back to an ancient Egyptian game of Senet, which dates back to the era of the New Kingdom (1550-1077 B.C.E.); the focus of this game is associated with the soul’s journey to the afterlife.[1]

Some historians think chess probably originated in India, before the 6th century C.E. And from India, the game spread to Persia. After the Muslims conquered Persia, chess spread to Southern Europe. Chess is a game that has always evolved. Today, there are many variants of chess where new pieces have been introduced. Some chess variants have only six squares; others have 15 vertical rows consisting of 6 spaces. In India, originally, the pieces were colored red and black. But today, the pieces are white and black.

Given the assault on “whiteness” that we see today, some people of the ultra-left claim that chess is a racist game since it pits the “whites” vs. the “blacks.” To certain individuals, this game accentuates the problems some see in race relations. To make matters further complicated, the white pieces go before the black pieces. This is perceived by those who consider themselves “woke” (people who are super-sensitive to racism) as a “racially biased.”

One of my favorite websites for analyzing chess games is Antonio Radic’s ‘Agadmator’s Chess Channel.[2] It is absolutely a wonderful website for those who love studying the classic games of chess. Being a master-leveled player, Radic’s fluent but accented English makes chess really enjoyable. He has over 700,000 subscribers.

Then right after the tragic death of George Floyd, the censors from YouTube flagged one of Agadamator’s games for inappropriate content.[3]

Inappropriate content?! What could possibly be inappropriate about a chess game between two grandmasters? Apparently, Radic observed, “White is better than black in this game.” I thought he might have said, “White has a superior position!” Whatever the case might have been, the game was censored. Radic appealed but to no avail.

Let us return to one of our original questions: Is chess racist? This question was recently posed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to the famous former world champion Gary Kasparov and he bluntly said, “This is pure bullsh**t . . .“If you are worried that the game of chess is racist, please take up Go, where black moves first, instead of looking foolish by wasting taxpayer money at a state broadcaster to ‘investigate’ it!” the 57-year-old tweeted.[4] Another grandmaster John Adams told the Daily Telegraph, “The ABC has taken the view that chess is RACIST given that white always go first. Trust the taxpayer-funded national broadcaster to apply ideological Marxist frameworks to anything and everything in Australia!”

Although the Marx Brothers were famous for their slapstick style of comedy, the same cannot be said about Marxists, who rarely show a sense of humor. Their serious nature and critical view of the Western World and Western Civilization sees class-warfare and racism in just about everything.

Then again, consider the famous story about Captain Ahab and the Great White Whale of Moby Dick. Should the woke crowd of professors ban this book because Herman Melville’s novel has a chapter on the “Whiteness of the Whale” (Chap. 42) where Ishmael contemplates the conflicting resonances of whiteness, in terms of the whale’s sleek beauty and existential terror?

Ishmael, the only surviving crewmember of the Pequod, explains what Moby Dick meant to him at the time of the voyage. He notices that above all, it was the whiteness of the whale that appalled him. The sole survivor of the ill-fated ship has a chapter where he discusses “whiteness” by noting its use as a symbol of virtue, nobility, and racial superiority. To him, the color white only multiplies the terror when it is attached to any object already “terrible” in and of itself, such as a shark or polar bear.

I suspect many academics would like to ban Moby Dick because of this controversial chapter.

One suspects that Gone with the Wind will have other great literary works such as Moby Dick join it in the dustbin of wokeness. Yet, one of the most important reasons why history needs to be studied is so that we do not repeat the same mistakes of the past. Great literature gives us a panoramic view of an era that is removed from us today. It creates an opportunity for the generations to discuss how history has changed. Eliminating the symbols, monuments, and literature of history leaves us feeling as though we are only products of the present. We need to understand history if we are going to create a better world today.

Recently, some real estate agents said they are no longer going to refer to the “Master Bedroom,” but what about painting the rooms of a house white? Is that a sign of racism too? Is the White House itself a symbol of racism since it celebrates the beauty of whiteness? People concerned about the cultural associations of colors and race, unfortunately, see racism in just about everything.

It seems to me that racism, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

In the beginning of this article we touched on the question of whether chess is racist or not. If chess is objectionable because of the duality of blacks vs. white pieces, why stop with chess, what about the majority of white keys that are on a piano? What kind of message does that send to young impressionable piano students?

Thirty-eight years ago, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder released the song “Ebony and Ivory” in 1982. It is in my opinion, one of the greatest songs ever written—one that is especially apt for our time. “Ebony and Ivory” quickly became an instant global hit that reached #1 on both the U.S. and U.K. charts.

The lyrics are worth mentioning again:

Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord, why don’t we?
We all know that people are the same wherever you go
There is good and bad in ev’ryone
We learn to live, when we learn to give
Each other what we need to survive, together alive
Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord why don’t we?
Ebony, ivory, living in perfect harmony
Ebony, ivory, ooh
We all know that people are the same whereever you go
There is good and bad in ev’ryone
We learn to live, when we learn to give
Each other what we need to survive, together alive
Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord…

Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney’s song has an altruistic message; their message is perhaps more meaningful today than it was back in 1982 when the race relations were on an upside.

NOTES

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senet

[2] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL5YbN5WLFD8dLIegT5QAbA

[3] https://extra.ie/2020/07/02/news/world-news/chess-youtube-video-removed

[4] https://www.jpost.com/international/top-chess-personalities-slam-abc-for-questioning-if-chess-is-racist-632604

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Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel is spiritual leader of Temple Beth Shalom in Chula Vista. He may be contacted via michael.samuel@sdjewishworld.com