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CHESS PRACTICE
- REFLECTIONS AND DEBATES -
- CHESS AND PHILOSOPHY -
This
column represent our lecture notes, after reading "Petite
philosophie du joueur d'échecs", by René Alladay, publied by
«©-2005 Éditions MILAN, France»:
«© Editions Milan - Petite Philosophie du Joueur d'Echecs"»
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«Petite philosophie du joueur d'échecs»
(«Little Philosophy of a chess Player»)
- Collection Philosophy Break -
by René Alladaye
"It's
difficult to imagine two activities wich
call for more brain-work than chess and
philosophy. Both of them demand a
reflection, an exchange, a dialogue, a
debate, in which each player or philosopher
tries to prove that his or her theory is the
right one. This title shows in which way pas-
sion his central element of both activities
and makes these accessible to the reader.
"
«©-2005 Éditions MILAN, France»
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Now
we invite you quickly to discover this interesting little book:
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"Petite philosophie du joueur d'échecs"
- By René ALLADAYE -
- 196 pages - Éditions Milan -
(Reviewed by Michel Bruneau)
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By
a natural propensity I have been personnaly leaded, for half a
century now, to investigate with passion and alternatively three
activities calling for a great brain-work, I mean mathematics,
philosophy and chess. Each of this three filds of human activity
has developped since many centuries its own history and its own
conceptual background.
Strange
and complex are relations existing between this three areas. The
main question I want to debate currently is the following:
mathematics, philosophy and chess are able to create, each for
itself, their own theories, indeed; but is it possible, for
one of this three disciplines, to intervene in two other fields?
It's true philosophy and mathematics are strongly connected (logic,
axiomatic, set theory etc...) and it's possible to find some
interesting relations between mathematics and chess (game theory,
algorithmic, endgames theories).
But
curiously relations between philosophy and chess are not so evident.
More precisely I don't beleive in a conceptual "philosophy of chess";
essentialy because, using the famous Robert James Fischer's quote:
"Chess is life". Only mathematics, algorithmic, data processing,
statistics etc... are able to investigate seriously the chess game
in itself; we mean lacking all human dimension. But clearly it's not
right concerning philosophy ... Then, paraphrasing a well known
adage, it's tempting to say: "Say me how you play chess and I say
you who you are"... In other words, "speak about Chess is ninety
nine percent speak about Man"
This
is according to previous arguments I not any longer conceal you how
I appreciate René Alladaye's fine book... In fact, the title is
sufficiently accurate and contains following significant words :
"petite" ("Little") and "joueur" ("Player") ... Reading the book,
you'll discover soon all their meaning. Now we get to the heart of
the subject.
The author: René Alladaye
René
Alladaye is a Normalian (from the French "Ecole Normale Supérieure",
also known as "Normale Sup'"). He is a lecturer at Toulouse-II in
American Literature. He devoted a great part of his spare time for
practicing chess competition and also investigating philosophical,
aesthetic and sports aspects of the "Noble game of Chess"... We
find this brief presentation on the cover of the book. And the
first line of the first page is: "Lorsque j'étais en classe de
quatrième...". Nevertheless don't believe at all this is an
autobiographical work in the traditional meaning.
René
Alladaye is rather discreet about his life, but he reveals clearly
himself through his rapports with the world and, in particular,
the singular world of his own centers of interest. Well, very soon
you'll discover Chess is actually the framework of the book. Not
simply chess, but this typical and singular Alladaye's way of
understanding chess. Consequently this "Little Philosophy" (not a
pretentious "Great" one!) is a very nice story writed "au fil
de la plume" that people may read like an enthralling novel!...
Perhaps
this one is a kind of Alladaye's story ... really, a "chess
player's story"... But this personal adventure is also an
exiting encounter with the range of coloured philosophic ideas
that needs any chess player to paint his conceptual univers.
Is it possible to describe a passion?
I
don't envisage to go through this rich book, in spite of its
conciseness, with a fine-tooth comb. Also, I prefer focus my
attention on some captivating philosophic themes roaming this
work like a deep respiration. Well, I think the first idea of
this nature is a reflection related to passion meaning. Is it
possible to speak rationally about human passions? Alladaye give
this subtil answer: «It's adacious, even hubristic, to explain a
passion, because that amounts to give a rational formulation to
this irrational concept... By searching reasons, which always
escape partially everyone, people run the risk revealing oneself,
without conscience, more than they want...»
Anyway,
it's particularly true that chess game induces generally among its
adepts a singular passion and René Alladaye finds the right words
to describe it. And well evidently Alladaye speaks also of his own
passion symbolized by Caïssa: «For me, the great initiator was
Caïssa, the chess players goodness. I have all received from her:
the taste to observe a thing for a sufficiently long time in view
to, thinking don't be observed, it divulges its secret. The joy
surrounding the birth of an idea, also the necessity of doubt, a
certain stubbornness, the thought»
The Art of War
If
we have to speak frankly, and this is evidently the case of René
Alladaye, we agree, using his own terms, that "Chess is War"; and if,
in the same time, Robert James Fischer maintains, with all his
authority, "Chess is Life", I am unable to find in such
statements the most little contradiction... Oh! Simply because it's
too evident: "Life is War!!"... It's not really pleasant to
affirm such an obviousness, but, sincerely, have you
another opinion?
And
the war is not reduced solely to the chessboard but is all with
the entour and until in the slides of the Chess world, like indeed
illustrates it with wonder the open war between the dissident
Victor Korchnoi and "the machine of Soviet State" of this time.
The agressiveness of the chess player
"Is
it necessary to be nasty for well playing chess?" Rene Alladaye is
posing this fundamental question to himself and to us, that he
backed up with many examples drawn from the recent practice of
Grandmasters, but also of personal considerations, as when he
delivers to us this simple note: "force is to note that the
history of chess tournaments is seldom read like an anthem with
the friendship."
Is
subjacent here an enthralling question, which has already made run
much ink: is it advisable to play "objectively" (the position) or
rather to play "subjectively" (the man)? ... and Rene Alladaye to
conclude this paragraph by quoting this famous sentence from the
Great Siegbert Tarrasch, at the moment when it gave the final
thrust: "Sir, I have only one word to say to you: checkmate!"
Perfect or imperfect information?
I
leave side interesting considerations on the "In praise of the
virtuosity", which would have you pleasure to read, to come from
there to a question which holds me with heart, since I approach it
in different terms, in the pages entitled: "Correspondence", that
you would read in addition on this site. The following sentence of
Rene Alladaye seems well clarify his opinion: "On this eminently
objective activity that is the control of a game is grafted
necessarily the subjectivity of the player in prey to the affects.
It is this share - cursed for the theory, and moreover presents
in any human activity - which opens large the door of the trick,
and even of the manipulation, in a play which seems essentially
banish them."
In
complement I must say much to like the coloured description which
Rene Alladaye proposes to us of the "bully" ("brute" in French) and
the "furtive" ("Furtif" in French). But, on the other hand Rene
Alladaye seems to accept the existence a priori of a perfect
information of which one lays out while playing at the chess game.
Maybe, but on my opinion our deficiency does not come solely from
our "affects", but also of our "incapacity to find the
suitable reasoning".
Socrates plays and wins
Original
and surprising is the idea developed here by Rene Alladaye: in
famous Socrates' maieutic immutable rule is the alternation of
interventions between Socrastes and the sophists where Rene Alladaye
sees with accuracy a similarity with the moves of a Chess game. This
latter are indeed a series of arguments as judicious as possible,
in order to put the contradictor in difficulty. In this
interpretation, obviously, the final checkmate is the ultimate
proof that the winner holds the truth when the contradictor is in
the absolute error.
The search of the truth
As
it was the case for many among us, Rene Alladaye expresses the
importance which had, in his chess career, the discovery of the
Alexandre Kotov's book: "Think like a Grandmaster".. It's certain
that playing chess doesn't necessarily mean to think, which cannot
miss being detrimental, and that to reach that point it is at the
very least advisable to build and order this thought.
The theorem of Zermelo and Von Neumann
Rene
Alladaye devotes some pages to the game theory and is interested
all particularly in the theorem of Ernst Zermelo and Johannes Von
Neumann published in 1912. This last result stipulates that in any
game with two players, with perfect information and null sum, if
the two players deploy an optimal strategy none of both cannot
gain. This being known as it should well be understood that such
an assertion has a primarily theoretical range since no one is
able to produce such a level of play.
And many other subjects still...
René
Alladaye also speaks about complex relations between Chess and
time, society, esthetics, sport etc... He was not in my idea to
exhaust here the subject but, by these some notes of reading, to
incite you to engage yourself more quickly in the reading of this
marvellous small work... and to get from as much pleasure there
than I could find !!
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