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Art and Chess: The ConnectionBoth are creative acts that teach problem solving.What is the connection between art and chess? What are the aspects of art in the game of chess? Both are disciplines that value beauty, economy, and uniqueness.
The French artist Marcel Duchamp quit making art in 1923 to focus on playing and studying chess. He is quoted as saying, “[Chess] has all the beauty of art – and much more. It cannot be commercialized. Chess is much purer than art in its social position.” So what is the connection between art and chess? First, and foremost, they are both creative acts. A game of chess has physical parameters and rules, but there is enough variation in the game to make it more creative than other games such as backgammon. Playing a game of chess is mentally challenging in that it asks you to imagine what your opponent might do in response to a move. Great chess players are said to be able to think or anticipate a dozen or so moves ahead. If so, then it implies that great chess players are at the top of their game in terms of imagination. The other creative part of chess is that it asks you to solve a problem or to fulfill a goal, to put your opponents king into checkmate. The actual process of problem solving is creative in that you are asked to improvise a solution. Your actions are not dependant on the luck of thrown dice or the luck of the draw. While there are age-old formulas or famous game strategies, every move is still an improvised act based upon an educated guess as to how the game is playing out. Perhaps it is no surprise that a chess puzzle is referred to as a composition. In visual art and/or painting it is the same. Ideally, you do begin every painting with a goal (a sketch? an idea?) and there must be a satisfying endgame of resolution. X-rays of famous paintings show us the iterations that painters can sometimes go through to arrive upon the best conclusion. These thinkings and re-thinkings can perhaps be compared to the chess player going through the list of possible moves. There is also a consideration of beauty. While beauty is considered somewhat subjective or personal in art, there are perhaps generally agreed upon standards of beauty in chess problems. The beauty or appeal of a chess problem is evaluated in terms of its legality, uniqueness, economy, subtlety, and its effectiveness at continuing a theme. Perhaps these very terms could be used in the evaluation or critique of a work of art.
The copyright of the article Art and Chess: The Connection in Art & Society is owned by Mary Rayme. Permission to republish Art and Chess: The Connection in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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