Let’s start with a poem:
CHESS WIDOW
By Anonymous
As you stare at the pieces on the board,
I wonder how to get your attention toward
ME!
Knights, Kings, Bishops, Pawns,
You move them slowly sometimes till dawn.
A chess widow must be my fate,
Gosh, I hope you’ll soon have check mate!
The poem expresses an old-fashioned view about chess: That it’s only a man’s game. I’m hearing increasingly that wives are asking their husbands to teach them chess. We have several women members in our club. Chess is too much fun to keep it only for men. Women need to experience this fun with us.
It was popular in the ’50s and ’60s to apply a Freudian interpretation to explain why boys at about the age of 14 became interested in chess. The interpretation has been completely debunked. In fact, it is a little crazy. Still, it is interesting to be aware of it as part of chess history. The interpretation says that a young boy sublimates the playing of chess to think he is killing his father (the King). The young boy has an Oedipus complex where he fanaticizes himself as competing with his father for the affections of his mother.
How would you explain the recent upsurge in interest among girls and women?
The Chess Club meets every Tuesday at 10 a.m. in the Helm Club Ladies’ Lounge. All players, from beginners to those seeking a challenge, are welcome to attend.
