Non-elite adult chess in Canada

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Non-elite adult chess in Canada

Chess can be quite counter-cultural as well: back in the sixties folks in Greenwich Village frequented coffeehouses and played chess there, among other things.

Some time ago I floated the idea of Canadian chessplayer cards, much like baseball cards, which would be a cultural thing of sorts. A company had begun producing chessplayer cards elsewhere. Since then, last year a friend gave me some chessplayer cards that Chess Informant had produced. These featured some strong players (both alive and deceased). They doubled as postcards, with a charicature of a player together with a cartoon on the front side. On the back side the artist and the player's names were given (in English). No data on player accomplishments, favourite openings, style or anything else, though the cartoon or charicature was suggestive of the player's style or a famous incident, at times.

Anyway, there were concerns on chesstalk over whether a Canadian player might need to give permission to use their image on any sort of card, and if so, at what price. Perhaps a charicature/cartoon of a player would be different in this respect from a photo.

Regarding the educational aspect of chess, the CMA probably has a lock on selling that, at least to schools themselves. I imagine arguing concerning this and other aspects of chess happened during the time the CFC tried to preserve its tax-exempt status, which did not occur ultimately (perhaps a subsequent federal administration will be more sympathetic to chess).

The world of chess problems and variants has always been of secondary or peripheral interest to most people who get excited about the game, at least when they are introduced to it, I would think. Double chess seems rather popular with the young, or young at heart, though, and studying problems and endgame studies seems unavoidable if one wishes to improve.

Regarding Canadian chess culture, perhaps one day someone will be interested in writing a book about such. It might then be used in schools, besides to be for sale in general. It might at times be best if actual history is tidied up a bit, if not completely sanitized, if such a work is indeed to be used in schools. The following is a list of subjects that might be included (and might serve as chapters), off the top of my head:

1. Strong Canadian player bios;
2. Strong tournaments held in Canada;
3. The weekend swiss: the backbone of organized Canadian chess;
4. Junior chess;
5. Chess in schools, at all levels;
6. Women's chess;
7. Senior's chess;
8. Anecdotes;
9. Quotes;
10. International or Canadian team chess;
11. Chess exhibitions (simuls, blindfold);
12. Canadian problemists;
13. Notable games by Canadians;
14. Contributions to opening theory by Canadians;
15. Clubs and their histories;
16. Correspondence chess;
17. Chess variants played (included ones invented by Canadians);
18. Active and speed chess;
19. Coffeehouse or street chess and its history;
20. Organized chess governance in Canada;
21. CMA and its history;
22. The increase of chess instruction available to Canadian players;
23. How computers have affected chess in Canada;
24. Internet links;
25. Memorable chess newspaper columns
26. (Possibly) memorable message board exchanges;
27. Miscellaneous (including chess for the blind).

[edit: such a book on Canadian chess culture might also be useful when appealing for corporate or government sponsorship.]

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Non-elite adult chess in Canada

I've edited my last post somewhat extensively, in case anyone hasn't noticed.