The Beauty in Chess

I consider myself lucky that I discovered the astonishingly beautiful game of Chess very early in my life. My two cousins played a big role in introducing me to chess and giving me the early support to sustain the learning curve and make it fun!

I am not a great player by any yardstick; but I am a chess enthusiast and I genuinely feel that I have (or had, at one point, say 30 years ago) potential to become a much stronger chess player – maybe an International Master.

Even today, my endeavour is to do justice to my potential and get closer in playing strength to what I am capable of. It’s not for titles or rating points, but just for the joy of understanding the game better!

Beauty in chess is extremely difficult to explain to someone who doesn’t know how to play chess. In that sense it’s an art! It’s like saying – “beauty in a painting or a classical singer/musician’s performance can only be understood by connoisseurs of that art”. But it’s more complicated in case of chess. Because any novice may sense some beauty in a painting or a music performance. He may not grasp aesthetics, but he can probably distinguish a great act from a not-so-great act.

That’s not the case in chess. The beauty in chess is difficult to grasp and it has to be “explained”. However, once it is explained, it’s like a lightening strike which completely shakes you!

Here is one such example.

It’s white to play and mate in 5 in seemingly impossible position. It’s a composition/study and it’s almost impossible to get a position like this in a real game. However, the way it is composed is just amazing and elegant!

Try solving it and in case you don’t watch the Youtube video for the answer.

I couldn’t solve it…but I conceptually, and vaguely had correct “idea”. But that’s hardly any consolation. Anyways…

Here is the solution with detailed explanation