Pigeonholing individuals (by sticking a "liberal" or "conservative" label on their back, for example) is probably the dumbest and most divisive activity devised by the human race.
Political Views of Chess Greats
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Botvinnik was a commited communist. Korchnoi is sexist and both him and Bronstein joined black propaganda against the Soviets. Fischer was a misogynist and racist. Kasparov is a die hard liberal right winger. Karpov is whatever works for him.
Well. Being a leftist does not mean you're a good player though. Just look at my rating! :)
MarxWasRight wrote:
Well. Being a leftist does not mean you're a good player though. Just look at my rating! :)
hahaha
+1
johnallengay wrote:
(Admins: I think this thread will fall within the forum politics prohibition, provided we merely discuss WHAT players view's on politics were, without judging whether they were right or wrong to feel that way)
There was a recent article by a well-known dating site that suggested you have a good chance of guessing a potential partner's political sympathies (in the American political context) by asking whether they prefer simple or complex people around them. A preference for more complexity is correlated with being on the left of the American political spectrum.
This got me thinking: do chess players, given the complexity inherent in the game, have a tendency to also be leftists or liberals? Of course, some players prefer clearer, "simpler" positions--Capablanca, for instance--so it may not be entirely true.
We know that Kasparov is likely somewhere in the liberal (perhaps not leftist) area of the political spectrum, given his open opposition to the Putin government in Russia (which led to this famous incident). I suspect Karpov may be similar, given his candidacy for the FIDE presidency against Ilyumzhinov. I have heard some things suggesting Najdorf may have been on the far left (having had some contact with Ernesto "Che" Guevara), but this is disputed by his family, and his allegedy sympathy with the Cuban revolution would, in its early days, have hardly been out of the political mainstream.
What, then, do we know about the politics of other noted chess players?
Interesting.
Kasparov is a neocon though.
Nowadays GM's economy depends much on sponsorship. In the unlikely event they have critical political/economical views, they will take good care not express them.
After the incidents with Fischer and Karpov, most of the players aren't very eager to express their political views, specially if they are a bit on the radical side.
Crazychessplaya wrote:
Pigeonholing individuals (by sticking a "liberal" or "conservative" label on their back, for example) is probably the dumbest and most divisive activity devised by the human race.
Good point, but I'm sure we could think of many other activities that would trump that.
johnallengay escribió:
(Admins: I think this thread will fall within the forum politics prohibition, provided we merely discuss WHAT players view's on politics were, without judging whether they were right or wrong to feel that way)
There was a recent article by a well-known dating site that suggested you have a good chance of guessing a potential partner's political sympathies (in the American political context) by asking whether they prefer simple or complex people around them. A preference for more complexity is correlated with being on the left of the American political spectrum.
This got me thinking: do chess players, given the complexity inherent in the game, have a tendency to also be leftists or liberals? Of course, some players prefer clearer, "simpler" positions--Capablanca, for instance--so it may not be entirely true.
We know that Kasparov is likely somewhere in the liberal (perhaps not leftist) area of the political spectrum, given his open opposition to the Putin government in Russia (which led to this famous incident). I suspect Karpov may be similar, given his candidacy for the FIDE presidency against Ilyumzhinov. I have heard some things suggesting Najdorf may have been on the far left (having had some contact with Ernesto "Che" Guevara), but this is disputed by his family, and his allegedy sympathy with the Cuban revolution would, in its early days, have hardly been out of the political mainstream.
What, then, do we know about the politics of other noted chess players?
I think that great chessplayer, Barry Goldwater, was conservative.
nobodyreally wrote:
Crazychessplaya wrote:
Pigeonholing individuals (by sticking a "liberal" or "conservative" label on their back, for example) is probably the dumbest and most divisive activity devised by the human race.
Good point, but I'm sure we could think of many other activities that would trump that.
"TRUMP" that? Lol 
Sorry, just couldn't resist.
philidor_position wrote:
How does one be a liberal right winger?
Botvinnik was a commited communist. Korchnoi is sexist and both him and Bronstein joined black propaganda against the Soviets. Fischer was a misogynist and racist. Kasparov is a die hard liberal right winger. Karpov is whatever works for him.
Klaus Junge is almost unknown nowadays. He was one of the top young German players during the early 1940s. He tied for first in the 1941 German Championship at 17 years old. At 18, he placed third behind (World Champion) Alekhine and (World Championship contender) Keres at Salzburg 1942, and placed second behind Alekhine at Warsaw in the same year.
He was an ardent Nazi.
He was also a lieutenant in the German Army (Wehrmacht) and was killed in action three weeks before the war ended.
He was 21 when he died.
rune_raider wrote:
Tal - ?
The Soviet press announced a new USSR government social initiative, called "The State vs Vodka".
Tal was quoted as saying "Great! I'll play for the Vodka team!"
rune_raider wrote:
interesting - apparently he was born in chile
Yes, there was a considerable German expat community in South America.
rune_raider wrote:
oh yeah thats true. argentina too right
Paraguay as well.
rune_raider wrote:
do u have any information on petrosian?
Not very much.
He was born in Armenia, and described himself as "a Soviet Armenian". He was one of the Soviet GMs who signed the petition condemning the actions of Viktor Korchnoi when the latter defected from the USSR, so presumably Petrosian was "a good party man". But that's just speculation.
I really am just trying to find out if there are any relevant leftist/socialist grandmasters. There literally has to be 1 grandmaster that's a leftist and speaks out against wealth inequality but then again a lot of the top level GMs are millionaires sooooo idek
(Admins: I think this thread will fall within the forum politics prohibition, provided we merely discuss WHAT players view's on politics were, without judging whether they were right or wrong to feel that way)
There was a recent article by a well-known dating site that suggested you have a good chance of guessing a potential partner's political sympathies (in the American political context) by asking whether they prefer simple or complex people around them. A preference for more complexity is correlated with being on the left of the American political spectrum.
This got me thinking: do chess players, given the complexity inherent in the game, have a tendency to also be leftists or liberals? Of course, some players prefer clearer, "simpler" positions--Capablanca, for instance--so it may not be entirely true.
We know that Kasparov is likely somewhere in the liberal (perhaps not leftist) area of the political spectrum, given his open opposition to the Putin government in Russia (which led to this famous incident). I suspect Karpov may be similar, given his candidacy for the FIDE presidency against Ilyumzhinov. I have heard some things suggesting Najdorf may have been on the far left (having had some contact with Ernesto "Che" Guevara), but this is disputed by his family, and his allegedy sympathy with the Cuban revolution would, in its early days, have hardly been out of the political mainstream.
What, then, do we know about the politics of other noted chess players?