Russian Chess
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How did the Russians become so good at chess??
Each city in Soviet Union had got Chess club with children sections. It was foundation of Chess education.
Mar 22, 2018
0
#3
That isn’t exactly a compete answer. First important detail is that it is not just Russians who have “become good at chess”. Most of the countries that used to be under control of USSR/Moscow have gotten really good at chess. The simple answer, as mentioned above, is because there were chess clubs for kids and adults in many major and small city. And it was this way actually starting sometime in later 20s and really peaked over decades after that.
The reasons why it was widely available at schools and after school programs are a couple. First is because historically chess was known and played in Russia in Czarist times before 1917. Chess came to the territory used to be known as before Russian empire, during Russian Empire, and later USSR, it came there from Iran. The rules were very different. But the point is that it came there about 1000 years ago. Like in Middle East an Europe it was played by people who had money, power, and time.
In Russia some Czars played chess. In 19tg century many professional players started to appear. The clubs weren’t funded by or promoted by the government then.
Two is because the Soviet government was establishing these clubs and subsidizing them when it was for someone who finished the basic 12 grades of school. These clubs also could easily hire people who were really excellent at chess and who may have had teaching talent. So basically the kids usually had an opportunity to get coaching from skilled players.
The other reason is why it was popular and why the government of USSR was subsidizing and promoting chess. It was because the founders of the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 liked to play chess. Despite the game having been for centuries associated with bourgeois excesses and seen as idle waste of time (which it may really be IMO) Bolsheviks and their leaders liked chess. Lenin was known to have enjoyed chess. Since there was a cult of personality around him, anything he endorsed or did “must have been good for everybody”. Communists/bolsheviks have created myths that chess is a perfect game and brain exercise because and that due to it being open information and based on logic they claimed it was the best game to develop people in a socialist society.
Basically it was made up myths about chess and socialism which were used to encourage people to play chess. Later it simply remained popular without mention of socialism.
It has to be noted that in former USSR it wasn’t just “Russia” or “Russians” who were good at it. Many good players come from Caucasus (Kafkaz) region. They have chess entrenched in their traditions and culture even deeper than Russia before USSR or after.
The reasons why it was widely available at schools and after school programs are a couple. First is because historically chess was known and played in Russia in Czarist times before 1917. Chess came to the territory used to be known as before Russian empire, during Russian Empire, and later USSR, it came there from Iran. The rules were very different. But the point is that it came there about 1000 years ago. Like in Middle East an Europe it was played by people who had money, power, and time.
In Russia some Czars played chess. In 19tg century many professional players started to appear. The clubs weren’t funded by or promoted by the government then.
Two is because the Soviet government was establishing these clubs and subsidizing them when it was for someone who finished the basic 12 grades of school. These clubs also could easily hire people who were really excellent at chess and who may have had teaching talent. So basically the kids usually had an opportunity to get coaching from skilled players.
The other reason is why it was popular and why the government of USSR was subsidizing and promoting chess. It was because the founders of the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 liked to play chess. Despite the game having been for centuries associated with bourgeois excesses and seen as idle waste of time (which it may really be IMO) Bolsheviks and their leaders liked chess. Lenin was known to have enjoyed chess. Since there was a cult of personality around him, anything he endorsed or did “must have been good for everybody”. Communists/bolsheviks have created myths that chess is a perfect game and brain exercise because and that due to it being open information and based on logic they claimed it was the best game to develop people in a socialist society.
Basically it was made up myths about chess and socialism which were used to encourage people to play chess. Later it simply remained popular without mention of socialism.
It has to be noted that in former USSR it wasn’t just “Russia” or “Russians” who were good at it. Many good players come from Caucasus (Kafkaz) region. They have chess entrenched in their traditions and culture even deeper than Russia before USSR or after.
"The champions tournament held in 1948 to decide the next world champion ... was won by Mikhail Botvinnik with Vasily Smyslov in second place. ... The Soviet Union would, from that point until its dissolution in 1991, dominate the game at world level. Botvinnik went on ... to become the first Soviet world champion, the beginning of a continuous line of Soviet players to hold the title that was only broken for a few years in the 1970s by Bobby Fischer. ... What made the difference was the system of state sponsorship put in place by the Soviets to train and develop their chess players, ... selecting children ... who showed promise at a young age and sending them to specialist institutions where they were expected to follow strict and intensive training regimes ..." - The History of Chess in Fifty Moves by Bill Price