Chessplayers & Spirituality‘s discussion in rec,games.chess.misc:

The Chess Players by Moritz Retzsch (1779-1857). The devil is playing a young man for his soul – and despite having the white pieces – the young man is lost! The devil looks impatient to claim him and the angel ready to weep.

David Richardson:

I hope you are all in good spirits.

Just a quick question: as a group, would you say that Chessplayers are more inclined or less inclined to spirituality than the general population?

Please construe “spirituality” as is most natural to you.  It can refer to “religiousness,” inclination to mysticism, inclination to superstition, or an inclination toward the numinous, etc.  The connotation is neutral.

And of course, “non-spirituality” may be construed as an inclination to agnosticism, atheism, philosophical materialism /anti-supernaturalism, etc.

Thank you in advance for any thoughts you may care to share….

–
Brett (in Berkeley, California, USA)
http://www.ForeverFunds.org/

“A chess player” 1900. Chess collector Riccardo Andreis

Taylor Kingston:

My personal impression is that chess players as a whole are no different from the general population as regards personal religious belief. They range all over the map, from devout believers to militant atheists.

However, insofar as spirituality relates to chess itself, I would have to characterize players as agnostic or atheistic. Chess is, ultimately, a matter of purely logical analysis, with no religious dimension, and I think most players realize this, whatever their personal philosophy may be. I have never seen a chess player pray during a game, or consult any holy scripture, or invoke any deity or other supernatural entity, to help him find the right move.
Offhand, the only chess player of any eminence I can recall who wrote openly about any spiritual dimension in chess was the American master Anthony Santasiere (1904-1977), but his writings are considered largely an embarrassment. Edward Winter calls them «the prejudiced rambling of an apparently cultured man who, nevertheless, was gravely deficient in common sense.».

http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/santasiere.html

Det Sjunde Inseglet [The Seventh Seal] by Ingmar Bergman 1956. A Knight (Max von Sydow) plays against Death (Bengt Ekerot). A man seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.

Offramp:

Because chess players have the ability to see into the future they are more spiritual than the general populace.
The great Aleister Crowley was a great religious guru who was probably
just about master strength; and in his book The Book of Thoth he mentions the great Richard Réti.

I had a feeling that the great Efim Bogoljubov had received some training to be a priest, but Wikipedia akes no mention of this – so I could be wrong.

Poor great Akiva Rubinstein is the most difficult case. His family had intended for him to be a rabbi but he adopted the career of a chess professional. What did his family think of that? Did the decision affect AK’s mentality in later life?

Chessplayers like the concept of luck in the game. The loser of a game can assert that he is strong enough to beat his opponent but was not lucky enough. Weaker players can hope to beat strong players if they have some luck.

Read more: groups.google.com/group/rec.games.chess.misc

Chessplayers & Spirituality‘s discussion in rec,games.chess.misc:

The Chess Players by Moritz Retzsch (1779-1857). The devil is playing a young man for his soul – and despite having the white pieces – the young man is lost! The devil looks impatient to claim him and the angel ready to weep.

David Richardson:

I hope you are all in good spirits.

Just a quick question: as a group, would you say that Chessplayers are more inclined or less inclined to spirituality than the general population?

Please construe “spirituality” as is most natural to you.  It can refer to “religiousness,” inclination to mysticism, inclination to superstition, or an inclination toward the numinous, etc.  The connotation is neutral.

And of course, “non-spirituality” may be construed as an inclination to agnosticism, atheism, philosophical materialism /anti-supernaturalism, etc.

Thank you in advance for any thoughts you may care to share….

–
Brett (in Berkeley, California, USA)
http://www.ForeverFunds.org/

“A chess player” 1900. Chess collector Riccardo Andreis

Taylor Kingston:

My personal impression is that chess players as a whole are no different from the general population as regards personal religious belief. They range all over the map, from devout believers to militant atheists.

However, insofar as spirituality relates to chess itself, I would have to characterize players as agnostic or atheistic. Chess is, ultimately, a matter of purely logical analysis, with no religious dimension, and I think most players realize this, whatever their personal philosophy may be. I have never seen a chess player pray during a game, or consult any holy scripture, or invoke any deity or other supernatural entity, to help him find the right move.
Offhand, the only chess player of any eminence I can recall who wrote openly about any spiritual dimension in chess was the American master Anthony Santasiere (1904-1977), but his writings are considered largely an embarrassment. Edward Winter calls them «the prejudiced rambling of an apparently cultured man who, nevertheless, was gravely deficient in common sense.».

http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/santasiere.html

Det Sjunde Inseglet [The Seventh Seal] by Ingmar Bergman 1956. A Knight (Max von Sydow) plays against Death (Bengt Ekerot). A man seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.

Offramp:

Because chess players have the ability to see into the future they are more spiritual than the general populace.
The great Aleister Crowley was a great religious guru who was probably
just about master strength; and in his book The Book of Thoth he mentions the great Richard Réti.

I had a feeling that the great Efim Bogoljubov had received some training to be a priest, but Wikipedia akes no mention of this – so I could be wrong.

Poor great Akiva Rubinstein is the most difficult case. His family had intended for him to be a rabbi but he adopted the career of a chess professional. What did his family think of that? Did the decision affect AK’s mentality in later life?

Chessplayers like the concept of luck in the game. The loser of a game can assert that he is strong enough to beat his opponent but was not lucky enough. Weaker players can hope to beat strong players if they have some luck.

Read more: groups.google.com/group/rec.games.chess.misc

Chessplayers & Spirituality‘s discussion in rec,games.chess.misc:

The Chess Players by Moritz Retzsch (1779-1857). The devil is playing a young man for his soul – and despite having the white pieces – the young man is lost! The devil looks impatient to claim him and the angel ready to weep.

David Richardson:

I hope you are all in good spirits.

Just a quick question: as a group, would you say that Chessplayers are more inclined or less inclined to spirituality than the general population?

Please construe “spirituality” as is most natural to you.  It can refer to “religiousness,” inclination to mysticism, inclination to superstition, or an inclination toward the numinous, etc.  The connotation is neutral.

And of course, “non-spirituality” may be construed as an inclination to agnosticism, atheism, philosophical materialism /anti-supernaturalism, etc.

Thank you in advance for any thoughts you may care to share….

–
Brett (in Berkeley, California, USA)
http://www.ForeverFunds.org/

“A chess player” 1900. Chess collector Riccardo Andreis

Taylor Kingston:

My personal impression is that chess players as a whole are no different from the general population as regards personal religious belief. They range all over the map, from devout believers to militant atheists.

However, insofar as spirituality relates to chess itself, I would have to characterize players as agnostic or atheistic. Chess is, ultimately, a matter of purely logical analysis, with no religious dimension, and I think most players realize this, whatever their personal philosophy may be. I have never seen a chess player pray during a game, or consult any holy scripture, or invoke any deity or other supernatural entity, to help him find the right move.
Offhand, the only chess player of any eminence I can recall who wrote openly about any spiritual dimension in chess was the American master Anthony Santasiere (1904-1977), but his writings are considered largely an embarrassment. Edward Winter calls them «the prejudiced rambling of an apparently cultured man who, nevertheless, was gravely deficient in common sense.».

http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/santasiere.html

Det Sjunde Inseglet [The Seventh Seal] by Ingmar Bergman 1956. A Knight (Max von Sydow) plays against Death (Bengt Ekerot). A man seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.

Offramp:

Because chess players have the ability to see into the future they are more spiritual than the general populace.
The great Aleister Crowley was a great religious guru who was probably
just about master strength; and in his book The Book of Thoth he mentions the great Richard Réti.

I had a feeling that the great Efim Bogoljubov had received some training to be a priest, but Wikipedia akes no mention of this – so I could be wrong.

Poor great Akiva Rubinstein is the most difficult case. His family had intended for him to be a rabbi but he adopted the career of a chess professional. What did his family think of that? Did the decision affect AK’s mentality in later life?

Chessplayers like the concept of luck in the game. The loser of a game can assert that he is strong enough to beat his opponent but was not lucky enough. Weaker players can hope to beat strong players if they have some luck.

Read more: groups.google.com/group/rec.games.chess.misc

Chessplayers & Spirituality‘s discussion in rec,games.chess.misc:

The Chess Players by Moritz Retzsch (1779-1857). The devil is playing a young man for his soul – and despite having the white pieces – the young man is lost! The devil looks impatient to claim him and the angel ready to weep.

David Richardson:

I hope you are all in good spirits.

Just a quick question: as a group, would you say that Chessplayers are more inclined or less inclined to spirituality than the general population?

Please construe “spirituality” as is most natural to you.  It can refer to “religiousness,” inclination to mysticism, inclination to superstition, or an inclination toward the numinous, etc.  The connotation is neutral.

And of course, “non-spirituality” may be construed as an inclination to agnosticism, atheism, philosophical materialism /anti-supernaturalism, etc.

Thank you in advance for any thoughts you may care to share….

–
Brett (in Berkeley, California, USA)
http://www.ForeverFunds.org/

“A chess player” 1900. Chess collector Riccardo Andreis

Taylor Kingston:

My personal impression is that chess players as a whole are no different from the general population as regards personal religious belief. They range all over the map, from devout believers to militant atheists.

However, insofar as spirituality relates to chess itself, I would have to characterize players as agnostic or atheistic. Chess is, ultimately, a matter of purely logical analysis, with no religious dimension, and I think most players realize this, whatever their personal philosophy may be. I have never seen a chess player pray during a game, or consult any holy scripture, or invoke any deity or other supernatural entity, to help him find the right move.
Offhand, the only chess player of any eminence I can recall who wrote openly about any spiritual dimension in chess was the American master Anthony Santasiere (1904-1977), but his writings are considered largely an embarrassment. Edward Winter calls them «the prejudiced rambling of an apparently cultured man who, nevertheless, was gravely deficient in common sense.».

http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/santasiere.html

Det Sjunde Inseglet [The Seventh Seal] by Ingmar Bergman 1956. A Knight (Max von Sydow) plays against Death (Bengt Ekerot). A man seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.

Offramp:

Because chess players have the ability to see into the future they are more spiritual than the general populace.
The great Aleister Crowley was a great religious guru who was probably
just about master strength; and in his book The Book of Thoth he mentions the great Richard Réti.

I had a feeling that the great Efim Bogoljubov had received some training to be a priest, but Wikipedia akes no mention of this – so I could be wrong.

Poor great Akiva Rubinstein is the most difficult case. His family had intended for him to be a rabbi but he adopted the career of a chess professional. What did his family think of that? Did the decision affect AK’s mentality in later life?

Chessplayers like the concept of luck in the game. The loser of a game can assert that he is strong enough to beat his opponent but was not lucky enough. Weaker players can hope to beat strong players if they have some luck.

Read more: groups.google.com/group/rec.games.chess.misc