THE CHESS GODS

by Clyde Nakamura

Buddha : "We are the heirs of our own actions."

Over 15 years ago my friend National Master Reynolds Takata had said that VT had believed in the "Chess Gods".

Say what, the chess gods?

VT was 3-times Hawaii State Chess Champion and also a National Chess Master. Is there such a thing as the “Chess Gods” ?

Reynolds explained to me that VT believed that if you give back to chess then good things will be given to you in return. VT believed that by tutoring a chess student he will have good results in chess tournaments.

I did not believe that until I saw what happened to National Master LA win his 4th Hawaii State Chess Championship. During that year a high school chess team needed a chess tutor but I did not have time to tutor them, so LA volunteered to tutor them instead. I did notice that at the Hawaii State Championships LA had his own entourage of chess students cheering him on. I believe that during the year that he did tutor them, that his chess game must have improved dramatically. By tutoring his chess students he must have sharpened his own chess game.

During the 1980’s, I was a chess tournament director and did organize and direct chess tournaments for over a decade. But a strange thing happened at the end of all those years of organizing and directing chess tournaments. I was given a surprise gift of a large collection of chess books (1,000 chess books) from the estate of the late Dr. Yanagi.

I believe that the concept of “The Chess Gods is directly related to the concept of “Karma”.

The Concept Of Karma

A part of this is quoted from Wikipedia on Karma:

“An academic and religious definition was mentioned above. The concept of karma is part of the world view of many millions of people throughout the world. Many in western cultures or with a Christian upbringing have incorporated a notion of karma. The Christian concept of reaping what you sow from Galatians 6:7 can be considered equivalent to Karma”.

“According to karma, performing positive actions results in a good condition in one's experience, whereas a negative action results in a bad effect. The effects may be seen immediately or delayed. Delay can be until later in the present life or in the next”.

But I believe that this concept of Karma can also be applied to all of life itself.

Do you believe in the "Chess Gods" ?

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See more of Clyde's work with
Unorthodox Chess Openings in

The Search for Dragons
and Mythical Chess Openings