I'm playing on a board that I brought up with me. I've been thinking about this ever since Expedition 6. I was a crew support astronaut for that crew and worked as Capcom. One of the crew and I shared an interest in chess. I suggested that we play 'over the loops', but it never worked out. Ever since then I thought it would be a fun thing to do when (and if) I got to fly on the Station.

I was looking for the perfect chess set for Space. It needed to be large enough to be easily visible on a video camera view that the ground would normally be using. The pieces would have to stick to the board very reliably, and it had to be ultra lightweight because our personal allocation of 'stuff' that we can bring is extremely limited. I eventually found the perfect chess set. It had magnetic pieces and a felt board with a flexible metallic inner sheet. On the ground, you could literally set up the board and then pick it up by a corner and carry it off without anything falling off. Unfortunately, though, I eventually found out that our NASA safety experts don't want us to bring anything magnetic onboard, because of the potential that it could interfere with the operation of onboard systems. So I ended up doing things the NASA way, which, of course, means velcro! I'm using the same board from that original set, and I bought an additional set with cheap hollow plastic pieces that were just the right size. On the positive side, this chess set was even lighter than the original. Once onboard, I spent one late weekend night cutting velcro circles to fit on the pieces. Fortunately, the felt on the board works great as the other side for the velcro. I haven't totally lost a piece yet, but one of the rooks did escape for about 24 hours. I found it at one of the air-flow return filters in the US Laboratory.

I played chess all the time when I was younger. My father taught me how to play when I was very young, and he always joked that he couldn't beat me after I turned 4. How old I actually was when I learned, and how many years he let me win, I'll never know, but he encouraged me a great deal and played with me endlessly when I was a kid. I played chess in school, started a few chess clubs, and won several small tournaments when I was a kid. Once or twice I played in official tournaments, but never took it that seriously. In recent times (like the last decade), it seems that I rarely get a chance to play chess with anyone, although I have a few times. I've enjoyed teaching some of the younger members of my family, and children of friends, how to play, and encouraged them in the same way my father did for me.

I do play chess occasionally against my computer or even my phone. I have a chess program on my phone that usually wins - it's humiliating to think that you can't beat your own phone at chess.

Well, we are officially playing as "Crew vs. Ground", so that's the plan. They are kibitzing here and there, and keeping a close eye on the game.

The fun of this is that we're playing 'Crew vs. Ground', although we've really handicapped the ground quite significantly by making the different control centers take turns with their moves. They are not supposed to interact between control centers to discuss their strategy, and so this makes it an additional challenge for the ground. Hopefully this evens the odds a bit!

I'm taking a day or more between moves, so I have plenty of time to stare at the board. I'm usually too busy during the day to think much about it, so I tend to think about my move in the evening. The only problem with taking so long between moves is that there is now some pressure to make sure it's not a stupid move. In fact, this game has kept me up quite late on several occasions, but I'm enjoying it very much. We do have software games on-orbit, including chess, and I've spent some time playing games against the computer as well.

I think I got very lucky with one small move early on - that was P-QR4. It's made it possible for me to eventually corner black's queen. I've traded a lot of material for that queen, though, and it's not clear how much of an advantage it will turn out to be. But at the moment I'm optimistic.

I arrived on the Shuttle STS-124 mission, which was primarily aimed at installing the new Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), also named 'Kibo' (meaning Hope). This module is a huge addition to the Space Station and a state-of-the-art, very capable space laboratory. One of my primary objectives on the ISS Expedition 17 mission is to check out all systems in the JEM and bring the scientific equipment online to begin the Japanese program of scientific research. The European Columbus module is also a recently added advanced laboratory and there are numerous investigations planned there as well. Between the U.S., European, and Japanese programs, I've got a very busy 6 months up here trying to accomplish as much science as we possibly can, while also preparing the Station for a transition to a 6-person crew. In November, the STS-126 Shuttle mission will bring additional life support equipment, and the work required to reconfigure the Station to support the larger long-duration crews of the future begins now.

I hope that the 'handicap' we gave to the Control Centers will assure that no one can take sole blame or credit for however this game turns out. We're playing for the fun of it, and for the camaraderie and team spirit that I hope it generates between centers on the ground and with us onboard.

I haven't seen any aliens out here that can play chess, but I keep looking!

The Ground Control Centers take turns making their moves as indicated:

MCC-H = Mission Control Houston
MCC-M = Mission Control Moscow
POIC = Payload Operations Interface Center (science payload CC)
COL-CC = Columbus Control Center (THE European Space Agency CC)
SSIPC = The Japanese Control Center
ATV-CC = Automated Transfer Vehicle Control Center

Obviously “Ground” has a lot of time to think.  But the centers don't coordinate so are really playing by committee. I.e. MCC-H has one of the different flight control positions make the move when it is MCC-H's turn.

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
	a      b      c      d      e       f       g      h

Position after 13.Bxf6

At this point Dr. Juan C. Yabraian, who used to play in USCF tournaments in Texas in the early 1990s and had a near-expert rating looked at the position for MCC-H and commented:

This led to the rumor that a “Grand Master” was advising the Ground, and that he said “We’re screwed” at this point. His advise was prophetic, but not distributed, and not followed.

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
	a      b      c      d      e       f       g      h

This is the position as we “go to print”.  And your Editor’s comment was: “All White has to do now is (in any order): Move his King toward the center, trade rooks, and win Black's helpless QRP.  Barring any blunder on White’s part, the Queen would infiltrate and open things up to win more material and eventually force a white pawn thru.”

The MCC-H board after 17.RxQ (Note: Ground is Black.)

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