“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” — F. Nietzsche
Who said triangulating passions was ever easy? You trundle into town on the train to see one, behind it lies another, and going live a third oh how to play it… .
“Knowledge subverts love: in proportion as we penetrate our secrets, we come to loathe our kind, precisely because they resemble us.”
― Emil Cioran
Early Morning
I awoke this Sunday morning unsure of what I would do with the day. For only yesterday I had spent the whole day in ‘the big smoke’ escorting students around. And in case you are not aware, London is always heaving with tourists in the summer. Did I want another day of being swamped by them? As I lay in bed, it did not take more than an hour to decide I wanted to enter the city to watch the annual ChessFest unfold. I wasn’t sore from yesterday’s walk and it beat lazing around all day in bed. So some hours later I readied thyself for the eleven am train, two tickets, and a loss of £22.50… .
Late Morning
“Human behaviour flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge. “ — Plato
Roll out of bed I did. Roll into town too. Ze Beacon to be precise. Marks & Spencer’s even more so for two cheese and onion sandwiches priced £2.30 each. Then I did, fortuitously, bump into colleagues having breakfast shortly before boarding the train. The train, the journey. I closed my eyes for much of it. The train was empty, the journey quiet, noticeably uneventful… .
When I arrived at Victoria Station I enquired whether trains departed from there to Canterbury and if so how often. Then I walked to Trafalgar Square, it wasn’t far. I only had to cut across SW1, backstreets -the most famous of which being Buckingham Place- then onto the parks by the palace until the square came into site… .
Early Afternoon
“The problems are solved, not by giving new information, but by arranging what we have known long since.” – Wittgenstein.
The Chessfest at Trafalgar Square was in full swing when I arrived. But something seemed so wrong from the get go. How could it be so busy so early in the day? Were who I saw playing chess really chess players or just tourists in the vicinity at the current time? But much more importantly, how was I to be? Why exactly was I there? Yes I had concerns that the event would not live up to its billing but it wasn’t only about the chess. I also had Ze National Gallery within reach, and there was Ze Men’s Wimbledon Final to watch on my tablet too. Thought was required on how to triangulate those and squeeze them all in side-by-side so that they didn’t overlap… .
Before I had a look round I challenged some Chinese guy to a quick game. But he was rubbish and got himself mated early in the middle game. After a quick walk round with some pics taken, it became obvious that discovering a schedule for events was not possible and I also wasn’t sure exactly when the tennis started. I knew the programme for it started at two but thought the tennis itself started at three. I was wrong and tuned in early in the first set. Chess quickly took a backseat as I watched that first set play out on the steps to Ze National Gallery, in and amongst all those playing chess. With the first set over, I walked around some more, chatted occasionally and took more pics. Watching the tennis began on the steps in the square where I could keep an eye on the chess too but this proved to be far from ideal. Too much glare from the sun made viewing difficult so I crept into Ze National Gallery, planted myself down in from of some Turner masterpieces and watched the third set there. But that wasn’t enough. I had a walk round and saw Carvaggio as well as several others such as Monet, Friedrich and Pissaro. Tennis took over and only when sets were won would I leave the gallery and go and watch some chess… .
After the third set in the tennis, live chess was played in the square. I took an interest as seeing it was a first but I didn’t really like how it was done, so my interest didn’t last long. In the first game the play was paused as a quiz question was asked; namely, what is the name of the opening being played. It was I who answered correctly and enabled play to continue (The Sicilian Defence)… .
The tone of the afternoon was set: tennis, gallery, chess. Time passed fast, so fast. Soon it was close to a fifth set and the chess had barely an hour left. I decided to walk back to Victoria station so that I could watch the end of the match on the train, which I did -well done Alcaraz!
End of day.
Mark. J. McCready, 6.58pm, July 18th 2023,
Room 6, 114 Pevensey Road, Eastbourne.
McCreadyandChess 