IN 1974, I had a first-hand view of our second Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, officiating at the closing ceremony of the first Asian team chess championship in Penang.
He was already quite frail at that time, yet he insisted on turning up at the closing ceremony so that he could personally hand his challenge trophy to the eventual winner of this inaugural event, the Philippines.
Almost 32 years later, I had another first-hand view. This time, it was of Deputy Prime Minister Dato Sri Mohd Najib who was the special guest of honour at the opening ceremony of the Malaysian Chess Festival.
Najib spoke of many things, including an observation of his father wanting to be a part of chess history, but he made one particular comment that struck a chord in me.
In his speech, he said: “In tournament chess, you are forced to make decisions under time limits and are then forced to live with those decisions. I can think of no better mental and moral exercise for young people or, in truth, for many of us adults. You think something, you make a move and soon, you experience the consequences.”
When he said those words, immediately I started thinking how his thoughts were so similar to Omar Khayyam’s.
Omar Khayyam, if you do not know, was an Islamic scholar, poet and mathematician who lived in Persia some 900 years ago. That was at a time when Persia was at the centre of Middle Eastern civilization.
He is best known to the English-speaking world as the poet who wrote a series of quatrains or verses that is collectively known as the Rubaiyat. Today, the Rubaiyat is considered as one of the most popular classics of world literature.
The Rubaiyat was originally in the Farsi language and it underwent several translations into various languages. Its most celebrated translation was the English version by Edward J Fitzgerald around 1859. Fitzgerald took many liberties with his translation, sometimes dissecting and combining various quatrains, but there was no doubt that his version of the translated Rubaiyat was the most appealing and popular by far.
As a scholar, Omar Khayyam obviously knew a thing or two about the game of chess. In one of his verses, he wrote:
But helpless Pieces of the Game He plays
Upon this Chequer-board of Nights and Days;
Hither and thither moves, and checks, and slays,
And one by one back in the Closet lays.
However, I have been intrigued by a more famous verse which Omar Khayyam wrote next:
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.
How similar Omar Khayyam’s thoughts were to Najib’s. Though expressed some 900 years ago, the Persian poet recognized that in life, you cannot turn back the clock. Whatever we do, we have to face the consequences of our actions.
It is the same with chess. As succinctly observed by our deputy prime minister, when you think of something in chess and you then make a move, soon you will experience the consequences.
This is, in fact, the essence of chess and life. They mirror one another. After all, chess and life are all about planning, decision-making, implementing and taking responsibility for the consequences that follow.
UP NEXT
JB Merdeka open
The Johor Bahru District Chess Association will hold the 16th JB Merdeka open chess tournament at the Giant SouthernCity in Taman Suria, Johor Bharu on Aug 27.
Entry fees are RM20 for players in the open section, RM8 for under-16 players and RM6 for under-12 players. Closing date for entries is Aug 18. For details, contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07.3338215, email: naraa@tm.net.my).
UUM open
There will be a one-day open event at the Dewan Kolej Bukit Kachi, Universiti Utara Malaysia in Kedah on Sep 2.
Entry fee is RM10 for UUM students and RM20 for all other players. For inquiries, contact Mahirah bt Rafie (tel: 012.5391337, email: era_gorgeous@yahoo.com).
Perak Merdeka open
The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will organise a one-day, seven-round tournament at the Cosmopoint Metro Campus Ipoh on Sep 10 in conjunction with the state’s Merdeka celebrations.
Entry fees are RM5 for players under 12 years old, RM10 for under-16 players, women, PICA members and staff and students of Cosmopoint, and RM15 for all other players. For details, contact Yunus Sharif (tel: 013.3908129) or Hamisah (tel: 012.4313326).
Stonemaster open
There will be a second Stonemaster allegro open tournament, organised by Stonemaster Event Management Enterprise, in Kuala Lumpur on Sep 17. Also included in this event is a one-hour chess seminar.
Entry fee is RM20 per player. To register for both the tournament and the seminar, send your email to seme_event@yahoo.com or contact Fadli (017.2880123). Closing date is Sep 12.
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