CHESS A PEACEFUL SOLUTION?

Even though I lose in a simple game of checkers more times than not, I was intrigued by the week long series of events which were held to kick off the United States 2009 Chess Championship games held in the St. Louis Chess Club and Scholarship Center in May.

The Center was established in 2007. It displays an assortment of handsome boards and chess pieces along with books about the game and a members lounge on two floors. At one event, the book, "Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Chess" was introduced by its author Francis Naumann before a crowd of Chess enthusiasts and artists. In the book, Duchamp gives up the art world for chess so that he would be mentally challenged and not be considered a "dumb artist."

The game itself has been in existence since 1500 and is often described as a way to conduct a peaceful war without killings. Though I don't play chess, I like the idea of substituting elegant boards and pieces for lives to settle disputes between nations and ideology.