Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.01.2007, Qupperneq 8

8 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15 January 2007
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David Jón Fuller
Chess is making a come-back in Iceland, despite what might be long
odds.
Hrafn Jökulsson, a member
of the Hrókurinn Chess Club,
has worked with chess enthu-
siasts and educators across Ice-
land to promote the game to
children in elementary schools.
To that end, copies of Disney’s
Chess Guide, by Russian chess
grandmaster Anatoly Karpov,
which was translated into Ice-
landic by Helgi Ólafsson, (him-
self a chess grandmaster) under
the title Skák og mát, have been
donated to children in schools
across the country.
“Children love it,” says
Hrafn. “It’s quite amazing to
see one hundred children being
totally silent with a chess book,
of all things! But it works.”
It’s part of an effort to famil-
iarize the younger generation
with the game.
Hrafn estimates that they
have made approximately 1,200
school visits over the last six
or seven years, reaching every
school in Iceland — “All 183 of
them,” he says. Around 20,000
copies of Skák og mát have been
given out so far, and Hrafn esti-
mates another 5,000 will be giv-
en out by the end of the winter.
They have also organized
chess tournaments and a chess
school.
The result is that a growing
number of children and teen-
agers are embracing the game,
and Hrafn expects Iceland’s
chess fever to increase. “One of
the slogans of my chess club,
Hrókurinn — which means
‘the rook’ — is simply ‘Skák
er skemmtileg’ [‘Chess is fun’],
and we try to prove that in the
way we promote chess to chil-
dren,” he says.
It may seem naive to ask
what the appeal of the game is,
considering its 1,500-year his-
tory and widespread enjoyment.
Chess is played by an estimated
605 million people worldwide
in many countries.
Clearly, the formula behind
the 64 dark and light squares
with two sets of gamepieces
has worked so far. But as the va-
riety of personal entertainment
products increases every year,
whether it be computer games,
music and video players, robots,
or the latest electronic toy, a
simple board game might seem
antique to the current crop of
seven- and eight-year-olds.
Not so, argues Hrafn. “If
you compare it to the comput-
er games, in which children
are alone in their room in their
imaginary world, chess on the
other hand is a fun struggle with
a real opponent,” he says. “It’s
a game that everybody can play,
regardless of whether they are
good at sports, even how clever
they are, and this is also a game
where children can beat adults
— they love that, of course!”
Hrafn himself learned to
play when he was around six or
seven years old. “I don’t con-
sider myself a grandmaster — I
certainly love the game — but
what brings me most joy is to
see young players, boys and
girls, becoming good enough to
beat me.” He adds with a laugh:
“It gives me great satisfaction,
even though it sometimes hurts
a little,” noting that when chil-
dren win, they aren’t shy about
voicing their excitement.
He also has faith in chess
as a a tool to improve learning.
“Research shows that children
who learn chess do better in al-
most every fi eld,” he says. “Ev-
erything from mathematics, to
languages, and other subjects.
Chess improves one’s logical
way of thinking, but it also your
imagination and creativity. You
always have to search for an-
swers, try to fi nd the best move;
learn from your mistakes; learn
to concentrate; learn to use the
time you have.”
If breaking the age bar-
rier by getting children play-
ing the game is possible, what
about gender barriers? Chess in
Iceland has often been a male-
dominated game.
“For us, it is very important
to change that,” Hrafn says. In
working with children, they do
not make gender an issue; they
encourage girls the same as
boys. “Girls become equally in-
terested in chess if you keep that
in mind. There are many many
girls in Iceland who are now
very promising chess players.”
Will Iceland soon see some
women chess masters? “Oh,
without a doubt!” says Hrafn.
Hrafn started out in jour-
nalism at the age of 20, and he
has worked as a writer, editor
and book publisher. Nowadays
he works primarily to promote
chess and organize events in
Iceland, Greenland and other
countries, something he has
been doing for the last fi ve or
six years.
He is quick to point out that
the drive to get young people in-
terested in the game is the work
of many people, both within the
chess-playing community and
without. “I sometimes think that
almost everybody in Iceland has
been involved in one way or an-
other during this time,” he says
with a smile. “A lot of people
in my club have been working
very hard.”
The focus has been on
younger children, in the seven-
Is Iceland headed for a chess renaissance?
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IAN JOHNSON
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...we do little things
PHOTO: DAVID JÓN FULLER
Right: Hrafn Jökulsson; left: Karpov’s chess book for children.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF HRAFN JÖKULSSON
Girls in Iceland are increasingly getting into the game.
Skák!