Author: Anamarija Radiković, OŠ Turnić, Rijeka
After a successful and quite exhausting day at a chess tournament, I tried to have some rest. I love chess and I love the fact that improving chess skills and gaining experience means travelling to many tournaments, visiting different towns and countries, tasting the national food. Actually, it would be my ideal holiday: playing chess, seeing new places and learning about them, eating dishes typical for the country, meeting new people who also love chess and simply enjoying the atmosphere. Thinking about all these things, I fell asleep. My tired mind started its own game called a dream.
In my dream I saw an enormous chess board. This time I wasn’t dreaming of playing chess, I was flying high above the ground, I could see the Earth from above. Soon I heard a voice. I thought it was the voice of Caissa, the goddess of chess, but I didn’t get the answer. Flying was so easy and so relaxing and as I was getting closer to the ground, I could see the shape of India below.
‘The game of chess was invented long ago, in India. A wise man came to the king of India and brought the board and pieces.’ While the voice was talking, I could see the king, the wise man and the chess board. I know the story well but I enjoyed listening to it over and over again.
‘The king wanted to reward the wise man, and he was ready to give him lots of money, but he was surprised by the man’s request. He asked for wheat grains doubled at each next square. At first, the king laughed at the man’s request but in the end, he couldn’t believe that the total number of grains was. . . ‘
Now I laughed and repeated the long number myself, 18 446 744 073 709 551 615, I know it by heart.
‘Wow,’ I whispered because I could actually see the wheat grains falling off the chess board like a waterfall.
The story moved on and so did I. I kept flying further towards the west.
‘After that day, chess began to spread around the world, it became more than a game – it became an art, a sport, way of living, game above all games. Each chess player found the meaning that was true for him.’
Suddenly, the wind pulled me closer to the ground, and I could see Croatia, my country.
The voice continued, ‘did you know that Croatia is connected with chess in a very special way? Its coat of arms has chessboard squares on it because long ago, a king of Croatia played a game against Venetian rulers, and after a long battle of minds, he won the Adriatic islands back.’
In a moment I could see the sunny coast, and I could feel the warmth on my face.
The voice disappeared and I found myself in a hall; on the wall I could see the motto of the World Chess Organization: We are one people!
Chess players and those who really love the beauty of chess deeply respect each other, and they like to discover each other’s culture when travelling to tournaments. Isn’t it beautiful, doing what you love, learning about others from unique perspectives and making true friendships.
I do not know what it was but something woke me up. I realised that I had to go back to sleep immediately if I wanted to be fresh in the morning. If only I could continue my dream. . . I wanted to thank the wise man from India for the lovely game that connected so many people in the world.
