Sport Chess is giant

Precious Maphupha

Walking around Hatfield campus, one may run into large chess boards that have been put near the Aula, Thuto, and 10’zs. According to ‘Sprout Landscapes’, they are there to allow students to blow off steam and interact with others in-between classes.

Chess has a long history that spans many centuries and is, therefore, a game most associated with older generations. However, the Netflix-produced series The Queen's Gambit have helped sky-rocket the game’s appeal. The game itself, although somewhat daunting to begin with, is less complicated than its reputation suggests. You may believe the game requires a high level of thought and for you to be a ‘genius’ right off-the-bat, but most people around campus just play for fun, to take their minds off of the demands of campus life. The many benefits of playing chess include an improvement in memory, calculation, visual-spatial skills as well as critical-thinking ability, all of which can lead to reduced cognitive decline (postponing the onset of dementia).

One of the many students who make regular use of these boards is Jermi Ramakrishnan, a third-year Industrial Engineering student. He played in high school and still, of course, enjoys the game now. He sees it less as a ‘Queen’s Gambit’ style high-stakes game but, rather, as a way to ‘kill time’ in-between classes. When asked if chess helps him in his studies, Ramakrishnan said no –for him, it’s all fun and games.

Chess' popularity seems to be on the rise, from TV-shows and online games galore – some of which are quite lucrative for players. Recently, there was a huge scandal in the chess world when the 31-year-old Grandmaster, Magnus Carlsen (who rose to that rank at the age of 13), was beaten by 19-year-old Hans Niemann. The episode saw Carlsen accusing Niemann of cheating as, at the time of the tournament, Carlsen was ranked first and Niemann 40th. What raised further suspicion is that Niemann has previously been banned from online-tournaments for cheating.

Tuks’ new mascot: Who are they?

Vuyiswa Fumba

If you have been on campus, you might have seen the first of many upcoming appearances of UP’s new mascot: a striking bateleur eagle named MVP. Not only are eagles known to have tenacious spirits, but the bateleur specifically is known to be adaptive to various conditions. According to TuksSport, “Masey (now MVP) is tenacious in their pursuit of their ideals of being a true Tukkie”.

What is most striking about our new mascot is that MVP is gender neutral. Regarding this, Angelica van Dou, the marketing and communications manager for TuksSport, said: “in line with the efforts of the university in creating an inclusive/non-conforming gender landscape, we felt that introducing a gender-neutral mascot is what was called for”. TuksSport sees MVP as a means to physically represent some of their values that cannot be adequately expressed through words.

PDBY interviewed Kherina Narotam, the chairperson of UP&OUT, to establish the society’s view on the gender-neutral eagle. Narotam indicated that neither she nor UP&OUT was involved in the creation or institution of this mascot. She expressed that the transformation that TuksSport is trying to achieve by introducing a gender- neutral mascot is especially appreciated however, voiced some concerns about UP potentially using this mascot as a front to hide deeper issues that queer students face.

When asked, Narotam affirmed that she views this as a constructive first step in creating the change that TuksSport referred to above. In addition, she stated, “I’m more curious to find out how [UP] will handle one of those situations in the future because it is inevitable that there will be a trans student participating in sports at some point in the future. And that will be the true testament to whether UP is transformed or not; a mascot is just one step.”

Mascots can be a great way to build connections and affinity amongst people, especially within a vibrant student community like that of UP. It can establish a sense of belonging in everyone, from faculty members to students and alumni in aspects of student life that transcend sporst. So, introducing a gender-neutral mascot with the specific aim of inclusivity is a laudable step in the right direction. However, the first step does not conclude the journey.

These scandals are not limited to these international tournaments as UP has had its own chess scandal – the case of the missing king piece belonging to the Thuto board remains unsolved (if you have any information regarding ‘King-gate’, don’t hesitate to reach-out to PDBY).

The world of chess is very interesting and large, and one PDBY reckons could see a UP student, a Magnus Carlsen or Beth Harmon, rise up and clinch the title of Grandmaster.

‘Queen’s Gambit’ showed Harmon come from nothing to become Grandmaster so, what can start out as merely a way to kill time could, maybe, become something that completely changes someone’s life… could that someone be you?

Chess is an official sport at UP and students can join the university’s club for R500.