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The King's Men Sun, Apr 30, 1972 – Page 52 · The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky) · Newspapers.com
Challenge! That's the key word in the fascination chess holds by Merrill Dowden
What is the secret of the fascination that the royal game held among men down through the ages? I think it is mainly the great challenge of chess, the same sort of challenge that makes men set out to scale the highest mountain.
The goal is an illusion, of course, for no one has yet really mastered the game. The world's greatest players, living or dead, have known the sting of defeat. Some years ago, when Mikhail Botvinnik was champion of the world and at the height of his powers, someone wrote a book and in his enthusiasm named it “Botvinnik the Invincible.” That was the kiss of death. Soon after the book was published Botvinnik lost his title and his star has been receding ever since.
Even America's world-famous grand-master, Bobby Fischer, now rated by many experts as the greatest player of all time, occasionally drops a game.
If chess were ever completely conquered, it no doubt would lose much of its glamour. That, however, is an unlikely eventuality. Mankind's vision of domination over chess is a mirage, ever beckoning, ever disappearing as the search for conquest goes on and on.
Dr. Max Euwe of The Netherlands defeated Dr. Alexander Alekhine for the world championship in 1935. Two years later Alekhine won back the title, proving once again that the invincible player is non-existent.
