LETTERS: On Feb 12, the Russian House in Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Russian Center of Science and Culture, will host an annual international chess tournament dedicated to the Day of the Diplomatic Worker in Russia.
It is also timed to coincide with the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and Russia.
The Malaysian Chess Federation and the Chess Federation of Russia are involved in organising the tournament, which is traditionally held with the support of the Russian embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
Employees of diplomatic missions of foreign states accredited in Malaysia and all chess fans, regardless of age, can participate in the tournament, which confirms the slogan of the International Chess Federation – "We are all one family".
There is no fee for participation in the tournament, and prizes will be symbolic.
A photo exhibition, "Chess Museum", will be held for guests who do not plan to participate in the tournament.
Among the unique exhibits is a photograph of a chess set, which was used in the first-ever Space-to-Earth game on June 9, 1970.
Russian engineer Mikhail Klevtsov had created a special chess set for playing in zero gravity: the pieces were fixed on the board not with a magnet, but with a special system of springs.
The game between the cosmonauts of the Soyuz-9 spacecraft, Andriyan Nikolayev and Vitaly Sevastyanov, and the Mission Control Center team — head of cosmonaut training Colonel General Nikolai Kamanin and cosmonaut pilot Viktor Gorbatko — ended in a draw. The chess set returned to Earth and was presented to the USSR Chess Federation.
Even for a sophisticated audience, the image of chess by Tuvan masters of the second half of the 20th century will be of great interest. Small pieces have carefully worked-out details and differ from the usual chess pieces.
The queen, for example, is a mythical lion, the elephant is a camel, and the rook is a snake curled into a "knot of happiness".
Experts find in these chess figures the influence of neighbouring China.
RUSSIAN HOUSE
Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times