The delegate of the Government in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabé, has received the “grandmaster”, five times world chess champion and declared a millennial athlete in India, Viswanathan Anand, on the occasion of the 550th anniversary of modern chess in Valencia.
Anand “represents not only sporting excellence, but also respect for history, serene intelligence and a passion for teaching,” said Barnabas. The delegate has claimed “the value of meditated and paused practices such as chess. In times of rapid consumption, immediacy and constant distraction, playing chess is also a form of resistance. Each play forces us to concentrate, to think, to connect with the present.”
In this meeting with the great chess player, the delegate also stressed the importance of the city of València in the history of chess. “It was in València,” said Bernabé, “that modern chess was born with the replacement of the old vizier by the lady (future queen) who acquires unprecedented freedom of movement.” This “more dynamic and closer” game is reflected in “a jewel of our literature Scachs d’amor, written in 1475 by Bernat Fenollar, Francí Castellví and Narcís Vinyoles that documents, for the first time, a game with the new rules”. That departure,” said Barnabas, “which culminates in the first checkmate in history given by a lady, is not just an anecdote. It is a symbol. It’s the seed of modern chess.” Later in 1495, “València is once again the protagonist. Se publica el Llibre dels jochs partits dels scachs del maestro Francesc Vicent, una obra pionera que influirá en la literatura ajedrecística posterior”. This 550th anniversary – the delegate stressed – “is not just an anniversary. It is a reaffirmation of our role in the history of thought, art and knowledge.”