A Sport of Silence

Karina AmbartsumovaKAZAN – Silence. The only word to describe the atmosphere of the Kazan Equestrian Complex where the Universiade chess matches are played.

“It must be silent,” said Karina Ambartsumova, one of the chess organizers for the 27th Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia. “The opponent is the only thing that can be distracting.”

Ambartsumova competed in chess at the Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, China in 2011. She said some of her opponents tapped their feet, snapped their fingers or bit their nails to distract her during her turn. But if the player doesn’t complain to the judges, then distractions are all just part of the game.

Ambartsumova, the 24-year-old Kazan native, became a grandmaster of chess four years ago. The grandmaster title is given to chess players by the world chess organization and is the highest title a chess player can achieve. There are 18 female grandmasters in the Universiade this year.

“They are professionals here,” she said. Each country has different standards in qualifying for the Universiades but Ambartsumova said the players here are the best of the best.

Unlike basketball or soccer athletes who warm up their bodies before games, chess players like to warm up their minds or even cool them down.

“Usually I go and watch the chess before, but sometimes I don’t do anything,” Ambartsumova explained, as she stood overlooking the horse-racing tracks through the windows outside.

She said that the Equestrian Complex was chosen to host chess because there are horses all around and “chess has horses too!”

The room that hosts about 100 chess games at a time doesn’t have a view of the horses outside because distractions aren’t welcomed in the sport of concentration; the sport where silence is key.

Kelcey Wright/FISU Young Reporter (CAN)