The sociological paradox of chess: the transclass distinction of the game of kings

Abstract

The article deals with the sociological paradox of chess. On the one hand, this game gives people who belong to its social world a kind of desirable distinction, but on the other hand this distinction is not connected with the class position. In Pierre Bourdieu’s terms, if we treat chess as part of the sports field, then class distinction should be interconnected with it. Why is chess extremely popular and widespread, and therefore egalitarian, although it seems to be an excellent instrument for increasing class advantage? What makes so many people play chess, and how does chess confer the transclass distinction upon them? In answering these questions I will focus on the accessibility and openness of chess, its social nature, the totality of chess experience and the impossibility of defining it within one field: sport, science or art, and – last but not least – on the possibility of manipulating chess’s illusio.