‘Chess and Addicts’ is my genesis piece on AsyncArt. The programmable capabilities of AsyncArt allow one artwork to be played by different owners.
The “Master” is the 1 of 1 complete work of art. “Layers” are all the elements that make up that Master. Both the “Master” and the “Layers” are tokenized individually.
“Layers” have unique abilities determined by the artist. And if you own a “Layer”, the controls are opened up to you. When you make a change to your “Layer”, the “Master” image will update to reflect your change!
A little about myself to begin with and what made me create the piece.
I have been playing professional chess since I was 11 years old (10+ years) and have participated in many nationals and international tournaments. The highest achievement I consider so far is being selected for World Women Amateur Championship two years ago.
Chess has always fascinated me with its openness to everyone, no matter the age, gender, place, and time. Being able to play as a kid (who just started) against very experienced players, some old some from other places and culture but one common thing- love for chess. Learning from them, and seeing the similar passion among others for the game made me love it so much that I couldn’t resist creating a piece about this addictive beautiful game.
About Chess and Addicts.
Owned by Roderik
‘Chess and Addicts’ portrays the beauty of the chess game and the love for it which isn’t confined to any boundaries, be it place, age, gender, time, physical presence, life, death, and many more represented in metaphorical ways. With every layer of the piece adding to the emotional factors surrounding the match, it also symbolizes how a very small change can create a whole new story and perspective shown by the piece.
The master consists of 5 changing layers — Venue, Spectators, Player White, Player Black, and The Match.
Will be talking next about every layer and its significance in the master with an elaboration of the purpose behind every state of that layer.
Venue
Owned by MaximoNx
The five states of the layer, though representing the insignificance of the place for a match, also touch upon the five factors influencing players’ addiction during the game.
It is amazing to have had the opportunity to play chess at some very unexpected place, like in trains, airport, on stairs during tournament break, classrooms, and name a place and you could play a match there.
The first state of this layer is of Palace as a representation of royalty and how since ancient times the game has been the favorite of the emperors and elites.
The next state is of Nature. This represents the refreshing feeling and fun that a player feels while playing a match. It is the depiction of all those friendly matches one gets to play in the garden or outside houses/halls with random strangers sharing the same love for the game, who then become regular friends.
Ship
This is the layer that represents the insane amount of attention chess takes. The ship is about to sink but no one is even noticing it. And as much as it looks exaggerated, I won’t be surprised if this happens. The players and spectators are always so much occupied thinking that it becomes really hard to keep notice of the surrounding. It takes you to a new world. History has seen wars happening but Kings being busy playing chess.
Stairway to Heaven
This one is symbolic of the dedication in respect to finishing the game and seeing the end of the match no matter what. The curiosity of how the game continues that even if a person is dying, they would pause their death just to finish the game. And from the Spectators point, they would go anywhere to enjoy watching the match.
Scary
This one is the extent to which someone can go when it comes to a match of chess.
“oh we are in a haunted place, lets play a match”.
Nothing could scare more than losing a game.
So these were the 5 states of layer Venue
Spectators
Owned by MaximoNx
These are sometimes the funniest, the most annoying, or the weirdest part of any match.
The layer represents the influence of an outsider’s eyes on the match and the mental strain brought by them as represented by their closeness to the board. The four states symbolize different feelings of stress, shock, and disappointment meaning differently with the changing positions. And the last state of eyes depicting how the game could be enjoyed without physical presence as well.
Humans
This layer has all spectators thinking and the match being covered in media. This layer is to bring the seriousness of the game. Despite a lot happening on the board, the spectators have a responsibility to not make any kind of expression which may lead to distracting the players or making anyone psychologically nervous. That’s why in tournaments there are close to no spectators, to not influence the player in any way.
Skeletons
This layer is to show how internally spectators might feel while watching the game. They are all shocked or nervous as if something big has happened, or they believed happened, but that may or may not be the case. There are always times when a move that looks shocking to others is a perfect move. Well this part of ‘are they smart enough to see what’s happening or had a blindspot’ is decided by the layer The Match
Statues
These are the disappointed spectators. There are often players who don’t play the best moves or maybe make some mistake, which could make viewers immensely sad. The well-played game so far destroyed by a move, or missing a chance that could have resulted in a very brilliant game. Well, there are so many emotions just watching the game brings and the desire to be at the seat playing that move to not mess up is what this state presents.
Eyes
This layer is symbolic of how chess doesn’t need physical presence to be able to enjoy the game. One could just see the live games through their phones and live streams.
Players. Where one decides the white side and the other the black side. Every player symbolizes some beautiful parts of playing chess.
Player White
Owned by SilverSurfer
A kid, this is dedicated to all those young kids playing chess and beating many experienced players. Most of the chess prodigies are kids. The kid is sitting on three chairs, this is how I as a kid and many players of my age used to play. The seats were never high enough to play comfortably hahah.
Blindfolded player- This is one of the most fun ways to play Chess. One of the most important skills of chess is the ability to imagine and calculate in mind. When I used to study chess, while solving puzzles, I used to do it in my imagination and not put the position on board, to improve my skills. And this was the most common play while traveling, since we weren’t carrying boards in our hands all the time.
Skeleton- This one has a very confusing look. This is to show how a player despite maintaining calm on the face might feel internally. It is also used to show the time this game takes, it could go on and on for hours and sometimes days or more.
Intimidating look- this one is to represent the role of psychology in chess. Confidence is the most important factor and the best weapon to use in this game. The more scared the opponent is, the more vulnerable they are to the blunders. And this becomes interesting if the match shows him losing, but maintaining this look is another way to escape the situation.
Player Black
Owned by SilverSurfer
Beth Harmon- Couldn’t have a chess piece without a reference to Queen’s Gambit. She is the representation of the equality that this game offers. It’s a beautiful game for everyone to enjoy.
Grim Reaper- Because every match is about life and death. Every match is so much attached to a player like they have to give their all no matter what. It is where they have to justify all their efforts, the time they spent learning, and those sleepless nights thinking of chess.
AI- This part of the layer is to represent that there is no need for another player if you want to play. All the chess engines and software to help practice, analyze, and play against
Old Man- Another beautiful aspect of chess, no matter how old are you, you can always enjoy the game without thinking of being at any disadvantage. There is no harm done to the ability to be a player, but on the contrary, the experience makes it more fun. This is the only player which has the slightest smile while playing, unlike others who have no expressions at all.
The Match
Owned by SilverSurfer
Decides what exactly is happening. How are players feeling inside their calm faces? Are the audience right to make that disappointing or shocked face, or have they missed what’s happening on the board?
The layer consists of 5 positions, with one common element- A sacrifice of queen, rook, knight, bishop, and pawn respectively.
So why I showed sacrifice?
Because that’s the moment where it is a fight of our confidence with the intimidation of surrounding, because it is giving up material to take advantage (which might not happen if calculated wrong)
This layer is the representation of that bravery and smartness.
It also includes three styles of chess clocks from different time periods.
So this was all about Chess and Addicts. A fun art to decide who plays whom, who is winning, how are other’s reacting, and where the game is happening. It was so much fun to create it, hope you enjoy the art and its details
