“In chess you learn that incompletely thought-out thoughts lead to unwise decisions and painful losses,” says politician and chess grandmaster Dana Reizniece-Ozola.
The publisher “Vincent” published the book “Disclosures of Grandmasters – Dana Reizniece-Ozola” in the series “Biographies of Latvian notables”. The author of the book is Linda Apse.
A global personality
Latvia once had its own chess king – world champion Mihails Tāls. Now we also have our own chess queen: the four-time Latvian women’s champion, former European youth champion Dana Reizniece-Ozola, who currently holds the prestigious position of CEO of FIDE and heads the world chess farm. Dana’s life story is as fascinating as the chess she has woven into her intelligent lifestyle. This book is about chess, a bit of politics in the corridors of power, and most importantly how Dana became a global personality by playing chess.
“In an age where almost anything seems possible, it is easy to lose a sense of proportion. Chess teaches that desires must be balanced with time, which will always be less than desired. I want to state that chess is the most exciting to learn to think well at any age and without pretensions of titles”, says Linda Apse, the author of the book.
“Probably because on the chessboard one can practice all the arts of war – attack, sacrifice, defense – and experience so many vivid emotions – desperation, satisfaction, bitter losses and sweet victories -, Pope Paul VI recommended replacing children’s war toys with chess, because then there will be fewer wars and more peace in the world. I would say: more peace and moderation. More peace because chess teaches conflict resolution. More moderation, because chess teaches you to think slowly, carefully and sequentially ,” says Dana Reizniece-Ozola.
Aware of his abilities and possibilities
“First of all, I wanted to write a book about a woman. Second, about a female athlete. Dana was the perfect candidate and, like me, she was a linguist by training. We have a lot in common,” says Linda Apse, the author of the book, in a conversation with “Vakara Zinătų”, emphasizing that, as in her previous books, it was important for her to match the context with the personality.
“Writing about Mārtiņš Rītiņš (“De Profundis. Mārtiņš Rītiņš”, 2021), was the cuisine, life in emigration, his “otherness”. Writing about Mari Verpakovski («Manas [ie]ability. Māris Verpakovskis», 2022), was the exciting world of football and the psychology of athletes. Thinking about Dana, I knew I would like to discover how chess shapes a person’s character.”
Linda Apse reveals that she has been writing the book about Dana for almost a year. She has known him off and on for at least twenty years, ever since she followed Dana’s success in chess and then in politics. “When Dana entered politics, I thought she would make an excellent minister of education. It turns out that Dana herself had toyed with the idea of becoming minister of education.”
While writing the book, Linda came to know Dana as a multifaceted and very gifted personality. “A woman aware of her abilities and possibilities. She has extraordinary working skills, healthy ambition, a sense of justice and immense kindness.”
A model for an idealized life
The author of the book admits that while working on this book, she learned a lot about the history of chess, about legendary chess players – their talents and weaknesses, about how the world of chess has always adapted to times and technologies, so it has never lost its charm.
“Chess is played in all countries of the world, both young and old, in parks and prisons. By the way, chess is still an “unsolved” board game, that is, no program has yet calculated all possible combinations of moves “, says Linda Apse, adding that multiple world champion Garry Kasparov wrote a book called “How Life Imitates Chess.” He would say that chess is a model for an idealized life.
But Linda herself is a “Sunday chess player.” She once learned to play chess by watching her grandfather play with her grandmother. “I have a chess program on my computer: when I want to rest my mind from writing, I go to the world of chess. Chess is beautiful because opponents resolve their relationships with subtle intellectual techniques. There is no diplomacy more powerful and noble than making people lose respectfully the opponent. Since many human and human truths are revealed in the game of chess, chess is suitable for anyone: it is suitable for all ages, all powers and all cultures. A king will always be afraid of losing his queen, and every queen will protect her king.”
2024-01-20 08:44:31
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