My first memory of chess is from when I was seven years old.Entering the venue of my first international tournament, hand tucked into my mother’s, I signed under the emblem of FIDE, the international chess governing body. Three words, printed in a language I did not understand, caught my eye. Not at all.As I stood there trying to make sense of them, my mother squeezed my hand and reminded me that my game was about to begin.Afterwards, I found him waiting in a quiet corner of the dining area and asked what the words meant. He looked it up on his phone and told me they were Latin for, “We are family.”Since then, I have seen these words in tournaments around the world.
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Most players walk under them without noticing. I still have They remind me that every time I enter a tournament hall, I enter a community bound by shared values.Years later, I learned that the phrase predates modern chess by more than fifteen centuries. It comes from the Roman poet Claudian, whose words were later adopted by the world of chess. Its meaning has evolved – from describing a people to reminding us that through chess we become a family.This can be like an ambitious motto for a sport. But after years of traveling to tournaments, I’ve come to believe that it reflects the reality of chess.Chess is one of the few sports where almost everyone can compete equally. You don’t need expensive equipment or a special physique. The board is the same in Reykjavik as in Chennai. Tournaments are held in large hotels, school auditoriums and community halls, but the rules never change. In most open events, anyone can enter.This means that a child who learned the game only a few years ago can be matched against someone who has spent decades playing.
I experienced it when I was eight years old in a town nestled in the Austrian Alps. My opponent was a fifty-year-old man. Our game went on for over five hours and ended well after midnight. The organizers waited patiently for us to finish because neither of us was willing to give up a place or agree to a draw.Across the board, age doesn’t matter anymore. Not even the reputation. There were only two players trying to solve the same position.Chess also brings people closer physically than most sports. We sat right across each other’s edge for hours. We notice the slightest change in breathing, how a hand passes over a piece, the sudden silence after a mistake, or the quiet confidence that follows a good move.Then the game ends. We shake hands. Let’s reset the pieces.And more often than not, we sit down again – this time next to each other rather than in front of each other – to analyze what happened.“I should have stolen it there.”“No, I think the trouble started earlier. Look at your knight.”Just moments before, we were trying to think of each other. Now let’s try to understand the game together.That has always fascinated me.Victory and defeat matter deeply while the clock is running. But once the clocks stop, curiosity usually takes over. Opponents become collaborators. Together, let’s look for the moment the game changed and help us discover what we both missed.Maybe that’s what Gens Una Sumus has come to mean to me.Chess does not erase differences. Tournament halls always contain rivalry, disappointment, ambition and, at times, genuine dislike. It is far from a perfect world.But he repeatedly sets foreigners apart from each other and asks them to engage with respect. For a few hours, the person sitting in front of you cannot be reduced to a nationality, an age, an assessment or a stereotype. Every move requires you to take them seriously.When I first saw these three Latin words at the age of seven, I knew nothing of their history. He did not know that they had traveled through centuries before finding a man in the world of chess.I just knew they made me cry.Today, after years of sitting across from people older and younger than me, from countries I’ve never visited and cultures I know little about, I understand them differently.Each tournament starts with sixty four squares.Many end up with a more human connection.Not at all.We are one family.(Aarav Dengla is the 83rd Grand Master of India. He is a keen observer and student of world history in general and chess history in particular)