OFLUXO

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bd3 d5 8. exd5 exd5 9. O-O Bd6 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Bd4 O-O 12. Qf3 Be6 13. Rfe1 c5 14. Bxf6 Qxf6 15. Qxf6 gxf6 16. Rad1 Rfd8 17. Be2 Rab8 18. b3 c4 19. Nxd5 Bxd5 20. Rxd5 Bxh2+ 21. Kxh2 Rxd5 22. Bxc4 Rd2 23. Bxa6 Rxc2 24. Re2 Rxe2 25. Bxe2 Rd8 26. a4 Rd2 27. Bc4 Ra2 28. Kg3 Kf8 29. Kf3 Ke7 30. g4 f5 31. gxf5 f6 32. Bg8 h6 33. Kg3 Kd6 34. Kf3 Ra1 35. Kg2 Ke5 36. Be6 Kf4 37. Bd7 Rb1 38. Be6 Rb2 39. Bc4 Ra2 40. Be6 h5 41. Bd7 0:1

The US-American Bobby Fischer won against the Soviet Boris Spassky in 1972 in a game dubbed „Match of the Century“ and captured the title of World Champion. For many this was symbolic: NATO defeated the Warsaw Pact.

—

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Qe2 b5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. c3 0-0 8. 0-0 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nf4 11. Qe4 Nxe5 12. Qxa8 Qd3 13. Bd1 Bh3 Qxa6 Bxg2 15. Re1 Qf3 0:1

HAL 9000 beats Dr. Frank Poole playing black in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. —

1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2 e6 7. h3 Bh5 8. 0-0 Nc6 9. Be3 cxd4 10. cxd4 Bb4 a3 Ba5 12. Nc3 Qd6 13. Nb5 Qe7 14. Ne5 Bxe2 15. Qxe2 0-0 16. Rac1 Rac8 17. Bg5 Bb6 18. Bxf6 gxf6 Nc4 Rfd8
20. Nxb6 axb6 21. Rfd1 f5 22. Qe3 Qf6 23. d5 Rxd5 24. Rxd5 exd5 25. b3 Kh8 26. Qxb6 Rg8 27. Qc5 d4 28. Nd6 f4 29. Nxb7 Ne5 30. Qd5 f3 31. g3 Nd3 32. Rc7 Re8 33. Nd6 Re1 34. Kh2 Nxf2 35. Nxf7 Kg7 36. Ng5 Kh6 37. Rxh7 1:0

The computer Deep Blue, developed by the company IBM, defeats the acting World Champion Garry Kasparov in the first game of the competition on February 10th 1996 playing the white pieces.

—

Personally, I can‘t extract anything from the notation. I have no clue what happened. I only have a rudimentary knowledge of the rules and it is impossible for me to apprehend any deeper significance – if there is one at all. What I am certainly incapable of, is to understand what this all might mean on the basis of the notation.

The Game of Life, Monopoly, Yahtzee or trick card games are documented in a form a little bit more understandable to me. However, they are not attributed as much meaning. I don‘t know why.

They play with us when we are children. Not only in the sense of fantastical games or practicing tactility but games with rules, conditions, proxies, their own language and specific terminology. With our hands, we move game tokens through fantasy worlds with rules, which find no counterpart in reality. We record results in order to document victories and losses. When playing Monopoly, we always have our account balance in hand. The Settlers directly confront us with the effects of our dealing with resources. Bridge, Jass or Skat ask of us to produce as many points as possible in cooperation with a partner.

The rules of life, of reality, are not recorded and are constantly changing. I have no way of entering my results into a prefabricated score sheet. My ability to act often seems limited: my hands can‘t reach the board. While I am bending over the board though, grasping at my proxy, I see a reflection of myself and the world in which I move so clumsily.

Maybe it would be best to jot down a few numbers. Maybe someone, someday, will be able to recognize a deeper sense of and in it all.

Philip Ullrich, *1985, lives and works in Zurich and Bern