Mission
Chess Nova Scotia aims to promote chess as a recreation and sport for Nova Scotians of all ages. Our mission is to support learning, competition, and enjoyment of the game of chess through programs, clubs, tournaments, and special projects.
Chess is recognized as a sport by the Canadian Olympic Committee and by Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance.
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors, elected annually, has the responsibility for managing the affairs of Chess Nova Scotia. The Executive Officers are responsible for day-to-day operations. Directors are assigned to regions or committees.
There are two standing committees: Tournament and Projects. Ad hoc committees include: Community Outreach, Club Development, Communications, Youth, and Seniors. For Chairs and contact information, see List of Directors.
Society
Chess Nova Scotia (CNS) is registered as a non-profit society in Nova Scotia under the name, Chess Nova Scotia Society. Registration number: #3330426.
Chess Nova Scotia is governed by the Bylaws of the Nova Scotia Societies Act. The Constitution and Bylaws specific to CNS may be found at Constitution and Bylaws.
Why We Value Chess
The Game of Chess is not merely an idle amusement. Several valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to be acquired or strengthened by it, so as to become habits, ready on all occasions. For Life is a kind of Chess, in which we have often points to gain, and competitors or adversaries to contend with, and in which there is a vast variety of good and ill events, that are, in some degree, the effects of prudence or the want of it. By playing at Chess, then, we may learn: Foresight. Circumspection. Caution. — Benjamin Franklin, 1786
We could not have said it better!
Executive
Ken Cashin, President — Bedford
ken.cashin@chessns.ca
Ken first caught the bug for the royal game when he walked into the Bluenose Chess Club in September 1993. He played his first rated tournament in November of that year and has been competing ever since. In 2005, he began organizing tournaments and was soon elected president of the Nova Scotia Chess Association, now Chess Nova Scotia. Ken is looking forward to a new era for chess in the Maritimes, stemming from the success of Pawn Wise: The Atlantic All-Ages Chess Festival 2022, Halifax. Ken is also a musician and songwriter. When not playing chess, occasionally he performs at open mics, as Kenny Angel.
Chris Felix, Vice-President — Halifax
chris.felix@chessns.ca
Chris started playing chess when he was 12 years old and quickly became a regular competitor on the local chess scene, loving the logic of chess analysis and the thrill of competition. With over 17 years of experience teaching chess and being the president of the Nova Scotia Scholastic Chess Association for 10 years, Chris continues his efforts in sustainable growth of chess in Nova Scotia to provide opportunities for residents of all ages. Chris is no stranger to other gaming circles, loving board games, strategy games and is also a well-known competitive video game player.
Skye Cross, Secretary — Dartmouth
Eli Seijas, Treasurer– Herring Cove
Directors
Roger Langen, Director — Dartmouth
David Payne, Director — Bridgewater
South Shore Regional Representative
Wane Inkpen, Honorary Director — Eastern Passage
Farhana Kanth, Honorary Director — Halifax
Nova Scotia Scholastic Chess Association
The Story of Chess
The Story of Chess
As told by our Chess Nova Scotia Society registration number: #3330426
333 – Three is creativity. Three 3s (in numerology) is a trinity in divinity: Creation, angels close by! The opening is preparation: knowledge, education, book; the middle game is invention: planning, tension, risk; the endgame is the reckoning: calculation, precision, technique. Imitating the drama of our own lives, each game tells its own story. Chess’s story is similar. It begins in 6th century India, defeating nard, a form of backgammon, in a contest of games; thus is thought preferred to chance, free will to fate, as the basis for human action; method in war. By 1200, chess migrates to Persia, Arabia, and Europe, where (in different guises) it becomes an iconic symbol for a peaceful society, based on fealty, self-regulation, and civility, each piece an independent actor. In 1475, under new powers for the Bishop and Queen, chess suddenly expands, universalizing: its method of thought parallel to the Renaissance — a rapid advance, Rosetta stone for the sciences, compass for the future.
0 – Zero, the catalyst for a new method of calculation, was invented alongside chess. The invention greatly expanded mathematical capacity to calculate extremely large numbers and even imagine the infinite. Chess, its companion and abacus, “carried the new math across the world,” the scholar writes.* As math would become for the natural sciences, so chess for (certain of) the human sciences. On the chessboard, the Emperor discovers that a grain of wheat, doubling itself along the squares (as payment asked for invention of the game) ruins him. Exponentials allowed other large counts, as the number of atoms in the known universe (1079) or the number of possible chess games at 40 moves (10120). For this reason, computers cannot “solve” chess. They may yet pass the Turing test” and think like a human. Perhaps this is what Google’s self-learning behemoth did when it demolished the computing colossus, Stockfish, 28-0 in 2018. Its name? Alpha Zero.
42 – Four is the number of divisions in the original Indian army: Elephant (Bishop), Cavalry (Knight), Chariot (Rook), and Infantry (Pawn). Two is the number in command: Emperor (King), General (Queen). Four is also the number of squares at the strategic center of the chessboard (e4/e4/d4/d5). Two are the opposing sides, White and Black, that strive to control them. Four-times-two squared is the formula for the chessboard: (4 x 2)2 = 64. (64! — the smallest number that is both a perfect square and a perfect cube.) On this mathematical surface turns a great abstract mill for thought and calculation, a loom for infinite possibility. How does the mind make good decisions within so vast a space? The answer is – as cognitive science has used chess to discover – patterns. [See Binet 1894: memory; de Groot 1946: rational choice; Chase & Simon 1973: “chunking”; Charness 1992: practice]. Patterns make meaning. They form, in chess, concepts of space and time, material, strategy & tactics, piece development, pawn structure, harmony, piece activity, and a myriad of others. Through such patterning, good decisions in chess come to resemble good decisions in other fields where information is imperfect and methods of logic and intuition combine: as economics, tax planning, transportation logistics, the NHL draft, and — at the deepest level — music.
6 – Six is the number of pieces, sufficient to portray successive worlds: from Indian war array to medieval civil assembly to the modern nation state. The King (today) is the Rule of Law, dignified in movement, indispensable to the board and game. The Queen is the State in all her offices of power: intimidating, wide sweeping, hard to measure. The Bishop is Counselor, a subtle diplomat, of double colour, and indirect movement. The Knight is (still) the Soldier of Fortune, the trader as agile horseman; entrepreneur, claw-footed capitalist, a clever hop in his step. The Rook, once Castle and Tower, is Minister for Defense: eyes cast far and wide; master of transport & communications. The Pawn, of low authority (but not the least), is the Citizen: maker of chess positions, then talent of the game. Once tiller of the earth (or mere Romantic gambit), the pawn today is the future. In chess, a child learns how to think, keep hands still, plan, concentrate, respect his or her opponent, gain confidence, self-calibrate, acquire grit, practice & decide. The royal game replies, giving to the smallest piece the greatest compliment: You know how to play!
NOTE: Text by Roger Langen, Chess Nova Scotia 2019
About our Logo
The Chess Nova Scotia logo was designed by Asif Illyas. A keen eye can spot its many interesting touches. The logo uses the CNS Montserrat font in the following colour palette: CNS Hills Green, CNS Mayflower Gold, CNS Atlantic Blue.
