Uncanny friends : what connected the chess world in the German Reich with the Nazi Regime

Abstract

This article asks what connected the Nazi regime and the world of chess in the German Reich. There appeared to be a large distance between the two realms, yet strong links, both direct and mediated, existed between, on the one hand, the Nazi state and the NSDAP, and the Greater German Chess Federation and the Kraft durch Freude chess department. The royal game was transformed from an end in itself into a means to an end, and in return enjoyed manifold support from the National Socialist regime. Nevertheless, it was not possible to turn chess into a quasi-National Socialist game – the significance of Jews in chess could not be erased. With the cultural practice of individual appropriation, however, chess was indeed charged with content that was also highly valued by the National Socialist regime. And it was precisely the rich chess culture that made it susceptible to enrichment with such content.