Folke Rogard: The lawyer who organized modern chess in the shadow of the cold war
Matthew Sadler gesteht gleich zu Beginn seiner Rezension: Vom schwedischen Juristen Folke Rogard, der von 1949 bis 1970 FIDE-Präsident war, hatte er vorher kaum je gehört. Umso überraschter zeigt er sich, wie spannend und aufschlussreich das Buch über diesen vermeintlich „unbekannten Funktionär“ tatsächlich ist.
Henrik Malm Lindberg schildert in "Folke Rogard: The lawyer who organized modern chess in the shadow of the cold war" Rogards Werdegang vom Jurastudenten in Stockholm bis an die Spitze des Weltschachbunds. Schach spielte in Rogards Kindheit und Jugend kaum eine Rolle. Doch durch seine organisatorischen Verdienste – etwa bei der Schacholympiade 1937 in Stockholm und dem Interzonenturnier 1948 in Saltsjöbaden – wurde er zur zentralen Figur im schwedischen und bald auch internationalen Schach.
Sadler betont, wie viel er aus dem Buch über die Ursprünge der FIDE und ihre Strukturen gelernt hat. Besonders eindrücklich sei, wie sehr Rogard mit persönlichem Einsatz, Kontakten und sogar Ressourcen aus seiner eigenen Anwaltskanzlei den Verband am Leben hielt – zu einer Zeit, als die FIDE klein, mittellos und von sowjetischer Dominanz im Spitzenschach geprägt war. Sponsoren zu gewinnen und weltweite Teilhabe zu organisieren war ein ständiger Kampf.
Sadler zieht auch eine Parallele zur Gegenwart: Viele aktuelle Probleme im Weltschach wirken plötzlich weniger neu, wenn man sieht, dass Machtkämpfe und politische Einflüsse schon seit den Anfangsjahren der FIDE an der Tagesordnung sind. „Wir erleben heute nur die Fortsetzung eines Machtkampfes, der in den 1940ern begann“, schreibt er sinngemäß.
Das Buch hat ihn unerwartet gefesselt: „Ich habe es in einem Rutsch durchgelesen.“ Sadlers Fazit: Eine lehrreiche, hervorragend recherchierte Biografie über eine Schlüsselfigur der Schachpolitik – 5 Sterne.
Amazon-Klappentext:
Chess is the ultimate game of war, and this book presents the first story of the game as part of cultural warfare – winning the hearts and minds – during the Cold War, built on reliable sources never used before. The person in the centre of the story is Folke Rogard, the president of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) between 1949 and 1970. He reshaped FIDE and organized international chess during an epoch when the communist East and capitalist West battled on many fronts. We knew from earlier works something about how the state-sponsored Soviet chess machine developed, and here we will also get a grasp of US strategies and actions. The Swedish lawyer Rogard was caught in between, trying to mediate and act neutral. Failure from his side would have divided the chess world even more and stalled the organization he was trying to build.
Pressestimmen
FIDE President Folke Rogard: The lawyer who organized modern chess in the shadow of the cold war includes dozens of black and white photos, many of which were new for this reviewer. Among the highlights are one of Fischer and Rogard taken during the 1962 Stockholm Interzonal which Bobby won. Vassily Smyslov, Max Euwe, Reuben Fine, Mikhail Botvinnik, and Mikhail Tal are featured in a 1961 photo taken at Schiphol Airport while the Soviet team was passing through on their way to the European Team Championship. Fine was living in Amsterdam at the time doing research.
FIDE President Folke Rogard: The lawyer who organized modern chess in the shadow of the cold war is a well-researched book on an important figure who was active at a time when world and chess politics frequently intersected. Those with an interest in chess history during the cold war will find it a fascinating read.
This handsome and sturdily bound hardback book is well produced with a clean layout and numerous black and white photographs.
IM John Donaldson, December 2024, Berkeley - USA
Über den Autor und weitere Mitwirkende
HENRIK MALM LINDBERG is an associate professor in economic history at Uppsala University, a fellow at the Ratio Institute, and works as deputy Head of Secretariat at the Migration Studies Delegation. He is a regular contributor to many chess periodicals, writing mainly about historical aspects of the game or the players. Henrik Malm Lindberg is a masterclass player, once barely above 2300, but those days seem to be gone. His claim to fame as a player comes less from his draw with an eighty-year-old Svetozar Gligoric and more from the win against a ten-year-old Magnus Carlsen. FIDE-president Folke Rogard. The lawyer who organized chess in the shadow of the Cold War is his first biography.