The Secret Chess Life of Leonard Cohen
The Secret Chess Life of Leonard Cohen
Of course Leonard Cohen played chess! What is more, I suspect that Cohen had a life-long passion for the game. Having a Russian mother would have made that almost a sure thing! But not much is known about Cohen’s relationship with chess. He never talked or wrote about it. Perhaps no journalist ever thought of asking him.
Cohen certainly never played in a tournament, which is easy to comprehend, him being so much more the artist than the hardened competitor. But chess was always a part of his life…when I was beginning to become in Montreal in the late 1980’s, Leonard Cohen agreed to take an honorary role in a chess foundation that bore my name and whose purpose was to promote chess, especially among young people. (Sadly, the foundation failed after I move to Portugal…)
I don’t know how good a chess player Cohen was. Probably pretty strong, as most great are. It is in their blood. Selecting a precise sequence of words in a poem is the same skill-set as deciding upon your next chess moves.
This weekend I was trying to find out more of what I could on the ‘net about this chess-subject, but Cohen apparently did not leave many dots to connect. If you do look carefully, however, and pay attention to small details, you can find some interesting clues…
From the back cover of Cohen’s 2nd album, “Songs from a Room”
A great photo! From the back cover of Cohen’s 2nd album, “Songs from a Room” (1969). Taken in Hydra, Greece. Marianne (who inspired ‘So long Marianne; 1966) is playfully typing on Cohen’s typewriter. She is clad only with a white towel. The room has bare basic furnishings, so typical of Cohen’s frugal tastes. He wanted it so because it brought out his best writing…he kept this discipline all of his life.
But the most easily overlooked detail is the presence of a chess set on the bare table. But very little in Cohen’s life was ever left to chance…
“I am a Hotel”
The CBC distributed Cohen’s 1983 remarkable short film “I am a Hotel“, which is a wonderful collage of his best songs. The entire film is shot at a hotel in Toronto. In the sequence featuring his epic hit “Suzanne”, Cohen makes considerable–but tasteful– use of chess:
To be continued..
