Published Sunday, October 30, 2005

Peace by piece

Former Soviet leader comes to Lindsborg to promote Chess for Peace, a metaphor for nonviolent solutions

By Jan Biles
The Capital-Journal

LINDSBORG -- Susan Higbee was among the 75 or so people who lined the street across from Rosberg House Bed and Breakfast on Saturday morning. She was waiting patiently for former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev to exit the house and make his way to a parade viewing stand set up in downtown Lindsborg.

Gorbachev was in this Swedish community to kick off Chess for Peace, a worldwide event to promote peace through playing chess. The day's events included a scholastic chess tournament, a "Clash of the Titans" match between world chess champions Anatoly Karpov and Susan Polgar and an evening address by Gorbachev.

Higbee, who moved to Lindsborg in 1970 to attend Bethany College and then stayed, was wrapped in a floral tablecloth and wearing a black Russian hat, both of which she purchased during a recent trip to St. Petersburg, Russia. She was cradling a brightly colored Russian nesting egg in her right arm.

"I want to wave to Gorbachev," she said, as she kept her eyes on the house. "We're a little town and I wanted to welcome him."

Ann Williamson/The Capital-Journal

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev watches American grandmaster Susan Polgar play the first match of chess against Russian grandmaster Anatoly Karpov on Saturday at Presser Hall on Bethany College's campus in Lindsborg.

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A few minutes later, the front door of the bed and breakfast opened, and Gorbachev emerged, wearing a dark pin-striped suit and a black overcoat. Surrounded by security personnel, the former world leader seemed to brace himself against the blustery autumn wind as he started his walk to the viewing stand a little more than a block away.

"Good morning! Welcome, Mr. Gorbachev!" Higbee shouted, as she and others stepped toward him to get a closer look.

Higbee was delighted when Gorbachev reached for her hand and wished her a good morning.

As he moved down the line, the former president stopped when he got to Rebecca VanDerWege and her 2-year-old daughter Avery. The youngster was holding red licorice sticks and offered Gorbachev a piece as he walked by. He accepted, the girl's mother said.

VanDerWege said Gorbachev spoke in Russian to her and her family -- husband Larry, 8-year-old son Benton and 5-year-old daughter Megan -- and moved his hand in a circular manner that seemed to indicate he was asking, "Is this your family?" She responded yes.

"He then made an affirmative gesture," she said.

Once on the parade viewing stand, Gorbachev watched the marching bands, floats and other parade entries proceed along Main Street. Security personnel surrounded the dais or watched the crowd with binoculars from the rooftops of buildings across the street.

The parade ended when students who would be participating in the Chess for Peace tournament later that day gathered in front of the viewing stand to hear the former president's remarks.

"Peristroika (restructuring) started when I was 54 years old," the 74-year-old Gorbachev said through his translator. "That turned out to be a very difficult match, and there's still debate on whether I won that match. (But) we did win because this kind of meeting could not have happened (before) and that means we all are changing."

He said young people of different countries are "finding common ground," adding that he hoped politicians and people of different faiths and ethnic groups would be able to do the same.

"Nations are beginning to work together and I think they will be successful," he said.

After he spoke, Gorbachev was presented with the key to the city.

"It appears I entered your city illegally yesterday," he quipped.

The game of politics

Gorbachev grew more serious as he talked about international relations, world peace and a global environmental crisis during a news conference later that morning on the campus of Bethany College.

He said the Cold War era couldn't be compared to what is going on today on an international level.

The Soviet Union and the United States spent trillions of dollars on weapons of war during the Cold War, he said, adding that that money could have been used in more productive ways to solve the world's problems.

"I have no regrets for the end of the Cold War," he said.

Now that a constitution is in place in Iraq, he said the Iraqi people must be given the opportunity to "step up and solve" their own country's problems.

"It is difficult, but without it we won't see any progress toward a more peaceful Middle East," he said.

Gorbachev also said "the credibility of the United States in the world has suffered as a result" of its actions in Iraq.

The former president smiled when he was asked if playing chess could really influence world peace.

"As a young person I played a little chess, and then later I started to play a different game," he said, explaining that the skills learned in mastering the board game could be used later in life and in different types of battles. "The most important thing in chess and politics is you want to win."

Student competition

As Gorbachev spoke to the news corps, more than 150 students in grades K through 12 went head to head in five 10-minute rounds of chess inside an athletics building on the college campus. Family members and others stood at the sidelines watching the youngsters strategically move pawns and knights.

Among those students were Topeka Collegiate School seventh-graders Jonah Freed, Joseph Barber and Joel Billinger.

Kevin Freed, Jonah's father and interim head of the school, said a victorious player receives one point each round, while a loser receives no points. If there is a draw, each player receives one-half point. At the end of the tournament, the player with the most points is the champion.

"They did great," Freed said after the tournament ended.

Joel posted three wins and two losses, while Jonah and Joseph each racked up three wins, one draw and one loss.

In addition to competing in the tournament, Freed said he and the boys planned to watch the Karpov-Polgar match and attend Gorbachev's speech.

Roma Roebke, a 22-year resident of Lindsborg who doesn't play chess, said she was "overwhelmed" by Gorbachev's visit and the rising interest in chess in her hometown.

"It's been very exciting just to have an event like this in Lindsborg, Kansas," Roebke said. "It totally surprised me."

Jan Biles can be reached at (785) 295-1292 or jan.biles@cjonline.com.