‘Finding the right move’: Marcel Duchamp and his passion for chess

As we prepare to auction a pipe Duchamp presented to the legendary chess player George Koltanowski, a look at the artist's love affair with a game he equated with art

Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), Pipe, 1944. Signed and dated ‘M DUCHAMP 44’ (on the side) Carved briar wood pipe bowl. Height: 1⅞ in (4.7 cm), length: 3 in (7.5 cm). Sold for $87,500 on 13 May 2016 at Christie’s in New York

Pictures of Duchamp’s studio at the time, circa 1917, show a large chessboard on the wall for studying chess positions

In 1915, Duchamp moved to New York for the first time, where unbeknownst to him he was already something of a celebrity. He landed in high-society art circles, meeting the collector Walter Arensberg, the poet Alfred Kreymbord, Dr Ernest Southard, and Man Ray. By chance they were all keen chess players. Duchamp became a key figure in late-night chess sessions at the Arensbergs’ apartment. Pictures of Duchamp’s studio at the time, circa 1917, show a large chessboard on the wall for studying chess positions. Feeling he was too close to the art world, Duchamp moved to Buenos Aires in 1918, playing in local chess clubs and taking lessons from a top professional. In May 1919, and while still in Argentina, he wrote to the Stettheimers — three sisters he had given French lessons to in New York: ‘Nothing in the world interests me more than finding the right move,’ he said. ‘I like painting less and less.’ Duchamp made his own chess set, asking a local craftsman to carve the more difficult knights. He returned to Paris briefly, but by 1920 was back in New York, writing to Picabia in 1921: ‘My ambition is to be a professional chess player.’ When Breton’s magazine Littérature published the news that ‘all Duchamp does now is play chess, and he would be quite happy just to become unrivalled at it one day’, he became the artist whose final artwork was to quit art to play chess.

Marcel Duchamp playing chess in his studio, 1952 / Kay Bell Reynal, photographer. [Photographs of artists taken by Kay Bell Reynal], 1952. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

Although Duchamp would later deny this was his intention, at various points he emphasised the art-like values of chess while seeking chess-like values in art. He loved the conceptual nature of the game, its pointlessness, and the nearly infinite possible combinations of moves and tactics. Duchamp moved back to Europe in 1923. He chose Brussels, joining a local chess club and playing regularly in tournaments. In another letter to the Stettheimers, he wrote: ‘I am starting with the small nations –— maybe one day I will decide to become French champion.’ In October he placed third in the Tournoi National Belge, winning seven out of nine games and only losing to the two strongest players in Belgium, including once to George Koltanowski, the tournament’s eventual winner. Duchamp and Koltanowski were soon crossing paths on the tournament circuit, and in July 1924 after the 1st Chess Olympiad they were both present at the creation of the Fédération Internationale des Echecs (FIDE), chess’s governing body. It was the beginning of a lasting friendship. Duchamp played every day from 6pm and often well into the night, sleeping in late the following morning. This was his daily routine for the next 20 years. He married his first wife Lydie Sarazin-Levassor in 1927 and, according to Man Ray, one night Duchamp stayed up to study a game and left the pieces in position to continue the next day. On waking, he discovered that the disapproving Lydie had glued the pieces to the board.

‘[Duchamp] was a ‘master among amateurs’ who ‘would always take risks in order to play a beautiful game’

He next faced Koltanowski in Paris in 1929, but this time fared much better. His victory over a master of the game was of huge importance to him, and the highlight of his tournament career. Duchamp was considered a capable player, but lacking in the aggression to intimidate opponents. International master Edward Lasker, who played him on a number of occasions, judged that ‘if there were official rankings of the United States chess players in the 1920s and 1930s Duchamp would certainly have ranked among the top 25’. He was a ‘master among amateurs’ who ‘would always take risks in order to play a beautiful game, rather than be cautious and brutal to win.’

The original scorecard from a 1929 chess match between Duchamp and George Koltanowski — a game which saw Duchamp beat his opponent in 15 moves The cover of Duchamp's scoring book