Fr. Zbigniew Wądrzyk in the middle,
on the left Fr. Stanisław Bąk and on the right al. Wiesław Ołowski.
VI PCCC Łódź - Łagiewniki 2007

Do priests play chess? Of course! Moreover, the strongest Polish chess player in a cassock lives in the Tri-City. It is Father Zbigniew Wądrzyk from Gdańsk a four-time winner of the Polish Clergy Chess Championships. What lessons can chess teach us and can they help somehow in pastoral work? Read an interview with Fr. Zbigniew which he gave me especially for our club website!

Fr. Zbigniew Wądrzyk was born in Gdańsk in 1971. He got acquainted with the game of chess at the age of five years, thanks to his father, a player of the Caissa club. He got his high school diploma from Grammar School No. III, the famous Topolówka, in Gdańsk and later graduated from the Gdańsk Seminary. He was ordained priest in 1996. For 7 years he has been connected with the Catholic Association of the Gdańsk School of New Evangelization “Jesus Lives”. The priest is open to any way of contact with people. You can discuss with him on www.snegdansk.pl forum where his user’s login is uuuf. He also runs spiritual and pastoral e-mail correspondence at uuuf@snegdansk.pl. He won the title of the Champion of the Polish Clergy for four years running (2002-2005). In total, in these four championships he lost only 1 point. This year, due to evangelization in Ukraine he was not be able to defend his title. In 2005 he did the first standard for the first category. In his spare time he plays chess on www.kurnik.pl, where his ranking falls within the range of 1750-1850 points. But more than anything he prefers apostolic work. “The youth today want to learn how to pray”, says Fr. Zbigniew, “the prayer, which leads to personal experience of living Risen Christ, and I want to help them in this”.

[Miłosz Kulewski] – What can chess teach a man?

[Fr. Zbigniew Wadrzyk] - I do not know how much more it can, because the potential is huge in itself. I know that thanks to chess I discovered flaws in my character - they all came out one after another in games of chess: impatience, chaotic nature, overconfidence, lack of attention, lack of diligence ... and you could continue for a long time. It was at the chessboard where I learned that for all that I myself will suffer losses, that it is in my best interest to work on my character. How well I remember the games in which I had a devastating positional advantage and overconfidence, carelessness in the conversion of options led to failure ... how it hurt ... and who was to blame? I think chess also helped me to think about what “the other party” is thinking about, to predict intentions. And it is a very useful skill not only in chess but in life. However, the most valuable ability, which I think I gained thanks to chess, is proper assessment of the value of strengths and their skillful “activation”, not only in myself, but also in others. In religious language, these strengths are charisms. Thanks to this, in pastoral groups I try to make the most efficient use of each member’s skills for the good of the whole. And I am particularly pleased with the “activation” of the hidden potential of a young man.

What do you think of personal culture of people playing online?

Sometimes I laugh when I see irritation of losers and I recall myself. But probably it goes away with time. If it has not gone away, a chess player would probably have to be a masochist to continue his chess career, which after all consists of loads of failures. The most ill-mannered behavior on the Internet, however, in my opinion is the use of computer programs for playing chess with an opponent. Deception always causes uncontrollable reactions, but it difficult to be surprised then.

How do you assess your real strength of the game? Someone once told me that it is a firm “two”.

I think that is true, but sometimes I hope that maybe one day my strength will reach the first category. More I will not manage. I feel that my strength has improved a bit after reading Nimzowitsch “My system”. But I have no illusions, I do not play like a pro. (laughs)

Apart from the Polish Clergy Championships didn’t you think taking part in any other tournament, for example Gdańsk Championships? Or would you not have time for this?

I would willingly play. I really like the atmosphere of championships, tournaments, these thrills and calculation... these brilliant moves, after which I see how the opponent’s dead eyes stare at the chessboard, and after a minute he says, “I give up”. Well, the truth is, that today many tournaments take place mainly on Sundays, and on Sundays I am fully occupied in the parish.

So maybe instead of this, you would sometime play a demo game with a player of the UKS Gedanensis Gdańsk club? What would you reply if the club authorities came with such an invitation?

A very interesting suggestion. I would even prepare my pennant with the logo of SNEGDAŃSK. Well, but it would have to be held on my terms (laughs).

What tempo of game do you prefer?

In fact any. Perhaps with the exception of a three-minute one. I learned to manage well the time of tournament games.

Do you think being a chess player obligesa man to a particularly “honourable” behaviour, or is it like any other game? I am asking about it in the context of increasingly frequent recent attempts to cheat, especially in open chess tournaments.

Honour is a word that is slowly leaving our world, but it will not leave it as long as there is at least one chess player. I would write this word with a capital letter, because here I am thinking of a man who is looking more for universal values than personal gain. I am looking for beauty in chess. I am happy if a game containes some incredible combinational opportunities, either on my side, or on the side of my opponent. For me beauty is a greater reward than the result. I know, however, that today effectiveness counts, not beauty, but it is not only a problem of chess. It is generally a problem of sport in the world. Just consider football championships or the increasing role of doping agents. However, I romantically believe that people who seek beauty will not become extinct - dinosaurs are still alive (laughs).

Someone once said that chess is not an appropriate activity, because it can induce aggression among best friends when one of them often loses. Is it not a strong argument against the “royal game”?

Aggression is not born at a game of chess, but in a heart stripped of dignity, and reveals itself on several occasions. Today, there is a lot of accumulated aggression in the whole of society, and it is because we no longer live in the age of neo-colonialism, but in pure slavery. Democratic slogans proclaimed over our heads are completely at odds with reality - hard labour and, worse, without due compensation. Chess teaches us to accept defeat with dignity and also to win without humiliating the loser. After all, if I humilitate my partner, he will not play with me any more. So you have to stop your triumphant gestures. Mobbing will not go here.

However, chess is in your life only a hobby. Is it not often so that many people associate you as a chess player and do not notice the things that are your appropriate occupation?

I am irritated when someone does not want to get to know me, but to pigeonhole me. Since childhood I have been fascinated with breaking patterns, which is also reflected in chess. That is why I am still looking for further challenges in life that will pull me even deeper into the mystery of life. What is my “appropriate occupation”? - Eucharist! Yes, only this, and also the confessional - they are my favourite activities, fortunately, they are “most appropriate” for my status. While chess is my “most appropriate” recreation.

Could you tell us something about the association in which you work?

This association www.snegdansk.pl, has a great future. It has been created by a lot of people, and they all like an army are ready for every call of the Lord Jesus, to take on new challenges, to conduct retreats, to witness publicly or privately about the truth of the Gospel that touched them personally so deeply that they started a new life, the life of Jesus Christ. I am very fortunate to live and work together with these people. Some of them are architects, others engineers, IT specialists, doctors, business people, teachers, there are many students ... simply, a great variety. What unites us is a common experience of a personal encounter with the living Jesus who is acting today and who so impressed us with his love personally offered to us that nothing else is more important. Therefore, for me, even chess will serve Him and it does serve. For example, during parish fairs I always play a simultaneous chess competition to attract also those who would otherwise never direct their steps to church. Of course, through the game of chess I will not convert anybody to God, but it creates another human platform where you can get to know each other ... and, by knowing, get rid of some common opinions, prejudice born out of gossip, or simply you can start liking each other. And this is the way to discover the Love, to find God. The SNE statutory activities are focused on retreats in the form of courses with a rich programme, often illustrated by pantomime, role plays, dynamics, surprising actions, etc. Until today I have not met a man who would say that he was bored and got totally nothing from staying at the course - on the contrary - the questionnaires of course participants give us a boost.

Is it true that in your work you mainly concentrate on young people?

I do not know if I concentrate on young people. I concentrate on the truth. And actually young people also often concentrate on it so we understood each other well.

Therefore, probably the news about the recent successes of our young chess players in Georgia was especially nice for you?

It was great news. I have always known that the intelligence of young Polish people is unique. If only it was duly appreciated.

Is it true that you have very strong views, let’s call them socio-political? The reason I ask is because local elections are approaching.

Socio-political views? It's a slippery question (smile). And asking it of a priest before the election is even perhaps a little provocative. But well, we will use the skills of a chess player in hiding the true plan of attack and try to answer it: Jesus did not preach democracy only the Kingdom of God. And I support it!

Thank you very much for the interview..

Source: szachy.gda.pl - W szachach szukam piękna.