The Queens Rising Variation
The Queen’s Rising Variation reimagines chess as a collaborative endeavor, offering a profound metaphor for reshaping how we approach competition, relationships, and power. Traditionally, chess revolves around defeating the opponent by checkmating the king, but this variation asks players to embrace a different goal: working together to elevate all 16 pawns to queens, creating a board with 18 queens.
By shifting the objective from domination to mutual growth, this game challenges deeply ingrained competitive instincts. It requires players to limit conflict on the board, make calculated sacrifices, and collaborate to achieve a shared success. This simple shift in mindset has far-reaching implications, prompting us to reconsider the frameworks that shape our lives—whether in diplomacy, economics, culture, or personal relationships.
The Queen’s Rising Variation demonstrates that even in a game synonymous with conflict, collaboration can unlock higher potential. It questions the societal norm that progress must come at another’s expense, suggesting instead that shared success fosters a more inclusive and transformative future.
Through this piece, I invite players and viewers alike to reflect on how rethinking small, everyday interactions can ripple outward, fundamentally changing how we coexist and thrive in this world.
Video Installation, 2021
The Queens Rising Variation Video
Leila Mesdaghi vs. Masami Sugimori, 2021
The video component of The Queens Rising Variation explores the transformation of chess from a competitive game into a collaborative act of mutual growth. When I proposed the idea, both Dr. Masami Sugimori and my chess coach, Arvin Adeli, noted its mathematical impossibility. Yet, they agreed to test the concept, turning skepticism into discovery.
The challenge was to elevate all 16 pawns to queens without accidental checkmate, a feat requiring innovative strategies. The first breakthrough was moving the kings to the opposite side of the board, safeguarding them as pawns advanced. Sacrifices followed: higher-ranking pieces like rooks were deliberately taken to clear pathways, symbolizing the dismantling of hierarchies for collective progress. This process minimized bloodshed while embodying a reimagined approach to competition.
The final act became a celebration. As pawns blossomed into queens, waltz music played, and we imagined the queens dancing in harmony across the board. The game ended in a poetic draw, underscoring equality and shared success over domination.
The Queens Rising Variation invites reflection on how a simple shift in mindset can transform competition into collaboration, offering a vision for a more inclusive, cooperative future.
This piece was part of Fast Forward, curated by Dana Rose at Big Arts Sanibel. The installation featured a video projection of The Queens Rising Variation, the resonant sounds of chess moves, and a wooden chessboard with all 18 red queens carved from wood, inviting viewers to experience the culmination of this reimagined game.