My second favorite is Karpov describe him and his first wife as "Bishops of opposite colors."
Funny chess stories
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Around 40y ago, long before the internet, the only way to get a serious game was at the local club (where you played the same players over and over again) or play in a weekend tournament. Usually 5 rounds, 3 on Saturday 2 on Sunday. So another player and I were driving to a tournament 200mi from home. Him and I were rivals to say the least, he played in the intermediate section, I in the open section. Trying to explain to him that my 2 1/2-3 points to his 3 1/2-4 points was a better result was futile and happened several times, he would point to the $100 he won by coming in 3rd and my $0 for the middle of the pack. So one tournament he called to make reservations at the motel and was told fine for Saturday by they only had a conference room available for Friday night but in had a couch and a bed, so he said fine. When we got to the room, it was obviously a conference room complete with a long table 10 chairs and a couch (no bed to be seen anywhere) so he said “I have a bad back, I made the reservation, I am sleeping on the couch.” So fine we played a little chess and when it was time to go to sleep he jumped on the couch and went to sleep, I said fine “I will go to the front desk and complain.” Of course I did not go to the desk, instead I milled around the bar for 30m returned to the room where he was sound asleep and pulled the Murphy bed out of the wall and went to bed. Poor guy he had not even made a move and already out smarted himself!
Maybe 60y ago a reporter from Playboy ask Bobby Fischer what kind of women he liked. Being an intelligent man of the world you would think he would say something like sophisticated or intelligent. No he said “I like women with big breast.”
Maybe 40y ago I read the following letter in the forum section of Chess Life. Remember this is 40y ago so I am paraphrasing but I can assure you this was his theme. “In 1960 when I was servings 3 to 5 years at Rikers island for car theft GM so-and-so came as gave a 20 board Simo and I was the only inmate to draw with him, in 1968 while serving 5 to 10 for grand theft IM so-and-so came to Angola prison and gave a 20 board simo and I was the only winner, in 1975 while serving 5 to 10 for embezzlement a GM came to Sing-sing and I was the only one to beat him.” OK really good chess player and a bad criminal,
Wth
After reading blueemu post I was reminded of a seminar happening when I was an ATD which I also told in a post. Some time ago I was an ATD at a small tournament maybe 30-35 players. The games were side by side and the player on the second board made a game loosing move he was totally frustrated and thru down the pawn he had in his hand unfortunately the pawn bounced off his board onto the first board (scattering some of their pieces) the player on the first board got up and decked the player on the second board before anyone could react.
Around 1950 a new Doctor moved to a small costal town, 5 years after WW2 and at the start of the Cold War, Southport NC actually had ship’s torpedoed with casualties north to the local hospital. So Southport had been very much on edge for years. Our new Doctor carried an Expert Chess Rating (now called a Candiate Master) part of a 50 board postal match between the USA and the Soviet Block. What did our post office do? Turned in the new Doctor to the FBI for sending and receiving coded messages to and from Russia. He did draw his game against the Russian GM.
At some point Bobby Fischer announced a mate in 13 and of course he was correct. Sometime later in the Chess Life forum a letter appeared pointing that he could have mated in 9 in another line. My question is how much time did this guy spend trying to improve a MATE!
I was born partially deaf, one audiologist said I am 50% deaf in one and 55% in the other. When you are behind me or more then 10’ in front of me I can count the number of words you are saying but not hear them. Well I arrived rather late to the first round of a large (400+ players in 3 sections) tournament, found my assigned board and to my surprise my opponent have not arrived either. At the same time the TD began his obligatory speech, “thank you for coming, my name is so-and-so,” the same thing I had heard dozens of times before. So I did what everyone would do, unrolling my board, set the clock, and began setting up the pieces (making all the normal noises associated with this normal activity). I quickly noticed the guy next to me just glaring at me, with a real angry look on his face and just as quickly realized that the TD was not giving the expected speech. He was asking for a moment of silence because a local chess patron had passed away!
During a tournament in the 1980s, a couple of grandmasters, Boris Spassky and Viktor Korchnoi, played a blitz game with an unusual stake: the winner would get a pizza. Korchnoi won, and Spassky jokingly accused him of distracting him by making funny faces.
ChessMasteryOfficial wrote:
During a tournament in the 1980s, a couple of grandmasters, Boris Spassky and Viktor Korchnoi, played a blitz game with an unusual stake: the winner would get a pizza. Korchnoi won, and Spassky jokingly accused him of distracting him by making funny faces.
Speaking of Korchnoi when he and Karpov where in a World Championship match they were kicking each other under the table. Who says Chess is a non-contact sport?
Around 1985 the US Amateur was held in Stamford Connecticut, long before a GPS or any electronic mapping. We had to use maps, maps were a piece of paper that showed various landmarks that led you to a location, once unfolded it was virtually impossible to fold then back to there original shape (but that is another story). Two days before the tournament I left my home in NC drove to Ohio (to pickup my girlfriend), the next day we drove across Pennsylvania to a MLB game in NYC then the 40 miles to Stamford. Checking into the motel I noticed the man and his wife also checking in (both in their 60s). He was carrying a chess bag and so was I so we began to talk, they had lived in NYC all their lives and had rented a car to drive to the tournament (apparently it is not uncommon for people from NYC to get around using the subway). Anyway they had left NYC around noon missed the exit to Stamford driven all the way to Rhode Island before realizing they went to far, drove all the way back missed the exit (again) to their home in NYC turned around and drove to Stamford, because the directions they had were from there house not Rhode Island!!?? In the past two days I had driven 1100 miles thru 7 states gone to a game in the largest city in the US then to the tournament site without getting lost. Learning how to read a map when I was 8 apparently paid off. They would have gotten to the site quicker if they had walked. By the way there was a train station within 100 yards of the motel.
Another travel story, a man in his 70s (who once bear Fischer, Fischer was 15 him maybe 40), was living close to me so I would drive him to all the tournaments. 40y ago long before iPads or phones with chess apps we have small hand size chess sets (if you played during this time you know what I mean). Anyway I would be driving down I95 at 70mph and he would be talking chess and moving the pieces on the little board. Well I could not understand what he was talking about after all I was occupied DRIVING. So he reach over and put the board in front of my face and said “see this is good for white.” Driving and chess do not go together!
:P
Saved the best story for the last one, but if anyone has a funny chess related story please add it to this thread. Again in the 80s I was set to play in a large weekend tournament at a 5 star motel maybe 400+ players in three sections. Three games on Saturday starting at 10, 2, and 6, Sunday 10, and 2, virtually all of us have played in similar tournaments. Registration on Saturday until 9 or you could preregistration (which I did). So around 15m before the first round I arrived at the playing hall, and to my surprise the parings were NOT up. No problem I busyed myself by talking with other chess players about their recent chess conquest. 10 o’clock came and went (no parings) 10:10, 10:20, 10:30, finally the TD rushed into the hall taped the parings to the wall and apologized for the delay announcing that the first round will start in 10m. So we started the tournament with the sound of clocks being started all over the room. Sure enough 10m later the FIRE alarm went off, what did the 400+ well educated chess players rated from unr threw 2500 do, nothing! we just keep playing no one moved to the exit, parents that has kids playing in the lower section did not rescue their child, around 10m later the alarm went off again, again no one moved, finally the TD rushed in the playing hall telling everyone to stop the clocks and go outside until we got the all clean from management. We had come to play chess and by God we were not going to let a little thing that a FIRE stop us!
Hartsville54 wrote:
Saved the best story for the last one, but if anyone has a funny chess related story please add it to this thread. Again in the 80s I was set to play in a large weekend tournament at a 5 star motel maybe 400+ players in three sections. Three games on Saturday starting at 10, 2, and 6, Sunday 10, and 2, virtually all of us have played in similar tournaments. Registration on Saturday until 9 or you could preregistration (which I did). So around 15m before the first round I arrived at the playing hall, and to my surprise the parings were NOT up. No problem I busyed myself by talking with other chess players about their recent chess conquest. 10 o’clock came and went (no parings) 10:10, 10:20, 10:30, finally the TD rushed into the hall taped the parings to the wall and apologized for the delay announcing that the first round will start in 10m. So we started the tournament with the sound of clocks being started all over the room. Sure enough 10m later the FIRE alarm went off, what did the 400+ well educated chess players rated from unr threw 2500 do, nothing! we just keep playing no one moved to the exit, parents that has kids playing in the lower section did not rescue their child, around 10m later the alarm went off again, again no one moved, finally the TD rushed in the playing hall telling everyone to stop the clocks and go outside until we got the all clean from management. We had come to play chess and by God we were not going to let a little thing that a FIRE stop us!
nah bro
My favorite is maybe 60y ago a reporter ask Reshevsy to describe his style of play, he said "somewhere between Tal and Petrosian." Well that certainly cleared that up!