I hope none of you racist bastards play chess.

El OchoCinco said:
Played a black guy guy in Dupont Circle in D.C. who looked pretty ragged and had a joint stashed over one of his ears. My friend put up $5 for me to play him. After my ass was beat before I coudl even figure out what opening he was doing, my friend told me he is a GrandMaster who loves to play in the park and makes money giving lessons or playing people. He looked like Bob Marley's poor cousin but played numerous 5 minute chess games with a clock and was beating guys while talking to the crowd and making jokes.
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Yup. These guys are true rounders in chess. I recall this one white guy who was always dressed like a bum and was filthy. He'd sit at his table and scream, in a Russian accent "Nobody can beat me because I am the MAS-TAHHHH!" Of course he really was at a master level, and just took all the plebe money. Nothing but respect for those guys, because they are running a business, like us traders. :)
 
I used to play chess with this Romanian engineer at lunch. He attended chess highschool and chess university in Romania.

When I started out with him he would face away from the board. I would call my moves and he would call his move and I would move his piece. He could beat me not ever looking at the board. It was a little humiliating but I kept playing him when others gave up.

Eventually he had to pay attention. I beat him twice but he blundered both times. Still, I felt I had improved. He never did tell me his UCF rating.

So I would try to play in the park and the brothers would hand me my ass. Its the speed. They are speed-chess experts. I needed a few minutes to crunch data and they didn't.
 
Overnight said:
Yup. These guys are true rounders in chess. I recall this one white guy who was always dressed like a bum and was filthy. He'd sit at his table and scream, in a Russian accent "Nobody can beat me because I am the MAS-TAHHHH!" Of course he really was at a master level, and just took all the plebe money. Nothing but respect for those guys, because they are running a business, like us traders. :)
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True.

Once I was told who he was, I gave him $20 for a game where he gave me a lesson with every move. Imagine sitting with a GM and getting a live lesson for just $20....was awesome. Sadly he was so intelligent some of it was over my head haha
 
El OchoCinco said:
Played a black guy guy in Dupont Circle in D.C. who looked pretty ragged and had a joint stashed over one of his ears. My friend put up $5 for me to play him. After my ass was beat before I coudl even figure out what opening he was doing, my friend told me he is a GrandMaster who loves to play in the park and makes money giving lessons or playing people. He looked like Bob Marley's poor cousin but played numerous 5 minute chess games with a clock and was beating guys while talking to the crowd and making jokes.
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My Cuban friend in Seattle would give masters 5 minutes to his 30 seconds and he would almost always win. I once saw him make 3 moves in the time for the clock to tick down in 1 second.
 
Man, makes me want to take up chess again, but I am so rusty I would fail completely.

Trading is linear thinking. Chess is multi-dimensional thinking, like options? hehe.
 
Overnight said:
Yup. These guys are true rounders in chess. I recall this one white guy who was always dressed like a bum and was filthy. He'd sit at his table and scream, in a Russian accent "Nobody can beat me because I am the MAS-TAHHHH!" Of course he really was at a master level, and just took all the plebe money. Nothing but respect for those guys, because they are running a business, like us traders. :)
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They're also legendary frauds. There's a ton of videos of these chess hustlers cheating. One of the more famous ways is piece swapping and touch moving. Piece swapping is obviously illegal (dropping a piece that wasn't on the board before) and touch moving is generally illegal in the USCF. Touch moving matters a TON in a game when you're down to the last 10 or so seconds.They also shit talk (talking is ultra frowned upon in most chess games and disqualifying in USCF games). It's all a distraction.

There are some legitimate IM level players that are chess hustlers but they are few and far between. Most of the swindlers you catch out in central park are masters of sleight of hand. I wouldn't play a game against any of them without a ref. Preferably a ref with USCF experience.

Their chess magic tricks are entertaining to watch if you've played even a few rated games though. None of it would fly against someone who's played competitive chess.
 
gaussian said:
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There are some legitimate IM level players that are chess hustlers but they are few and far between. Most of the swindlers you catch out in central park are masters of sleight of hand. I wouldn't play a game against any of them without a ref. Preferably a ref with USCF experience.

Their chess magic tricks are entertaining to watch if you've played even a few rated games though. None of it would fly against someone who's played competitive chess.
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When you play chess, don't you stare at the board all the time? I do. Never seen a sleight-of-hand-trick.
 
Overnight said:
When you play chess, don't you stare at the board all the time? I do. Never seen a sleight-of-hand-trick.
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If you're getting a flurry of insults hurled at you and the guy moves a piece so that its slightly off the board it gives him an opportunity to move pieces where they shouldn't be. I don't have a video queued and ready but I've seen them move pieces extremely fast while someone is looking away. Obviously if you're aware the guy is hustling you and you stay focused you'll beat em 9 out of 10 times.
 
gaussian said:
If you're getting a flurry of insults hurled at you and the guy moves a piece so that its slightly off the board it gives him an opportunity to move pieces where they shouldn't be. I don't have a video queued and ready but I've seen them move pieces extremely fast while someone is looking away. Obviously if you're aware the guy is hustling you and you stay focused you'll beat em 9 out of 10 times.
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If he does not say "j’adoube" before touching the piece then he forfeits the game. Stat.

:-)
 
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