They Did What?! Funny Chess Tournament Moments!

Howdy! It’s the Chess Friends!

If you ever go to a chess tournament, you’ll know right away it’s serious business. So much concentration in one room you can feel the tension. But just because it’s a serious place doesn't mean funny things can’t happen. In this blog post, we will share some knee-slappers that happened to us at different chess tournaments.

Laughing Peshka

The Man Benji:

As they say, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, but I'll share one thing. Normally, when I travel to a chess tournament, I like staying at a hotel away from the playing site. It’s just nice to get out of the building, and while walking outside, refocus my mind, get some fresh air, some movement, all that good stuff… So, one time in Las Vegas I was walking to the tournament site, reviewing some opening lines in my head, minding my own business, when suddenly, something splattered on my head. My first reaction: touch it. UGH!! It was bird poop! For a moment I panicked. Then, I groaned. Of all the places, of all the times, the bird had to poop right when I was walking there!

Then, I thought to myself, maybe it’s for good luck. Maybe it meant that I was going to win all of my games that day. So I calmed down and proceeded walking.  Nevertheless, my mind was not on the opening lines anymore; it was on how to clean up! When I got to the playing site, I went straight to the bathroom, washed my hair, my face, and rubbed it with a paper towel. Just to be on the safe side, I sprayed some sanitizer on my head. You never know what that bird had been up to. Sure, I got a few funny looks, but what mattered the most was that my head felt clean and smelled like lavender. Alas, my prediction wasn’t correct. That morning, my game ended in a draw, but hey, I had a story to tell!

Another funny thing happened at a local event. The organizers assembled rows of tables and chairs in the gym, and there we played, with basketball hoops and that middle school dirty socks smell hanging in the air. Other than that, everything was business as usual. The games were already out of the opening phases when suddenly, music started blasting through the speakers. "Wake me up, before you go-go..." I guess the school's administrators forgot to turn off the bell when they left for the weekend. At first, everyone looked startled and shocked, but a second later, we all started laughing. Some were even tapping the table with the beat of the song. After it was done, we were back focusing on our games again, and then, ten minutes later, a different song blasted through the speaker! Now everybody was going crazy. Luckily, it soon ended and never repeated again, and I eventually won that game.

The Myth Sarang:

What happens in Portland stays in Portland? I think not. I was playing a big tournament with adults, and we were in the penultimate round where a lot of the prizes would be determined. A thirsty gentleman from the street came in and grabbed a couple cups of water from one of the dispensers. I guess he wasn't supposed to be there because a couple of big security guards were following him. Can you guess what happened next? The poor fellow got scared and ran into the main playing hall where all the top players were playing!

With security in hot pursuit, the fellow frantically ran down the aisle saying sorry and that he was thirsty. A tournament hall is supposed to be super quiet. It was anything but! As he ran, he was swinging his arms. Remember he had a big cup of water in each. What happens when you swing a cup of water?! The water FLIES! Some of my friends got soaked and water got on chess boards, and even my coach at the time got drenched! It was a crazy time, and we all laughed in the playing hall for a moment before cleaning up a bit and returning to our games. Lucky for our thirsty friend, we think he escaped through a backdoor in the room and got out of the hotel before security could catch him.

The Legend Vivaan:

I have been playing tournament chess for four years, and I am seven, so I have a lot of funny moments for you from K-1 events. Here are three that make me giggle. A recent one first. I was playing another kid, and I had forced mate in five, and they offered me a draw. I declined. Guess what? They asked "WHY?"! Who does that?! You're not supposed to talk during chess games except to offer a draw, call a TD, or decline a draw. Anyway, it was hilarious, and hopefully that friend learned that as awesome as it is to ask the question why, during a chess game is not the time.

Another tournament featured a kid who didn't quite understand what checkmate meant yet. Once it got into an endgame where they were up a rook, they excitedly yelled "CHECKMATE!"... EVERY SINGLE MOVE! It was so distracting but we all couldn't help laughing. Fortunately, the TD kept correcting them and tried to keep them quieter.

As DJ Khaled says, "another one"... this was maybe the best one yet... Look, we're Indian American and love Bollywood songs, but this story is wild... I was playing on board 1 in a K-1 tournament and on the board next to me, board 2, a fellow Indian American kid starts singing a Bollywood bop! I don't know if he made a great move or what, but the TD, also Indian American, immediately goes "Are we at Indian Idol or a Chess Tournament?" and the whole room went crazy laughing! A few moments later (like SpongeBob), the kid is doing it again, and half the kids in the room are joining! Luckily, the TD had a good sense of humor, sang and laughed along for a second, then put a stop to it and no one got in trouble.

You have to admit, some funny things that happen don’t seem so funny at first, and if you could go back in time, you would definitely try to revert them. But it’s all good if you can laugh about it later. In our book, we share what other funny moments you can expect at a chess tournament!

By the way, an exciting thing happened this week. Did you see the CBS National News? The Myth and The Legend were featured for some chess tournament kindness. Check it out here.

That’s all for now. Play chess and have fun! Let us know what funny things happened to you at chess tournaments!

Three Cheers, Fellow Future Master Chess Friends.

The Man Benji, The Myth Sarang, and The Legend Vivi