Kenilworth Kibitzer

While working my way through Chess Duels by GM Yasser Seirawan, I finally reached a section devoted to his battles with whom he considers to be the world's best chess player, both past and present; Garry Kasparov. Seirawan referenced Kasparov's only loss on his way to first place in the 1983 Niksic tournament. Observing the post-mortem between Kasparov and Spassky, he recalled, was jaw-dropping. He compares Kasparov's ability to calculate 12 move variations effortlessly leaving Spassky almost speechless to a video of Bruce Lee (?!) playing ping pong with Nunchaku sticks. You can't believe what you are seeing. This is ability on a superhuman level. Perhaps by watching this clip, we can appreciate Kasparov's talent a bit more.




This reminds me of the KCC Holiday Party coming up December 23rd. Bring your paddle (or Nunchucks??) if you got 'em. Ping pong tournament is in the works! More on ping pong and chess!

Back to the book...Seirawan's story telling style makes it a very entertaining read. Just a nudge more than halfway through, I can already whole-heartily recommend this book. For every giant at the chessboard he played, he includes a snippet into their life. You will appreciate the world champions from a different perspective. Thumbs up!

Labels: Bruce Lee, Chess Duels, Ping Pong