Chess Chronicles of the Strange and Unusual

In my opinion, the universality of chess is one of its most appealing characteristics. Yet, there is a strangeness to the world of chess that creates and attracts some of the strangest personalities out there and unites some of the most unlikely of foes across the board. In this post, I will examine five unlikely chess players who have *at least one game* that has survived through time.

#### 1. Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley was once dubbed by a British news service as the *Most Wicked Man in the World* and often referred to himself as *The Beast*. Crowley was a master magician and student of the occult. His penultimate work, *The Toth Tarot* has become one of the best selling tarot decks in history and it combines elements of ancient Egyptian mythology with later esoteric revelations. He makes #1 on this list not because of his chess playing abilities or prevalence of recorded games, but for his general strangeness and the significant quality of the only real piece of his chess legacy that I could find, which is one game recorded that ended in a draw with British chess master Joseph Henry Blackburne.

[pgn]
[Event “Blackburne simul Eastbourne”]
[Site “Cambridge, England”]
[Date “1894.??.??”]
[EventDate “?”]
[Round “?”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[White “Joseph Henry Blackburne”]
[Black “Aleister Crowley”]
[ECO “B45”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[PlyCount “56”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Nxc6
bxc6 7. Qd4 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Nf6 9. Ba3 Qa5 10. Bb4 c5 11. Bxc5
Nxe4 12. Bb4 Qd5 13. Qxd5 exd5 14. Rd1 Bb7 15. Be2 a5 16. Ba3
Nxc3 17. Rd3 Nxe2 18. Re3+ Kd8 19. Kxe2 d4 20. Re7 Re8
21. Rxe8+ Kxe8 22. Kd3 f6 23. Kxd4 Kf7 24. c3 Re8 25. Rb1 Bc6
26. c4 Re2 27. Rb2 Rxb2 28. Bxb2 Ke6 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]

#### 2. Che Guevara

The mere mention of Che Guevara conjures images of his cigar and famous red-starred beret. Che Guevara has become a pop icon synonymous with revolution, yet few outside the world of chess know the significant influence that he wielded over the game in post-revolution Cuba. In many ways, he was obsessed with the game and spent much of his time in Cuba’s new government finding ways to facilitate tournaments and to spread the game’s influence throughout the new regime. He also played a large role in Bobby Fischer’s teletype participation in the 1965 Capablanca Memorial. The following game features Che playing against a man whose name is now immortalized in a Sicilian variation: Miguel Najdorf.

[pgn]
[Event “Havana”]
[Site “Havana”]
[Date “1962.??.??”]
[EventDate “?”]
[Round “?”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[White “Miguel Najdorf”]
[Black “Ernesto Che Guevara”]
[ECO “C93”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[PlyCount “32”]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3
d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 h6 10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.d5 Ne7 13.c4 bxc4
14.Nxc4 c6 15.dxc6 Nxc6 16.Be3 Be6 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]

#### 3. Paul Morphy

Perhaps the most important thing to know about Paul Morphy is: do not believe everything that you hear. Urban legend has it that chess drove Paul Morphy insane and that he was discovered dead in his bathtub surrounded by women’s shoes. The reality of Paul Morphy is that he was a young chess prodigy and until the arrival of Bobby Fischer, was considered the greatest American chess player in history. Morphy beat most of Europe’s greatest players and endured a lifelong feud with chess legend Howard Staunton. His attempts to withdraw from the world of competitive chess resulted in a psychosis that took his life at a very early age. The following game has become one of the most prominent instructional games in history and is used by many chess teachers and coaches to demonstrate the importance of piece development.

[pgn]
[Event “Paris”]
[Site “Paris”]
[Date “1858.??.??”]
[EventDate “?”]
[Round “?”]
[Result “1-0”]
[White “Paul Morphy”]
[Black “Duke Karl / Count Isouard”]
[ECO “C41”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[PlyCount “33”]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 {This is a weak move
already.–Fischer} 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Qb3 Qe7
8.Nc3 c6 9.Bg5 {Black is in what’s like a zugzwang position
here. He can’t develop the [Queen’s] knight because the pawn
is hanging, the bishop is blocked because of the
Queen.–Fischer} b5 10.Nxb5 cxb5 11.Bxb5+ Nbd7 12.O-O-O Rd8
13.Rxd7 Rxd7 14.Rd1 Qe6 15.Bxd7+ Nxd7 16.Qb8+ Nxb8 17.Rd8# 1-0
[/pgn]

#### 4. Howard Stern

Howard Stern makes this list because public perception of him seems to be that he is the last person you would expect to be a thriving chess player. Although still rated in the amateur range, Howard Stern began taking chess lessons several years ago and playing anonymously on the [Internet Chess Club](http://www.chessclub.com). He has even brought his chess teacher on his show to discuss the game and to play exhibitions. *Chess Life* ran a wonderful commentary on some of his games in a 2010 [article](http://main.uschess.org/content/view/10340/587), which is available on the USCF website. The following game is taken from the PGN file of one of those games.

[pgn]
[Event “Internet Chess Club”]
[Date “2007.??.??”]
[EventDate “?”]
[Round “?”]
[Result “1-0”]
[White “Anonymous”]
[Black “Howard Stern”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[BlackElo “?”]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Be7 5.O-O d6 6.c3 dxc3 7.Nxc3 Be6 8.Qb3 Bxc4 9.Qxc4 Nf6 10.Re1 O-O 11.Bf4 Qd7 12.Rad1 Nh5 13.Bd2 Rfe8 14.Qb5 Nf6 15.Bf4 b6 16.e5 Qf5 17.exf6 Qxf4 18.Qxc6 gxf6 19.Nd5 1-0
[/pgn]

#### 5. Napoleon Bonapart

For the final entry, I was tempted to post a picture of Napoleon from *Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure*, but I decided to post a legitimate photo instead. However, the tendency of the French to paint Napoleon as an epic hero on and off the battlefield should be taken with a grain of salt. Although he was an unstoppable military commander, Napoleon was a terrible chess player. Legend has it that he would go into fits of rage after losing and that some of his military commanders would purposely lose games to avoid losing their heads! The following game is perhaps one of Napoleon’s most famous losses and it comes against the greatest chess hoax of all time: [The Turk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turk)!

[pgn]
[Event “Schoenbrunn”]
[Site “Schoenbrunn”]
[Date “1809.??.??”]
[EventDate “?”]
[Round “?”]
[Result “0-1”]
[White “Napoleon Bonaparte”]
[Black “The Turk (Automaton)”]
[ECO “C20”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[PlyCount “48”]

1. e4 {During this game, the Turk was operated by Johann
Allgaier.} e5 2. Qf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ne2 Bc5 5. a3 d6 6. O-O
Bg4 7. Qd3 Nh5 8. h3 Bxe2 9. Qxe2 Nf4 10. Qe1 Nd4 11. Bb3
Nxh3+ 12. Kh2 Qh4 13. g3 Nf3+ 14. Kg2 Nxe1+ 15. Rxe1 Qg4
16. d3 Bxf2 17. Rh1 Qxg3+ 18. Kf1 Bd4 19. Ke2 Qg2+ 20. Kd1
Qxh1+ 21. Kd2 Qg2+ 22. Ke1 Ng1 23. Nc3 Bxc3+ 24. bxc3 Qe2# 0-1
[/pgn]