British Chess Magazine – February 2024
English | 64 pages | pdf | 15.3 MB
In the report from the World Rapid and Blitz tournament in Samarkand, published in January, we wrote about the case of GMs Nepomniachtchi and Dubov who were stripped of half a point each for “horsing around” the chessboard. Namely, in the World Blitz they prearranged a draw (something not that rare in Blitz events among top players), but in a very obvious and – for some – insulting way: by playing several moves only with their knights moving them for one part of the board to the other. They argued they did nothing wrong and suggested this was just a bit of fun and humour on the chessboard. In fact, on social media we can see players joking often but usually in a way which is understandable to very niche circles.
Humour plays a crucial role in social interactions. Studies have consistently shown that a sense of humour is associated with various positive outcomes, including improved mood, reduced stress, and enhanced overall well-being. Humour can act as a coping mechanism in challenging situations. All the things that chess players would also benefit from.
However, you won’t get that impression from many chess players at top events.
In recent years I have started attending global chess events more often, usually in the role of the press officer. It was extremely difficult in the beginning (and, still is, but I am now used to it) to “break the ice” with the players. I tried politely introducing myself (which, in one case, led to a player accusing me of “attacking them”; unknowing to me at that time was that the player in question is well known for his odd social behaviour so nobody took it seriously), but also I tried to joke with them. It didn’t really work. If you’re not a GM or a well-known person in their circles, they just tend to ignore you or, at best, they are extremely serious and reserved, even when asked a joking question.
However, having done quite a few events in recent years, it seems they have finally “warmed up” to me and now occasionally I even get greeted with a nod or a smile. Relationships with people depend on taste and character, but, personally, I would single out Peter Svidler, Teimour Radjabov and Anish Giri as players with the most sense of humour at top events nowadays. (There are, of course, others.) While Svidler and Radjabov’s jokes are on the level of being quite sophisticated and dry, Giri is more the uplifting type, even when severely struggling in the tournament.
But, given that many of the world’s top chess players have been playing chess their whole life and are moving only in chess circles, their sense of humour and abilities to produce/get jokes almost completely revolve around their own (small) world, which makes it difficult for “outsiders” to follow. Unless we are talking about people who live off scanning social media profiles of chess players 24/7, but that is another – seems very insular – type of audience.
Let me end with another example of real humour at a chess board: In the 1951 Bad Pyrmont Zonal, Efim Bogoljubov was playing as Black against Harry Golombek. Bogoljubov needed a point to qualify for the Interzonal. After a long struggle he managed to win a pawn but in the end he entered a theoretically drawn position. Bogoljubov then decided to sacrifice the extra pawn, explaining later on: “Well, now nobody can say how Bogoljubov drew in an endgame with an extra pawn”!
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