Now... Chess. It has three parts. Do you know what they are?

May 11, 2023 5:14 PM

Street chess player explains the rules of chess to someone who might just have played before.

The next video in the series.

posted by Sebmojo (36 comments total)

Chess... Well, let's see, the primary male parts are The American and The Russian, and there are also two primary female parts, Florence and Svetlana.

Wait, what were we talking about again?
posted by hippybear at 5:21 PM on May 11, 2023 [21 favorites]

The sternum, the lungs and the ribcage? So sorry
posted by Droll Lord at 5:25 PM on May 11, 2023 [2 favorites]

Executive, legislative, and judicial
posted by saturday_morning at 6:13 PM on May 11, 2023 [4 favorites]

I actually think he's an excellent tutor, and I'd use a similar approach next time i talk to a new player. It's funny bc grandmaster, but he takes being instantly obliterated in very good heart in the follow up.
posted by Sebmojo at 6:49 PM on May 11, 2023 [26 favorites]

That was adorable. I loved his enthusiasm explaining it and relating it to the OG proxy for war strategy. His reaction to the reveal is really sweet and carries on through the next video.
posted by VTX at 6:50 PM on May 11, 2023 [9 favorites]

a) I love New Yorkers. :)

b) I love chess geeks.

c) his response when he learns she’s a GM is to beg for a second game! He knows he’s going to lose — it’s just love and respect to play someone so skilled. So sweet! And he keeps calling her “mom.” What a neat guy.
posted by Silvery Fish at 7:00 PM on May 11, 2023 [27 favorites]

Will keep this in mind whenever I feel the urge to mansplain something, anything, to a woman.

This said, what a wonderful and dramatic intro to chess.
posted by andreinla at 7:03 PM on May 11, 2023 [5 favorites]

Chess. It has three parts.

Does this explain how to use the three seashells?
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:14 PM on May 11, 2023 [7 favorites]

This is only tangentially related, but in case anyone wants more chess yt content, here are some of my favourite channels:

Agadmator, the king for analysis of lines that don't end up being played imo and foremost proponent of the Evan's gambit. A db of his videos is available here, searchable by player, opening etc.
Jonathan Schrantz who on his second channel (if you filter through the non chess stuff) plays a lot of games using highly dubious gambits
Eric Rosen, master of the Stafford Gambit & finder of stalemates under time pressure
Coffee Chess where the standard of the chess may not always be the highest but can be fun if you like a side of trash talking with your chess.
posted by juv3nal at 7:31 PM on May 11, 2023 [7 favorites]

Is the first rule don’t talk about street chess ?
posted by St. Peepsburg at 8:09 PM on May 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

one of the comments rightly points out that this guy intuitively understands that the real challenge with beginners isn't teaching them how to play chess, it's getting them excited about chess

and holy moly this guy is clearly driven by pure love of the game
posted by DoctorFedora at 8:09 PM on May 11, 2023 [33 favorites]

That was delightful. And I bet he gets two moves in a row in more games than not.
posted by skippyhacker at 8:10 PM on May 11, 2023 [7 favorites]

and holy moly this guy is clearly driven by pure love of the game

In the second video, he explains that he loves the social aspect of the game, and describes himself as a Grand Master of the social aspects of chess, and I have no doubt he's absolutely right about that.

(The second video also has a cameo appearance by Dr. Who, apparently!)
posted by mstokes650 at 8:18 PM on May 11, 2023 [5 favorites]

He must be the sweetest chess booster in Washington Square Park. His asking for another game when he found that Pia is a GM was so genuine.
posted by Warren Terra at 8:30 PM on May 11, 2023 [4 favorites]

Golf needs this guy. Cycling needs this guy. My job would be so much cooler if this guy replaced my project manager.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 8:33 PM on May 11, 2023 [8 favorites]

I loved this! And I agree with him, my favorite part about chess are the social/ritual aspects.
posted by Doleful Creature at 10:29 PM on May 11, 2023

Another classic from the genre

posted by lalochezia at 12:16 AM on May 12, 2023 [3 favorites]

here are some of my favourite channels

Seconding all of the above, and adding a plug for GothamChess.
posted by flabdablet at 1:45 AM on May 12, 2023

This is so great. The grandmaster is so calm and easygoing with the fun, her daughter plays it just right, too. And the guy... you couldn't write a character like him in a movie because no one would believe it.
posted by SoberHighland at 4:42 AM on May 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

Chess. It has three parts. Do you know what they are?

One of which the Belgae inhabit, the Aquitani another, those who in their own language are called Celts, in ours Gauls, the third.
posted by Foosnark at 5:18 AM on May 12, 2023 [26 favorites]

Is Street Chess anything like Street Countdown?
posted by tommasz at 7:31 AM on May 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

Will keep this in mind whenever I feel the urge to mansplain something, anything, to a woman.

I mean, I think he did all the right things. He was asked to give her a lesson and he confirmed they wanted to "see some basic stuff".

When he asked "there are three parts of chess, do you know what they are?" the grandmaster replied "tell me".

At the end she reminds him she told him chess is her passion but I don't think that appeared in the video at all and it would have been after they'd already established that they wanted to hear what he had to say.

Ultimately it was a joke at his expense and he took it with grace and lit up with genuine delight to be meeting a good player and wasn't incredulous or indignant.

If anything this is a great example of how not to mansplain.

He showed passion and respect.
posted by Reyturner at 9:01 AM on May 12, 2023 [29 favorites]

he explains that he loves the social aspect of the game, and describes himself as a Grand Master of the social aspects of chess

The thing I loved about this is that the route he took to begin restoring his ego after the public humiliation of attempting to teach a grandmaster beginner’s chess, was saying that his special power was recognizing strong players. It’s a claim that carves out a small niche for restoration of his pride while simultaneously continuing to acknowledge / extol her talent and victory.

I am not suggesting that we would magically be free of toxic masculinity if all dudes reacted to a bit of ego-death the way he did + the recovery route he took, but I am asserting that our society would be in so, so much better shape if we could just get all dudes onboard with those two as like a bare mininum thing. Like, we’re not gonna, but can you imagine if we did?
posted by Ryvar at 9:08 AM on May 12, 2023 [3 favorites]

Coffee Chess where the standard of the chess may not always be the highest but can be fun if you like a side of trash talking with your chess.

Dina Belenkaya is not only a women’s grandmaster with a peak ELO of 2364, she is a grandmaster of absolutely fucking savage trash talk delivered in a thick Russian accent.

(On poor queen protection) “I bet you would never be a good husband”
(In response to replying protests and scrambling attempts to hide the queen) “No, you are keeping your lady in a cage. (Stamping down captured piece) This is not how we treat women.”
posted by Ryvar at 9:19 AM on May 12, 2023 [6 favorites]

The parts where he tried to steal an extra turn and put the pawn back in the wrong place seemed very unsportsmanlike, especially if she really was a beginner. Maybe Street Chess allows it?
posted by autopilot at 10:01 AM on May 12, 2023

I think he's just so caught up in his own enthusiasm and concentrating on his presentation that he made a couple of honest mistakes. I believe he gets confused about it being his turn at some point too.
posted by VTX at 10:19 AM on May 12, 2023 [4 favorites]

Maybe he’s just being enthusiastic, although I saw covert piece moves or other sleight of hand happen often enough in Washington Square games that I assume the Street Chess Rules say anything is allowed as long as you don’t get caught.
posted by autopilot at 10:46 AM on May 12, 2023 [4 favorites]

This is awesome! And helpful. His way of explaining takes a lot of the complication out of just learning the movements of the individual pieces and having at it. That's what always frustrated me about chess, a game I've tried to get into a few times over the years, and by all indications I should be a practicioner. Maybe time to give it another go.
posted by rhizome at 3:22 PM on May 12, 2023

Not to be that person, but as someone who's taught a number of board games in their time, this person does a couple of things that I strive not to do. I'd never lead with something like his statement about the three parts of chess being the beginning, middle and end. That passes on basically no useful information about how to play, it sounds like a tautology. He's definitely enthusiastic though, and that kind of energy and enjoyment can do a lot to help people get interested in a game.

Something I think he does well though is offer advice about taking and holding the center of the board, I think. It's important when teaching a game to give players some good information on direction, about not just making moves haphazardly, but give them a goal that's genuinely useful to go for so, even if they don't play well their first game, they don't feel completely foolish and have a chance of winning. And often when I teach a game to people, they end up winning their first game, even though I don't generally pull punches in a teaching game, though sometimes I will make a move specifically to teach by example. A lot of that though is I usually teach people eurogames, which often have subtle strategies and come-from-behind mechanics to keep losing players in the running.
posted by JHarris at 3:24 PM on May 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

That passes on basically no useful information about how to play, it sounds like a tautology.

imo the point of that is to ease novices in who might otherwise feel intimidated so they can think to themselves "oh right I could have guessed that, maybe I'll be okay at this."
posted by juv3nal at 3:33 PM on May 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

I don’t know. I taught kids chess and the opening/mid game/ending is a really helpful way to think of chess IMO. Openings, mid game tactics, end game fundamentals. If you understand, say, rook and pawn endings, you can steer the game to a favorable ending, or force advantages by threatening trades that the opponent can’t afford positionally. I thought this guy was great as a “rah rah chess “ exciter.
posted by caviar2d2 at 4:45 PM on May 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

This 3 minute video purports to be the greatest Chess tutorial of all time and it actually lives up to the hype. Also I will mention my friend GM Benjamin Finegold as another YouTuber with good content. Although some find his combination of dad jokes and Simpsons references to be obnoxious.
posted by interogative mood at 6:12 PM on May 12, 2023

-lalochezia -
That is a favorite of mine. The way the hustler takes two pieces in one move... It looks so accidental. I'm sure I wouldn't have seen it. It looks so innocent.
But when Ashley calls him on it, it's like 'O.K. man', so you know he knew what he was doing.
posted by MtDewd at 7:25 PM on May 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

He must be the sweetest chess booster in Washington Square Park. His asking for another game when he found that Pia is a GM was so genuine.

It's like watching a pickup basketball player learn that he was playing LeBron James in disguise.
posted by jonp72 at 8:56 PM on May 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

Maybe he’s just being enthusiastic, although I saw covert piece moves or other sleight of hand happen often enough in Washington Square games that I assume the Street Chess Rules say anything is allowed as long as you don’t get caught.

As any close-up magician knows, sleight of hand is easier to get away with if your patter is tight.
posted by jonp72 at 8:57 PM on May 12, 2023 [2 favorites]

That was super sweet, and his enthusiasm was charming. He was kinda scum-baggy though because, c'mon, you're lifting pieces and taking an extra turn and, you know ... that's scum-baggy. On the other hand to expect anything less from a hustler would be naive. That's what they are doing. The mom was so magnificently patient though, honestly just watching her, and then especially how she played in the follow up video, was worth it.
posted by From Bklyn at 10:24 AM on May 13, 2023 [1 favorite]