Crazy and weird chess players

Wilhelm Steinitz

As a chess writer he is objective in writing and defended his ideas vigorously  from critics, when at a chessboard, he is worst, he earned the reputation as ill-mannered and violent, on both winning and losing, one of the his remarkable account is when he spat at his opponent, Blackburne, during a dispute in a game, his remarked after the incident was :

“…he struck with his full fist into my eye, which he blackened and might have knocked out.  And though he is a powerful man of very nearly twice my size, who might have killed me with a few such strokes, I am proud to say that I had the courage of attempting to spit into his face, and only wish I had succeeded.” 

Another of his outrageous and eccentric behavior was walking around his yard barefooted, trying to contact people he knew, with his wireless telephone. He believes his strong will power can relay signals in any distance.  He also tried to contact God using his "wireless" telephone and challenge him to a game. He had a delusion  of having telekinesis, wherein he is capable of move chess pieces using only his mind. He died broke prematurely in an asylum.

Aron Nimzowitsch

The innovator of nimzo-indian in which its name was based to his creator, his most hilarious act was when defeat was inevitable during a rapid chess game match against Fritz Saemisc (another chess opening innovator himself), he climbed up to the table and screamed "Why I must lose to this idiot?," enough to make even poker star Phil Hellmuth blush, in another occasion, he slashed all four tires of someone's Ford focus due to an outrage (probably. It would have been five if there is a reserve tire). During tournaments, he would do aerobics by going to the corner of main hall and stand on his head. A popular, but probably apocryphal, story is that once when an opponent laid a cigar on the table, he complained to the tournament arbiters, "he is threatening to smoke, and as an old player you must know that the threat is stronger than the execution." He is also paranoid that he is always being served with less food compared to others, Kmoch a friend of him, trying to help him with his paranoia offered to exchange plates with him, but after doing so, he shook his head, still in disbelief that he is being served with fewer portion.


Paul Morphy - Widely considered the greatest chess player of his era, and is often referred to as an unofficial World Champion. He had given a five simultaneous game against group of masters considered among the top ten players of the day, scoring 3-2.


Perhaps one of the most tragic stories, at his time, chess was not accepted as a descent profession, when he proposed his love to a handsome lady, he got rejected because of his chess profession, then Morphy decided to abandon chess and focus in practicing law, but unfortunately American Civil War broke, He opposed the war and did not serve in confederate army, causing him not being able to practice law. People would go visit him in his office just to ask him to go back and play chess.

Morphy's final days was spent wandering around the French Quarter of New Orleans, talking to people no one else could see, and having irrational feelings of persecution, and on July 10, 1884, he was found dead in his bathtub.
Carlos Torre
A Mexican Grandmaster,  and an exhibitionist, I don't mean playing a game like his opponent have queens instead of pawns, he is fond of going nude in the public, he got arrested once for running in streets naked, another remarkable stint of him was he did it while riding a public bus, so imagine the reaction of the grannys.

Bobby Fischer
His road to chess supremacy is inspirational, his games are remarkable, but what went wrong, is a mystery, his growing hate for Jews and anti-semitic view has earned him the disgust of those who once adored and worshiped him, He was faithful to his religion Worldwide Church of God donating lots of his earnings, but felt betrayed when the church was put in a series of scandals and failed prophecy causing him to denounced it publicly.

He is quoted in Philippine radio program after the 9/11 attacks "All the crimes the U.S. is committing all over the world ... This just shows, what goes around, that comes around even to the United States." so imagine the uproar of the Americans after being insulted after the injury.


Akiba Rubinstein -
He was scheduled to play a world championship match against  Emmanuel Lasker, but unfortunately World War 1 interrupted, he is an anti-social type that his wife would warn his visitors that do not stay long otherwise he will crawl out of window. A nerd crawling out of window, sounds like Peter Parker to me.

Alexander Alekhine -
You have probably heard grandmasters dozing during the game in tournaments, but Alekhine could all make the like of Vachier-Lagrave look amateur, though losing lots of games due to playing completely drunk, he had managed to salvage a few at least not retiring dozed after 11 moves, okay. He did have moments with the carpet of the floor.  His addiction to liquor and drinking during the game may be due to that he is suffering from anthrophobia, a fear of people and society. There was a game of him that after making a move he would stand up and go to the corner of the tournament hall to hide, and wait for his opponent's reply. Nowadays, people would hide to consult their Pocket Fritz.

Vassily Ivanchuk 
Anand describes him as the most eccentric player:

He's someone who is very intelligent ... but you never know which mood he is going to be in. Some days he will treat you like his long-lost brother. The next day he ignores you completely.

The players have a word for him. They say he lives on 'Planet Ivanchuk'. (Laughs) ... I have seen him totally drunk and singing Ukrainian poetry and then the next day I have seen him give an impressive talk.

When offered a draw by GM Alex Baburin during a game in Istanbul, felt on a deep thought for almost an hour to accept the offer.

In one occasion in Linares tournament, He went in to a restaurant and ask the manager to give him Kasparov's favorite chair, and he seated there meditating, when asked, he said He wants to absorb Kasparov's aura, and this paid off actually, winning his next game.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
is a Kalmyk multi-millionaire businessman, politician, and president of FIDE since 1995, He visited Libya leader Muammar Gaddafi, during the Libyan civil war, when United Nations is condemning its leader of butchering its citizens, but thats not it, he claims he was abducted by aliens in 1997 and have travelled in galaxy with their spaceship.

Famous people who plays chess

Jessica Simpson and Billy Corgan  of Smashing Pumpkins, became addicted to chess after billy taught him how, the weekly session became regular ritual.

Leonardo diCaprio, best known for his lead role in titanic,  was recently being seen in public playing chess with a chess clock.

Nicholas Cage, member of Internet Chess Club (ICC) himself, seeing the valuable lessons can be learned from chess, he sent his son Weston to Robert Snyder to take chess lessons.

Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer, he plays chess at the Bel Air Chess Club, where Julia Roberts is also a member.

Bill Gates, though it is really no surprise to hear that geeks plays chess, but for a multi-billion dollar man might.

Princess Diana, Having a fair (if not good) understanding of chess, Princess Diana was quoted in an interview referring to his ex-husband after their divorce.

"I don't know. But it was there to injure me and to hurt me. It was the first time that I experienced this sort of thing: what it meant to be outside the safety net and not to be a part of the family any more. My husband naturally held all the best cards. That was like in a game of poker, or a game of chess."

Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States of America, he is enthusiastic about chess that he wrote the "The Morals of Chess".

John Lennon, the name reminds of his wonderful songs, and my favorite is "Imagine".

Frank Sinatra, enjoyed chess so much that he got his own pieces made for him, he really wants it "My way"

Will Smith, in an interview

"It is cool to play chess. My father taught me how to play chess at seven and introduced beautiful concepts that I try to pass on to my kids. The elements and concepts of life are so perfectly illustrated on a chess board. The ability to accurately assess your position is the key to chess, which I also think is the key to life." He pauses, searching for an example. "Everything you do in your life is a move. You wake up in the morning, you strap on a gun, and you walk out on the street – that's a move. You've made a move and the universe is going to respond with its move. Whatever move you're going to make in your life to be successful, you have to accurately access the next couple of moves – like what's going to happen if you do this? Because once you've made your move, you can't take it back. The universe is going to respond."

Manilyn Monroe, the lovely lady in mono-colored, subway-vent skirt blowup, haven't seen it yet? I pity this generation.

Keannu Reeves, long before he was known as Neo,he was a chess hustler in Toronto, and played in his Highschool Team.

Albert Einstein, if you want to see how a known genius takes chess, see game below


William Shakespeare is an english poet, playwright and widely regarded as the greatest english writer. in his
In The Taming of the Shrew Katharine says:

“I pray you sir, is it your will,
To make a stale of me amongst these mates?”