TWO WASHINGTON SQUARE HUSTLERS PLAY THE BEST CHESS PLAYER IN THE WORLD. Nick has sent me a couple chess games this week—masterpieces by Kasparov and Magnus Carlson—so I was thinking about chess when I came across this post by Michael Nunez on the Gizmodo website. The post includes a YouTube video which shows Magnus Carlson, the best chess player in the world, and his friend Liv Tyler visiting Washington Square in New York. This brought back memories because there was a time when I jogged often in that park, and I would cool down by walking around among the chess hustlers who play there. They were good players.
How would a Washington Square chess player do against Carlson? Of course, Carlson won. The video shows the discussions after the game with two hustlers, who had not known who Magnus Carlson was, but knew early on that they were up against a strong player. One player says that Carlson came with a movie star but “I forget her name.”
Notice the black squirrel climbing on the shoulder of one of Carson’s opponents at the very end of the video.