Except the part at 1:55 saying "Washington Square Park 1970s" was ripped off from 'Men Who Would Be Kings' (on YT), and it's not from the '70s but from the late '80s....Baron if you're going to steal ("borrow") footage at least attribute it properly and don't mislabel it, Clown
I beat Elementary once in 91 after taking lessons from Richard Gilmartin. I didn't like playing blitz so it was a rapid game. The strongest player in the whole park was Poe, a legit FIDE player, who's shown in this video for about two seconds. Simon couldn't play at all, half the guys in this video were selling weed posing as chess players. There was a Brazilian IM named Oscar who was destroying dudes w time odds all day.
Folks need to understand that most of these hustlers didn’t need to be great chess masters or reach a certain level/rating nor did they even want to. So saying things like, “Anand or Magnus could wipe the floor with them” is besides the point. For the hustlers, it wasn’t so much about chess as it was making some easy money. Advancing in chess proficiency was too much work and headache for the average hustler, unless you happen to also be a natural. But who needs that when you have to earn money? Serious players who challenged the hustlers were often intentionally avoided because they stole business away from easier prey. If they knew you were good, they would often decline playing with you until a chump showed up instead to play and get taken in. Sometimes hustlers would grudgingly accept to play with a proficient opponent if business was too slow that day. Arrests sometimes happened if the hustlers sold contraband on the sly - on the side, and perhaps many of them did. They learned all the chess tricks and traps that the average person wasn’t privy to. Was it thievery? No, because their moves were legit (for the most part). All they needed was to be just a little bit better than the average player. That’s all. Add on to that personal charm, the gift of gab, psych tactics, peacocking, and giving lessons to rich kids sporadically when their family was out strolling about around the park. But in the end, Street Chess never pays off. It has no Union, no Job-security and no 401-k pension plan. For many of the players who were already on welfare and food stamps and who weren’t reporting their earnings, chess hustling was easy, extra money in the pocket. When you get to be too old of a chess hustler, you don’t attract as many people as the newer, more flashy, personable, younger and more confident players. So the old dinosaurs disappear and are replaced by new blood, starting the cycle all over again. Another thing, you couldn’t just become a chess hustler at Washington Square Park. There was a pecking order. Certain players had their specific spots that you couldn’t trespass, unless you want to get retribution. It was almost like a mafia, and the players often saw each other as a brotherhood or club and good luck getting your foot in the door! Also…if you didn’t show up to your spot for longer than a few days, your spot was taken by another more virulent chess hustler. This forced you to not take too many days off or you would lose your spot. So once you earned your spot, you had to protect it for dear life, because the chance may not come again. This also meant that oftentimes you had to show up and hustle even though you lost the joy of the game several years before. But money is money.
Imagine if those guys heard the theme song from a "Few Dollars More" and looked up and saw Vesselin Topalov, Magnus Carlson, Viswanathan Anand, Anatoly Karpov led by Garry Karparov riding into town. That would be such an epic moment. Perhaps those guys would play members of the public and raise money for charity.
Great to see a insight into the chess culture in NY,and very awesome of the guy to pass down the knowledge to youngins and getting them interested in the game
Great short documentary, captures the spirit. I live in NYC and my first exposure to the clock was in Washington Square Park. I've been a blitz player every since. In the late nighties, there were a few masters and a few experts playing for money. Crafty and agile would be what I would describe as the overall theme of the park as far as playing style is concerned.
I think there were a lot more masters in the park back then....Check out "Men Who Would Be Kings" (on TH-cam) it's a chess circle doc from the late eighties and shows legendary hustlers like Vinnie Livermore, and other master strength hustlers Most of the guys in this film are way below master strength...Nowadays a lot of them won't really gamble, you just have to pay them to play them, and if you win you just get your money back....It's because a lot of them aren't strong enough to bet against strangers straight up....Some of these guys are like 'B' or 'C' players
Yeah that's true. The weaker players play straight up, not true gambling. The stronger ones usually play 5 a game, winner takes pot. The arabic guy in this video is a master, I've played him a few times and have seen him play other strong players. I'm about class A, and I beat many of the straight up players easily, so the class C, B quote seems accurate.
See 'Men Who Would Be Kings', much more of an insider account....this film looks like it was made by an art school wanker who probably never spent time in the chess circle otherwise, and didn't really know his subjects
That clip "Washington Square Park '70s" is not from the 1970s It was lifted straight from "Men Who Would Be Kings" (also on TH-cam), which was filmed in the late '80s and is a much more interesting film about the chess circle IMO Also check out "For Love Or Money"
Look how a child "lights up" and smiles when he/she figures something out. It leads to real happiness from achievement. It is our nature to figure things out, figure out reality and better our lives. That child is as full of potential as any person who was ever born. Then we send them to state run school to destroy all that potential, which is what the adults here (and everywhere), have already lived through. Is this "living"? I think the child has it right. It a true free society, we would wake up with the excitement, exhilaration and wonder of a child,---every morning of our lives. That folks, is "Living". :)
alex drieaz When I said possibilities I was talking about arrangements the pieces can be put on the board. If we are talking about the amount of paths the game can take, there are an infinite amount of those.
The footage at 1:57 *"Washington Sq. Park 1970s" is not from the 1970s It is taken from"Men Who Would Be Kings" (on youtube) and it was filmed in 1988...When the chess circle was apparently much more vibrant
Indeed. As far as I know, there are precisely 169.518.829.100.544.000.000.000.000.000 possibilities only for the 10 first moves, and 2,5x10^116 for a whole 40 moves average game!
I think a year ago Nakamura played a bunch of money games in San Francisco. Nobody recognized him and of course he won every game. He tweeted that he won $100 or something.
it is not even worth their time....these guys would not win 1 game out of 1000. i play there all the time...have beaten most of the guys shown. Nishan is good for a park player...about 1900...
there's where the phrase "under the table" comes from; under that table of chess on that hot corner where nobody knows anything and everything happens... under the table.
i like how the guy says washington square park rules? hes not used to that, hes used to people saying check! hey buddy! thats how all games are played, you dont say check! god thats annoying, check, check, check, check....
its not in washington square park chess..and in fact..its not illegal under USCF or FIDE rules for speed chess...feel free to google FIDE speed chess rules.
16 grand a day when the economy was good??!! As a person born in Spanish Harlem and native of this fine city I highly question that statement with much doubt perhaps in two weeks time that amount could be "hustled" . That in my opinion is a bit of a stretch of exaggeration however if he plays int the financial district this 16 grand a day is not too far fetched to believe. Those stockbrokers have big egos and their pockets are deep.
Yea I think that guy is full of BS as well. Perhaps he wanted to make the story up because no one could disprove it anyways. I know he loves chess and all, but no reason to make shit up.
+StopFear people like to sensationalize things.. what may have happened is a person with big money coming one day because of the chess hype in the fischer era.. and he spent his money like it was water.. he became the "legend"... the day some guy won 16k at the park... one day at the park is now a folktale where players were making that daily.. the truth probably is some rich businessman came one day and lost.
@Peterplayingguitar: Searching For Bobby Fischer perhaps? Kid learns to play in central park, gets a more credentialed tutor, they express apparently conflicting philosophies, and are both respected in the end. Less about Chess, though. More about life values.
There are less than 10^46 possible chess positions, and about 10^82 atoms in the universe. The number of electrons is probably of the same magnitude, given the hydrogen concentration...
That's what I was wondering too. I've always wanted to visit it. The closest I got was Pritchard Park in Asheville, NC. They didn't gamble there though.
"Atom's" has been compared many times. Now if all these chess whizz's are so smart,---how come nobody has counted all the possible combinations? haha I bet some have tried,---and came up with that assertion. :) But the funny answer is, "Yet, you only know 3 openings."
I carry my chess set in my car, just in case someone wants to throw down. I love this game.
I live in Tucson. Hit me up.
Mob Barley I'll play you my first move is d4.
firmly grasp it on chess.com maby 1300 in standard I'm not good and my account is juan2023
my rating changes alot since i play five minute blitz games and my performance changes depending on what else i have going on at the time
D5
You know something was wrong when "The Terror" pulled out a cigarette at 11:50 hahaha. He was already pulling out the victory smoke.
What a lovely little film!
short*
Except the part at 1:55 saying "Washington Square Park 1970s" was ripped off from 'Men Who Would Be Kings' (on YT), and it's not from the '70s but from the late '80s....Baron if you're going to steal ("borrow") footage at least attribute it properly and don't mislabel it, Clown
I beat Elementary once in 91 after taking lessons from Richard Gilmartin. I didn't like playing blitz so it was a rapid game. The strongest player in the whole park was Poe, a legit FIDE player, who's shown in this video for about two seconds. Simon couldn't play at all, half the guys in this video were selling weed posing as chess players. There was a Brazilian IM named Oscar who was destroying dudes w time odds all day.
Your story sounds more accurate than this video. lol
Beating someone with time odds? 🤯
Some people boldly go into the world to create art, play sports, do science, even warfare, but if you want to do all four, you play chess.
Nice
''you come to new york with no money? police!'' heheheheh
This is a fantastic documentary, thankyou for making this.
Folks need to understand that most of these hustlers didn’t need to be great chess masters or reach a certain level/rating nor did they even want to. So saying things like, “Anand or Magnus could wipe the floor with them” is besides the point. For the hustlers, it wasn’t so much about chess as it was making some easy money. Advancing in chess proficiency was too much work and headache for the average hustler, unless you happen to also be a natural. But who needs that when you have to earn money? Serious players who challenged the hustlers were often intentionally avoided because they stole business away from easier prey. If they knew you were good, they would often decline playing with you until a chump showed up instead to play and get taken in. Sometimes hustlers would grudgingly accept to play with a proficient opponent if business was too slow that day. Arrests sometimes happened if the hustlers sold contraband on the sly - on the side, and perhaps many of them did. They learned all the chess tricks and traps that the average person wasn’t privy to. Was it thievery? No, because their moves were legit (for the most part). All they needed was to be just a little bit better than the average player. That’s all. Add on to that personal charm, the gift of gab, psych tactics, peacocking, and giving lessons to rich kids sporadically when their family was out strolling about around the park. But in the end, Street Chess never pays off. It has no Union, no Job-security and no 401-k pension plan. For many of the players who were already on welfare and food stamps and who weren’t reporting their earnings, chess hustling was easy, extra money in the pocket. When you get to be too old of a chess hustler, you don’t attract as many people as the newer, more flashy, personable, younger and more confident players. So the old dinosaurs disappear and are replaced by new blood, starting the cycle all over again. Another thing, you couldn’t just become a chess hustler at Washington Square Park. There was a pecking order. Certain players had their specific spots that you couldn’t trespass, unless you want to get retribution. It was almost like a mafia, and the players often saw each other as a brotherhood or club and good luck getting your foot in the door! Also…if you didn’t show up to your spot for longer than a few days, your spot was taken by another more virulent chess hustler. This forced you to not take too many days off or you would lose your spot. So once you earned your spot, you had to protect it for dear life, because the chance may not come again. This also meant that oftentimes you had to show up and hustle even though you lost the joy of the game several years before. But money is money.
******* this is one of the coolest most motivational documentaries ever allegedly made with a non smartphone camera*************
This video is a Hidden gem ❤
One of my favourite videos on TH-cam. Thanks to everyone in it and everyone behind the camera.
"I gets paid, I know how to get the money"
*white guy walks away from the $5 game* lol
Shoutout Nashan, he’s a strong player and a good teacher
I am a USCF rated player and I love this film. Well done!
Did anyone of you guys noticed the movie is in white and black? like chess on purpose :)
Love it. Washington square park really is the reason I started playing blitz chess. Good players, most are 1700+.
Imagine if those guys heard the theme song from a "Few Dollars More" and looked up and saw Vesselin Topalov, Magnus Carlson, Viswanathan Anand, Anatoly Karpov led by Garry Karparov riding into town. That would be such an epic moment. Perhaps those guys would play members of the public and raise money for charity.
nice documentary. I wish it were longer.
Anyone here know the real name of the last guy "The Terror"? He taught me Alekhine's Defense in 2012 and I bought him Mamoun's falafel in return.
Alekhine's Defense is the shit... is what I play the most
Alekhine's Defense is garbage. I trash it all the time in bullet games. Never had anyone try it on me in rated classical games.
that was awesome...wish it was a longer documentary.
wow fantastic! my grandfather and i have played chess for years and it never gets old
Wow... I'd love to play one of these guys one day.
Great to see a insight into the chess culture in NY,and very awesome of the guy to pass down the knowledge to youngins and getting them interested in the game
I like "The Terror" most then "Crazy Harry" funny and paranoid respectively lol.
nashan and the terror are my favorite street knights. much respect to them. i'd love to play chess with them someday :)
Awesome film. Thanks.
Awesome short film, insightful as fuck!!
Insightful "as fuck"? What does that even mean?
Whatever you perceive it to mean :) Where I come from, fuck is a very useful adjective.
+Hotrocklson Yep!
+StopFear it means its insightful... as fuck
Great short documentary, captures the spirit. I live in NYC and my first exposure to the clock was in Washington Square Park. I've been a blitz player every since. In the late nighties, there were a few masters and a few experts playing for money. Crafty and agile would be what I would describe as the overall theme of the park as far as playing style is concerned.
I think there were a lot more masters in the park back then....Check out "Men Who Would Be Kings" (on TH-cam) it's a chess circle doc from the late eighties and shows legendary hustlers like Vinnie Livermore, and other master strength hustlers
Most of the guys in this film are way below master strength...Nowadays a lot of them won't really gamble, you just have to pay them to play them, and if you win you just get your money back....It's because a lot of them aren't strong enough to bet against strangers straight up....Some of these guys are like 'B' or 'C' players
Yeah that's true. The weaker players play straight up, not true gambling. The stronger ones usually play 5 a game, winner takes pot. The arabic guy in this video is a master, I've played him a few times and have seen him play other strong players. I'm about class A, and I beat many of the straight up players easily, so the class C, B quote seems accurate.
I've heard so many legends about these dudes, ever since then I've always wanted to go play them. Awesome video!!
Brilliant. ...makes me miss the tables in downtown S.F.
Last time I was in NYC .. the park was still closed, and you might find two or three players in Union Square ... I agree it just isn't the same.
Excellent video
I know many of t he men in your film. It's a pity you didn't really capture the essence of them.
See 'Men Who Would Be Kings', much more of an insider account....this film looks like it was made by an art school wanker who probably never spent time in the chess circle otherwise, and didn't really know his subjects
I hope they open the chess area again
They don't have a place like this in London, because it rains all the time! :-(
Nashan's the best in the park right now, over 2000
Great vid! thanks for sharing...
❤❤❤
this is interesting during the 1970 during my life when i learn how to play chess in the 70's
That clip "Washington Square Park '70s" is not from the 1970s
It was lifted straight from "Men Who Would Be Kings" (also on TH-cam), which was filmed in the late '80s and is a much more interesting film about the chess circle IMO
Also check out "For Love Or Money"
Look how a child "lights up" and smiles when he/she figures something out. It leads to real happiness from achievement. It is our nature to figure things out, figure out reality and better our lives. That child is as full of potential as any person who was ever born. Then we send them to state run school to destroy all that potential, which is what the adults here (and everywhere), have already lived through. Is this "living"? I think the child has it right.
It a true free society, we would wake up with the excitement, exhilaration and wonder of a child,---every morning of our lives. That folks, is "Living". :)
i am absolutely positive chess does not have more possibilities than electrons in the universe
there are more possibilities in chess than molecules in the observable universe
alex drieaz Atoms.
alex drieaz When I said possibilities I was talking about arrangements the pieces can be put on the board. If we are talking about the amount of paths the game can take, there are an infinite amount of those.
not infinite. its definitely finite, but there are indeed more continuations of a chess game than particles in the universe.
***** The game only ends when the players want it to, if they don't want to, the game can go on forever
love games like this played out on the street
you could be right....ill have ot look into it.
Great movie,thanks for posting.
This should be in every city in the world. I feel inspired to go to Covenant garden in London and take my set, board and clock with me.
The footage at 1:57 *"Washington Sq. Park 1970s" is not from the 1970s
It is taken from"Men Who Would Be Kings" (on youtube) and it was filmed in 1988...When the chess circle was apparently much more vibrant
Thanks for posting this video! +1 Spreading the right spirit!
Indeed. As far as I know, there are precisely 169.518.829.100.544.000.000.000.000.000 possibilities only for the 10 first moves, and 2,5x10^116 for a whole 40 moves average game!
If I were Aronian or Shirov or something, i'd stop by these places and just blast these dudes off the board for fun.
but their elitist so they wont ever be caught around these commoners with out a camera around for a photo opportunity.
I think a year ago Nakamura played a bunch of money games in San Francisco. Nobody recognized him and of course he won every game. He tweeted that he won $100 or something.
it is not even worth their time....these guys would not win 1 game out of 1000. i play there all the time...have beaten most of the guys shown. Nishan is good for a park player...about 1900...
Fascinating! I'd love to see follow up.
Very well done, a nice portrait of these players
Chess is awesome! Best strategy game ever invented
Nashan taught me the basics!
good watch
there's where the phrase "under the table" comes from; under that table of chess on that hot corner where nobody knows anything and everything happens... under the table.
what happens
Really nice film, ty!
Nice film. So no more chess in Wash. Sq. park? Where do they play now?
they play there again now.. Union Square is also a large scene...
Seth Schiffman Thanks
i like how the guy says washington square park rules? hes not used to that, hes used to people saying check! hey buddy! thats how all games are played, you dont say check! god thats annoying, check, check, check, check....
Thanks man....very good.
GREAT!!!
Harry is a great speaker 7:30
1:26 John Leguizamo... what's up with that!? hahaha
This is awesome !
I luh the chess bidness
its not in washington square park chess..and in fact..its not illegal under USCF or FIDE rules for speed chess...feel free to google FIDE speed chess rules.
Does anyone know what Wall Street spot Sweatpea was referring to at 11:11 and where? Anyone ever go there to play?
.....and life should not be limited.
Thank you for the upload.
"Chess Is Life!"
Is that John Leguizamo @12:27?
this was awesome. where's your current work ? awesome stuff..
harry gives me chess lessons and lectures me like every week hes like a second father to me kinda lol
Nice story!
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
nice
12:27 is that John Leguizamo ?!
Very nice work
16 grand a day when the economy was good??!! As a person born in Spanish Harlem and native of this fine city I highly question that statement with much doubt perhaps in two weeks time that amount could be "hustled" . That in my opinion is a bit of a stretch of exaggeration however if he plays int the financial district this 16 grand a day is not too far fetched to believe. Those stockbrokers have big egos and their pockets are deep.
Yea I think that guy is full of BS as well. Perhaps he wanted to make the story up because no one could disprove it anyways. I know he loves chess and all, but no reason to make shit up.
+StopFear people like to sensationalize things.. what may have happened is a person with big money coming one day because of the chess hype in the fischer era.. and he spent his money like it was water.. he became the "legend"... the day some guy won 16k at the park... one day at the park is now a folktale where players were making that daily.. the truth probably is some rich businessman came one day and lost.
+1bongocero Doubtful that was the only inaccuracy.
Hustlers are all about making shit up to make themselves look good. One of them said he was a grandmaster. I seriously doubt that.
a nice little documentary i stumbled across i see...
intelligence transcends class
*GREAT*
Is that John Leguizamo? at12:27
Yes!
Probably because some uptight people heard that they were wagering on the games there.
good players, they challenge someone and bet 5 dollars...for sure they beat each rival and could live as street chess player
@Peterplayingguitar: Searching For Bobby Fischer perhaps? Kid learns to play in central park, gets a more credentialed tutor, they express apparently conflicting philosophies, and are both respected in the end. Less about Chess, though. More about life values.
One of my friends/coworkers and I play "Shit-talk Chess" all the time. It's hilarious...
crazy harry has the same voice as Denzel in Malcolm X
There are less than 10^46 possible chess positions, and about 10^82 atoms in the universe. The number of electrons is probably of the same magnitude, given the hydrogen concentration...
Very interesting video
"I SEE U HAVE BAD INTENTIONS"
I think they should the director should have interviewed the community and police of the area, I am sure they would of stood up for the chess players!
a very nice video...thanks for sharing...:-)
Is the chess area still closed? Why did they close it in the first place?
hahaha... I call that the 'oral gambit'.
What kind of ranking would these street players have?
Nice to see color doesn't matter here !! Aaaaand, I'm drankin'...
where can i find this "appendix of blitz chess" because i think you are making things up
i played there 2 months ago the area is still open
so did they reopen the park eventually?
That's what I was wondering too. I've always wanted to visit it. The closest I got was Pritchard Park in Asheville, NC. They didn't gamble there though.
“This has more combinations than all the electrons in the universe...”. These chess hustlers are so full of B.S., it’s delightful!
"Atom's" has been compared many times. Now if all these chess whizz's are so smart,---how come nobody has counted all the possible combinations? haha I bet some have tried,---and came up with that assertion. :)
But the funny answer is, "Yet, you only know 3 openings."
Ha! Good point.