@Le_Patzer83 said in #19:
> I like to wear black (could be the fact that I’m also a metal head.). Black jeans, black hoodie. I like to let my beard grow a bit before a tournament, so that I look like a 200 pound Viking. Away from the table I am courteous and friendly, but at the table, it’s all business.
>
> @Toscani
>
> I actually kind of like when someone misbehaves at the chess board. It sharpens my focus, because now I have an additional reason to want to win. I had one guy whip out a bacon lettuce tomato sandwich at the board and proceed to get mayonnaise on a few pawns. Keep in mind this was a nationally rated game, not just a casual club game. He had the black pieces, so the contrast between the mayonnaise globs and the pawn was stark. At that point I feel like they are disrespecting the game itself, its etiquette and its traditions. It becomes personal and this helps me focus.
>
> I’ve dealt with child opponents who couldn’t sit still. Opponents who tap their foot. Opponents who smell like wet garbage. Opponents who start crying when I find a tactic. A girl who insisted on using her weird non-Staunton chess pieces in a nationally rated game and somehow was allowed to. Maybe the arbiter was her father.
>
> I always congratulate those who beat me, and console/encourage those who I beat. If I could make a Karate Kid reference, before and after the game it is very Miyagi-do. During the game, it’s all Cobra Kai.
Love the karate Kid references... I would have lost it with the mayonnaise though... not cool...sheesh!
> I like to wear black (could be the fact that I’m also a metal head.). Black jeans, black hoodie. I like to let my beard grow a bit before a tournament, so that I look like a 200 pound Viking. Away from the table I am courteous and friendly, but at the table, it’s all business.
>
> @Toscani
>
> I actually kind of like when someone misbehaves at the chess board. It sharpens my focus, because now I have an additional reason to want to win. I had one guy whip out a bacon lettuce tomato sandwich at the board and proceed to get mayonnaise on a few pawns. Keep in mind this was a nationally rated game, not just a casual club game. He had the black pieces, so the contrast between the mayonnaise globs and the pawn was stark. At that point I feel like they are disrespecting the game itself, its etiquette and its traditions. It becomes personal and this helps me focus.
>
> I’ve dealt with child opponents who couldn’t sit still. Opponents who tap their foot. Opponents who smell like wet garbage. Opponents who start crying when I find a tactic. A girl who insisted on using her weird non-Staunton chess pieces in a nationally rated game and somehow was allowed to. Maybe the arbiter was her father.
>
> I always congratulate those who beat me, and console/encourage those who I beat. If I could make a Karate Kid reference, before and after the game it is very Miyagi-do. During the game, it’s all Cobra Kai.
Love the karate Kid references... I would have lost it with the mayonnaise though... not cool...sheesh!