A few months back I did a podcast with RZA and we played an impromptu game of chess after. Check out some recent podcasts:
- RZA: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Iau6W5pjy9Y
- Elon Musk: https://youtube.com/watch?v=DxREm3s1scA
- Mark Zuckerberg: https://youtube.com/watch?v=5zOHSysMmH0

RZA links:
RZA's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RZA
RZA's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rza
Wu-Tang Clan Website: https://wutangclan.net

OUTLINE:
0:00 - Preview
0:24 - Intro
2:09 - Game starts

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Yeah, let me get some other people in the party.

I'm gonna like sacrifice pieces to make you think you're doing good.

Well, since you're gonna do that, and I figured you was gonna do that, I'm gonna let you do what you wanna do so I can do what I wanna do.

A few months back, I did a podcast with RZA, and we played an impromptu game of chess afterwards.

I wasn't sure if anyone wants to see that but a few folks asked me about it so here it is.

Let me know if you want to see me play chess, have fun, and of course talk a bit of trash with folks in the future.

I should also say that when I was a kid, I deliberately decided to not play chess because given my generally mathematical mind and interests, I would be pulled all in.

I'm the same with fresh oatmeal raisin cookies.

Instead, I chose to avoid the game, playing maybe on a rare occasion of a few years at a party, probably drunk, and have lots of fun blundering all over the place and talking trash.

I do think chess is a beautiful game and I do want to celebrate it.

And perhaps my low level of play and my approach of fun is a good way to do so.

Because if you're a beginner, we're in this together my friend.

Chess is not just about opening lines, positions, tactics.

It's also about 2 humans using their mind to solve weird little puzzles while chatting it up and having fun.

In this life, dear friends, you have 2 approaches to choose for each activity.

Have fun trying to be good or have fun being bad.

So, let me know if you want to see more videos of me playing chess.

I think, I don't know, cause I've been weak lately, but I think that if you give me the time.

So if you give me the, no, but if I get the time.

I get pretty good at chess, if you give me the time.

But it ain't just time, it's Your own fatigue, your own feeling.

Losing to RZA is not the worst thing in this world.

Here's 1 counter that may just start the energy between us.

So I would need to, there's no options, right?

And then for me, okay, I see what you're doing there.

I actually didn't want you to bring that guy out, you know?

I got a separate, I didn't like the thing you had going on here.

I was hoping he didn't come outside, you know?

But he's outside now, so now that he's outside, when I told him not to come outside, mind you, I gotta now think about my own problems.

The queen and the rook are dancing in the middle.

You can't not do, you gotta make sure you do it in time.

Yeah, so in that case, since timing is everything, let me kind of get some time away from this motherfucker.

Yeah, let me get some other people in the party because.

You know, I'm gonna make it, I'm gonna make it fun.

I'm gonna like sacrifice pieces to make you, make you think you're doing good.

Well, since you're gonna do that, and I figured you was gonna do that, I'm gonna let you do what you wanna do so I can do what I wanna

He's not taking the quote bait, that's not an actual bait.

I don't know if I'm gonna get nervous from that 1.

I know, I see you trying to punch me in my face and shit.

I think I'm down a pawn, a couple of pawns.

But you know what, it's actually, yeah, pawns don't mean shit.

You're right, the pawns is not the way for this game to go the way I want it to go.

You have like so many options, it's overwhelming actually.

I'm glad you see it that way, because I'm feeling the same, but you know, I still gotta be careful.

All right, so since you trying to shoot off my pinky toe.

I just feel like you're gonna attack so much here.

Yeah, but you got a couple of tricks up your sleeve though.

That's the most important thing you gotta do sometimes.

Everybody who saw that would say the same thing.

No, I'm going to have to give you the Bishop of the night.

Well, don't do what you're going to do, but don't forget, we talked about Fisher and Spassky and I started the game in the famous Fischer opening that, you know, it was good at 1 time.

And it's like, I'm trying to bring it back.

Yeah, I'm trying to, like, I really, I'm a fan of Bobby Fischer.

I know they say he went crazy and all this stuff like that, but like I said, his analogy that chess is a draw, it's something profound in that.

And I'm just like, I'm going to try to represent Bobby Fischer a little bit.

Now, would everybody agree that that was beautiful?

I think you got a problem with too many choices.

I'm trying to paralyze you with too many good choices until you make a mistake.

Cause you don't want to make a mistake on camera.

But if he makes a mistake on camera, what would the world think of that?

I'd be nervous for you, that's all I'm saying.

Yeah, I'm getting a little bit nervous, but not totally.

And you know why I'm not totally nervous?

I guess I'm just going to have to wait and find out.

Okay, so in that case, Since this is 1 of those matches where...


Speaker 0: Bringing the queen out.

Speaker 1: Uh-oh, that's my girl. This girl is crazy.

Speaker 2: Oh no, don't do that. Don't bring stuff out.

Speaker 1: Yeah, let me get some other people in the party.

Speaker 2: I'm gonna like sacrifice pieces to make you think you're doing good.

Speaker 1: Maybe you're pondering me, right? Well, since you're gonna do that, and I figured you was gonna do that, I'm gonna let you do what you wanna do so I can do what I wanna do.

Speaker 2: Thank you, this is good.

Speaker 0: A few months back, I did a podcast with RZA, and we played an impromptu game of chess afterwards. I wasn't sure if anyone wants to see that but a few folks asked me about it so here it is. Let me know if you want to see me play chess, have fun, and of course talk a bit of trash with folks in the future. I should also say that when I was a kid, I deliberately decided to not play chess because given my generally mathematical mind and interests, I would be pulled all in. Moderation would be impossible.

I'm the same with fresh oatmeal raisin cookies. I don't know how to eat just 1. Instead, I chose to avoid the game, playing maybe on a rare occasion of a few years at a party, probably drunk, and have lots of fun blundering all over the place and talking trash. I do think chess is a beautiful game and I do want to celebrate it. And perhaps my low level of play and my approach of fun is a good way to do so.

Because if you're a beginner, we're in this together my friend. Chess is not just about opening lines, positions, tactics. It's also about 2 humans using their mind to solve weird little puzzles while chatting it up and having fun. In this life, dear friends, you have 2 approaches to choose for each activity. Have fun trying to be good or have fun being bad.

For me, I try to do a bit of both. For chess, I choose the latter. So, let me know if you want to see more videos of me playing chess. Now I give you RZA.

Speaker 2: I think chess with RZA.

Speaker 1: I'll do the same thing. See what you think about that. Alright.

Speaker 2: We're replaying the match? It was already a great match.

Speaker 1: Yeah, it was getting there.

Speaker 0: I don't know about this.

Speaker 2: Yeah. What's the strongest part of your game? The opening, the middle?

Speaker 1: I think, I don't know, cause I've been weak lately, but I think that if you give me the time.

Speaker 0: No, we can't take

Speaker 2: the time. This is gonna be fast. And I told you I'm terrible.

Speaker 1: So if you give me the, no, but if I get the time.

Speaker 2: Oh, to practice, to think.

Speaker 1: I get pretty good at chess, if you give me the time. But it ain't just time, it's Your own fatigue, your own feeling. You could be angry, impatient.

Speaker 0: Let me just ruin it for

Speaker 1: you. Hyper.

Speaker 2: I just gotta take pieces. Very aggressive play here. What are we even doing? I'm just attacking. What's the worst that can happen?

Speaker 1: I could run. And not be shot. That's a big thing.

Speaker 2: Losing to RZA is not the worst thing in this world. I'm telling you, I'm just gonna

Speaker 0: go on a rampage, just taking pieces.

Speaker 2: This is a horrible position for me.

Speaker 1: Why did you do that then? You just wanted to fuck with me?

Speaker 2: Because I want to move fast.

Speaker 1: Oh, okay.

Speaker 2: I want to fuck with you for sure.

Speaker 1: Let me try this 1 then. This 1 then.

Speaker 0: Bringing the queen out.

Speaker 1: Uh-oh, that's my girl. Ooh, this girl is crazy.

Speaker 2: That's a real Queens gambit.

Speaker 1: There's a couple of counters. Here's 1 counter that may just start the energy between us.

Speaker 2: Yeah, this could be a big problem. So I would need to, there's no options, right?

Speaker 1: Yeah, you gotta make a move.

Speaker 2: I'll stay off the white.

Speaker 1: And then for me, okay, I see what you're doing there. I have to hit you there for protection.

Speaker 2: Bring this guy out.

Speaker 1: That's good. I actually didn't want you to bring that guy out, you know?

Speaker 2: I got a separate, I didn't like the thing you had going on here. That's not gonna end well for me.

Speaker 1: Yeah, I didn't like that guy either. I didn't like him coming outside at all. It felt like he should have... I was hoping he didn't come outside, you know? But he's outside now, so now that he's outside, when I told him not to come outside, mind you, I gotta now think about my own problems.

Speaker 2: The queen and the rook are dancing in the middle. I think I'm in way more danger. I'm not sure though.

Speaker 1: Yes, it's pretty peculiar here.

Speaker 2: Gotta keep them distracted. You

Speaker 1: take 1 more punch at you. You can't not do, you gotta make sure you do it in time. That's really the big trick.

Speaker 2: Timing is everything.

Speaker 1: Yeah, so in that case, since timing is everything, let me kind of get some time away from this motherfucker.

Speaker 2: What do you think about pawns? You're like, oh no, don't do that. Don't bring stuff out.

Speaker 1: Yeah, let me get some other people in the party because.

Speaker 2: You know, I'm gonna make it, I'm gonna make it fun. I'm gonna like sacrifice pieces to make you, make you think you're doing good.

Speaker 1: Pondering me, right? Well, since you're gonna do that, and I figured you was gonna do that, I'm gonna let you do what you wanna do so I can do what I wanna

Speaker 2: do. Thank you, this is good. He's not taking the quote bait, that's not an actual bait.

Speaker 1: Okay, so let's get this guy out of here. Yeah, let's get him out of here.

Speaker 2: See, this is not good. I gotta threaten you somehow. I gotta make you nervous. There we go.

Speaker 1: Oh, that's your kung fu technique. To make me nervous. I don't know if I'm gonna get nervous from that 1.

Speaker 2: Watch your king, that's all I gotta say.

Speaker 1: I know, I see you trying to punch me in my face and shit. Yeah, but don't

Speaker 2: play around. You can have the pawns.

Speaker 1: I can have the pawn?

Speaker 2: No, you can have the pawns. I'm just gonna knock you out.

Speaker 1: Oh, it's gonna knock me out. You guys hear this guy?

Speaker 2: Trash talk while we're still even. I think I'm down a pawn, a couple of pawns.

Speaker 1: But you know what, it's actually, yeah, pawns don't mean shit. You're right, the pawns is not the way for this game to go the way I want it to go. So that's a fact.

Speaker 2: You have like so many options, it's overwhelming actually.

Speaker 1: I'm glad you see it that way, because I'm feeling the same, but you know, I still gotta be careful. Right. So since I still gotta be careful.

Speaker 2: This is some Grandmaster level.

Speaker 1: This is not- Chats right here. All right, so since you trying to shoot off my pinky toe.

Speaker 2: I just feel like you're gonna attack so much here. And I got nothing. I got no pawns to protect me. I got... And these kings just sitting there.

Speaker 1: Yeah, but you got a couple of tricks up your sleeve though. Let me just continue my party my way. That's the most important thing you gotta do sometimes. You gotta continue your party your way.

Speaker 2: Keep bringing pieces out. You know what? I'm

Speaker 0: just gonna keep...

Speaker 1: That was nice. Everybody who saw that would say the same thing. Yeah. They would say?

Speaker 2: What's that? That was nice.

Speaker 1: Yeah. That move was nice, yo. You seen that? Yeah. I'm like, yo, I saw it.

I said, I gotta take him. You know that. It's no, I have no choice. And the matter, you doing that. A grandmaster would just forfeit here.

Speaker 2: No, I'm going to have to give you the Bishop of the night.

Speaker 1: Well, don't do what you're going to do, but don't forget, we talked about Fisher and Spassky and I started the game in the famous Fischer opening that, you know, it was good at 1 time. Yeah. And it's like, I'm trying to bring it back. The opening or what? Yeah, I'm trying to, like, I really, I'm a fan of Bobby Fischer.

I know they say he went crazy and all this stuff like that, but like I said, his analogy that chess is a draw, it's something profound in that. And I'm just like, I'm going to try to represent Bobby Fischer a little bit. Oh, here it comes.

Speaker 2: You're the Bobby Fischer in this? All right.

Speaker 1: See that? Now, would everybody agree that that was beautiful?

Speaker 2: I think you got a problem with too many choices. I'm trying to paralyze you with too many good choices until you make a mistake.

Speaker 1: Which is good. I mean, that's the meaning.

Speaker 2: You should be scared. Cause you don't want to make a mistake on camera. That'd be embarrassing. Cause you're winning, you're dominating.

Speaker 1: Yeah. And

Speaker 0: then you

Speaker 1: could just. But if he makes a mistake on camera, what would the world think of that? What would they tell him back home?

Speaker 2: I'd be nervous for you, that's all I'm saying.

Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm getting a little bit nervous, but not totally. And you know why I'm not totally nervous?

Speaker 2: Oh, why is that?

Speaker 1: Oh, you want to know?

Speaker 2: I guess I'm just going to have to wait and find out.

Speaker 1: Okay, so in that case, Since this is 1 of those matches where...

Speaker 2: A friendly match?

Speaker 1: Yeah, a friendly match.

Speaker 2: I was gonna go for either that or war, but since I'm losing, let's just go for a friendly match.

Speaker 1: Yeah, well, since this is a friendly match, Let's do it, let's give you something to eat. And I'll get something to eat. You eat, I eat. Yeah. Yeah, I think I'm gonna do that.

I think I'm gonna let that be the way we eat. You cool with that?

Speaker 2: Yeah, you give me a rook or what?

Speaker 1: Yeah, why not?

Speaker 2: Okay,

Speaker 1: okay. You're gonna give me,

Speaker 2: this is great. This is what a generous man does.

Speaker 1: I gave you something to eat, you gave me something to eat. I'm gonna give you something to eat. All right. Okay, That was good. Hope it tastes good.

Yeah, it did. I feel good. I'm

Speaker 2: winning. I'm winning.

Speaker 1: I hope everybody liked it. Hope the rest of the audience is feeling it. Like, by the way, this guy got a chance to eat. I'm up. On the official chest

Speaker 2: point system, I'm up by a pawn.

Speaker 1: Yeah, all right.

Speaker 2: 1 move, I was up.

Speaker 1: Well, let me get back out of your way, because I didn't like, I actually didn't like The vibe of that. So I have to get back in the tech, I'll do it. Probably gave him 2 rucks. Probably gave him 2 rucks

Speaker 2: for the price of nothing. You're not that generous, I appreciate that.

Speaker 1: Yeah, the people would have been talking about me for years to come.

Speaker 2: Yeah, man. That's my girl.

Speaker 1: Oh, look at this guy. He's getting

Speaker 2: nervous. He's like, what you doing? You got it. Yeah, yeah. No, a hundred percent.

Speaker 1: So let me count my money. You count your money. I'll count my money. Oh, you got more money than me.

Speaker 2: I gotta make you feel nervous about something.

Speaker 1: Whoa, that was a bad move right there, brother. That 1 there. What you gonna do with that? You gonna zoom in on that?

Speaker 2: That's a blunder. What's the, when it's a really bad blunder, it's like super blunder or something like that.

Speaker 1: Yeah, well it makes this move bad, right? It's a couple of things about it.

Speaker 2: Well, you really don't want to bring the king out like that, right?

Speaker 1: Yeah. Even if you would have left him back there, it would have been a better exchange for you because I gave you this rook, but you took the wrong rook. You should have took this rook, right? Yeah. You took that rook, which I was cool with.

I was hoping you'd take that rook. Even if you took this rook, I was cool because I would have got the horse, and then I would have still been up 2 points. Yeah. But you took this rook, which was detrimental.

Speaker 2: Because I'm going to lose it anyway. I'm going to lose the knight. And then, yeah, so you're saying I should have taken this. That was the mistake.

Speaker 1: That would have been a better shot for you. Taking that rook, because now this rook just does something very simple. Just goes here. Even if it was there though, I would have lost the rook. Yeah.

Which I thought I was gonna lose. You would have traded it. Yeah. This is worse for you.

Speaker 2: It's not checkmate, is it?

Speaker 1: No, but it's check, but it's a tough looking check, but you got to now jet up out of there and you only could jet so many places.

Speaker 2: Maybe I undo the mistake because I can't jet forward.

Speaker 1: I

Speaker 2: can't jet forward.

Speaker 1: No matter where you go. But anyway, I'm not here to tell you.

Speaker 2: Yeah, I have to undo the mistake.

Speaker 1: But the point of this rope check was a discovery of which was set up since the beginning. This discovery has been here for almost 4 or 5 moves. So I like, they say white guys love black women.

Speaker 2: Now I know what that means. Thank you.

Speaker 1: That's a tough looking check.

Speaker 2: I can trick you into a draw somehow.

Speaker 1: All right. I think that way. Don't you think that way? Yeah. You got all the right philosophies, you know what I mean?

Speaker 2: It's just not the skills.

Speaker 1: Well, yeah, you know, the application. It takes time to apply everything we learn. It just takes time. That's definitely the right philosophy. Everything you've been saying for this conversation has been the right philosophy.

Just the time to apply it has been ducking you.

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 1: So I'll just keep this there. And then, you know, you can take this as far as you want to take it.

Speaker 2: But I think in the interest of time, we're running out of time,

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RZA and Lex Fridman play chess