Chess hustler's trash talk meets a grandmaster

Name: Chess hustler's trash talk meets a grandmaster
Uploaded: 2016-02-16T08:18:02Z
Duration: 4 min 24 s
Description: There is a lot of talking at this chess table in Washington Square Park, and most of it comes from the man who is about to lose.

There is a lot of talking at this chess table in Washington Square Park, and most of it comes from the man who is about to lose. more

The park in New York is famous for its chess hustlers, who play quick games for a few bucks and talk the whole time. Wilson is in fine form. One line keeps coming up about the man across from him, "You don't even look at the board," and somebody notes that there's a lot of trash talking in this place.

He really doesn't look much. Grandmaster Maurice Ashley moves the pieces fast, and Wilson has no idea who he is playing. When Ashley wonders aloud what happens if he goes "in your house," Wilson answers, "I mean, it's all right, it's okay." It's not quite all right.

Then the talk turns. Someone says there could be some trouble, and the voices around the table pass the idea back and forth until they settle it. He's in trouble.

A bald man in a leather jacket looks down while other people stand nearby outdoors at night. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third. — The people standing around the board start saying out loud that he's in trouble.

That's when one pawn takes two knights in a single move. Ashley stops it at once with "Whoa, whoa, whoa. That was right there. Don't try trickery now." Then he adds, "That was like a magic trick. I like the way you did that," while Wilson insists nothing happened.

From there, the hustle runs out of road. Wilson tells Ashley to remember what he said earlier, then can't seem to recall it himself. Ashley says he thinks he can figure this one out, and a few quick moves later it's game. The pieces keep moving anyway, and the grandmaster allows that he has heard of a pawn rule called en passant.

Adults playing chess in a park at night, surrounded by benches, trees, and artificial lighting. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third. — There is a lot of talking at this chess table in Washington Square Park, and most of it comes from the man who is about to lose.

When it's over, Wilson starts calling for the camera to cut, cut, cut. Only then does he ask the name of the man who just beat him. "Maurice Ashley." Asked if he's rated, Ashley gives the one-word answer no hustler wants to hear, grandmaster.