Men Who Would Be Kings - Part #1 (Chess in Washington Square Park)

Miro Reverby documented this chess history of the Washington Square Park giving a rare inside look into personalities and the life inside the small family of chess players. The park has been characters in "Searching for Bobby Fischer" and "Fresh" and have hosted American greats such as Bobby Fischer, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana. The video contains a number of legendary characters in the "hustling" realm, some have long passed away. Vincent Livermore, Sammy, Po, Theo, Russian Paul are a few of the characters seen in the two-part segment. (Running time: 36:27)

[@DesignInNature]

Please, PLEASE tell me the “World Grand Master Of thee World” is still alive and playing chess. Please let this man be alive and healthy. He is WAY too cool go be lost to the world! Man, this video is just GOLD I tell you. Thank you so much for the upload.

[@Rnzlr]

Who is that? Those clips were taken from the Manhattan Chess Club when it was located at Carnegie Hall. Do they still make those Formica chess tables?

[@koko40800]

@@Rnzlr That was Jack Cohen, a well known eccentric regular at the MCC (and other clubs) back in the day....played about expert strength

[@spiritualphysics]

Thanks for posting. I played chess in The Square back in the mid eighties. I was super patzer then. Good enough to beat my local friends but not understanding the difference between gnoing the rules and gnoing how to play chess! So I got destroyed in NYC, Detroit, Philly and Baltimore for the next seventeen years until I finally said, "Enough! I'm going to learn how to 'really' play this game." I am currently USCF class C player who studies in Chess University International, DuPont Circle Campus, Washington DC, USA. I'm an ICC member and am practicing against the IM level computers. I'm able to draw or beat the computer one in ten games. Unless I blunder, I'm able to draw or beat most players I come across. STUDY!!! YES Love

"I am the world grandmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaster of thee world, self proclaimed and self aclaimed" ahaha cant stop laughing

[@Pacalolo04]

God, do I miss it!! I used to go straight to the park sometimes when I visited NY back in the day. Played all those guys: Theo, Livermore, Frank… all the crazy Russians, played Dzindzi who would give you 5 min to 1 and still beat you... For me, that was chess finest hour.

[@jeffgreen3376]

That World Grandmaster of the World sure got quiet when he realized that he took the bait and he was now in trouble. lol

[@mikelee7535]

love these chess documentaries, so awesome

[@CSRookie]

have you seen "the love of wood" with Jan Timman and others? Try it

[@basil1562]

This brings back memories. I knew Vinnie Livermore back when I was in high school, in the mid '60s. He was a regular on the tournament scene, rated a strong B player then. Bill Goichberg was the director of many of these tournaments, which were open, so you'd have everyone from patzers to strong masters. I think I might have played Livermore, probably lost since I was only in class C then. Another interesting hustling scene was at the "flea house" on 42nd St., where Humphrey Bogart once played. Hoffman was the regular there, always trying to get me to play for money. I was a regular in the park in the early '70s but only played with friends.

[@koko40800]

An old master named Bill Hook wrote a book called "Hooked on Chess' that has some great stories of the old New York chess scene in the 1940s and 1950s....He tells a lot of stories about the Flea House He mentioned that the film director Stanley Kubrick played there often, before he got famous....Kubrick was a master player and used to hustle chess (sometimes speed chess for quarters) when he was poor and struggling in NYC Asa Hoffmann still plays at the Marshall Chess Club btw

[@MARKCREEKWATER1]

I too knew Vinnie Livermore, one of the nicest and most polite of the many chess hustlers in Washington Square Park, plus one of the strongest players, rated (as estimated by several strong players who played against him) at approximately 2200. @ 3:00: "I have to BEAT this man, like a DOG" -----Livermore, trash-talking. I would get coffee for him from the Cafe Reggio on McDougal Street while he played chess games. I was very sad when he died.

[@ShotOfSelf]

koko40800 I picked up the book due to this comment and enjoyed it. So many great stories about chess and his life in general. Thanks.

[@KM_Chess]

Chess Drummer really appreciate you posting this video, gonna try to connect with more chess players in NYC and THEE WORLD, I really hope that we can get back to this kind of Energy in these strange times. It's so visceral seeing this video and it's archival quality is beautiful. NYC is my home and definitely gonna try to visit St. Nicholas Park, and Washington Sq. Park to play some games with the local players, gonna try to improve and connect with people :) Good luck, have fun everyone, and keep playing!

[@pagmatic]

I'm impressed by the editing. It's inspired me to make a chess video in that bare bones style. I'm in Asheville, NC.

[@pagmatic]

Are you the narrator?

[@Ronbo710]

"an escape goat" I like that lol.

[@koko40800]

This is the Vincent Livermore that was portrayed by Laurence Fishburne in "Searching for Bobby Fischer" There is also footage of Livermore playing Theo in "For Love Or Money"

[@mikemanners1069]

Do any of these bums have a job?

[@johnnyjack1552]

s Theo still around

[@MrEasybreezey]

Vinnie was my favorite character from SFBF so getting this look at the real deal was an absolute incredible treat. I've said a million times I'd love to see a movie, show, or book on his life.

[@judsonnewyork]

Nice. I know some of those guys from back in the 80's. My time was more like the late 90's. I took a lot of photos of the crop of hustlers from that time. look for: Chess Tournament Washington Square Park 1999

[@cyber_khan]

I saw those photos. Very nice!

[@heavyrules6699]

wow nice

[@nomibe2911]

The guy narrating was hilarious. NY used to be so enchanting and now it's a dud.

[@koko40800]

Yeah, the internet killed this scene....And just about every other one it seems....Real life is being killed by virtual life New York used to be a place of excitement and unpredictability, now it's like every other place nowadays....Whitewashed and boring

[@BenjaminEvans-gd3ms]

+nomibe2911 The internet has ruined chess, instead of relying on their own ingenuity you have cowardly punks using a search engine to give them an unfair advantage, it is truly disgusting!

[@ryanjavierortega8513]

I wonder what Fischer was like at WSP.

[@johnsmithjohnny8588]

Wow ....legends in action....

[@paulmalone1208]

This stuff is gold played a lot of chess over the years and this is what it is like for real without the gambling its a joy to meet up and play park club and tournament loved it.

[@moszkowski]

Started playing Sammy awhile back.....he's stilllll at it

[@jameswisslead4533]

It's an escapegoat!

[@toddmartin1064]

20:29"Don't you just love it." 20:41"You're a better player, but I have to win this money sir."💵💰😆😏 LEGEND. My Chess tournament motto for the future.

[@koko40800]

That's 'Poe', who still plays at Union Square Park

[@weevil601]

@@koko40800 I played Po in the '93 World Open in Philadelphia. I had no idea who he was until we were about to get into the middle game and I went out on the hotel patio for a smoke break. Somebody came up to me and told me he was a WSP chess hustler who had a bit part in "Searching for Bobby Fischer." Then he had to explain the chess hustling scene to me because I didn't know anything about it. After this I figured I was playing a strong expert or maybe a master. I was right, because his rating moved quickly to the mid to high 2100s after this tournament. I was a legit 1950 player. Po was a stronger player than me, but that tournament happened to be my best performance, ever. I won our game, and now I use that game as a teaching tool for the middle school team I coach. But first we watch the movie and I pause it when Po comes on the screen so I can brag about winning a tournament game from this real life chess hustler. 😁

[@dutch1999]

"Noooww you understand what grandmahster is all about!" "Check" "Oh shit" crickets chirping LMAO!!!

[@regzzuse280]

2:06 Russian Paul's been playing chess for s while.

[@EoinFromEire]

"I am grand master of ze woooorld. you ever see kasparov, in my kingdom, where I KILL my opponents?" Lol who is that guy? hes awesome.

[@mofomartianp]

29:07 hahaha classic

[@gustavludwig9068]

Hahaha "Famous World Grandmaster" is all quiet after! 😂😂😂

[@nomibe2911]

I was believing the story of the last guy and I was like Spassky offered him a draw? I knew it was fishy.

[@BenjaminEvans-gd3ms]

+nomibe2911 People used to have some honor, now you have sore loser lowlifes playing chess online when they start losing will leave the game without notifying their opponent. They will make rude, cowardly remarks before quitting. Often time you think it was some punk kid , only to find out it was vile so-called adult!

[@rgjr1977]

Chess can unite the people!!!Ok,I really love the game...

[@darwinudtuhan1762]

Roman dischiszhanviili is there man and looks very young. A master of disguise.

[@sonicflash5090]

"It was all a dream" Haha i was rooting for that guy though

[@JerryAriGraham]

Livermore!

[@misterkefir]

what year is this?

[@chessdrummer]

I believe it was in the late 80s.

[@Rachelisin]

You may also like to see my "Early days of Chess on the Streets of New York."

[@chessdrummer]

Yep!

[@lassejohansson6644]

Who is the cool and crazy man at 17:58 ?

[@chrismaks2518]

Chess is like an excape goat for them.

[@mustangw8ford415]

13:40 funniest part World grandmaster of the World rating of 2999 27:35

[@chesskibitzer]

I played this guy in the Marshall once. I think he's like 2300 now

[@allbdo2945]

playing chess must have been amazing back then, now most of the chess playing traffic is just reduced to bunch of people playing online for shits and giggles with little human interaction. even worse is the dehumanization of the game by the computers. thanks for the documentary

[@Yornek1]

hey Daaim when was this video shot?

[@Valmidenio]

There's this documentary "STREET KNIGHTS: Money, Chess, Life" that shows, just at the beginning, the same scenes we see here with the caption "Washington Sq. Park: 1970s".

[@koko40800]

Valmidênio Barros that footage is taken from this film, and its incorrect....This was filmed July 1988, as "the grandmaster" mentions at one point

[@BlackSN8K]

Priceless!... @ 29:45 He got caught!

[@masterantre]

When was this filmed?

[@koko40800]

At 15:00 'Grandmaster of the World' mentions the date as July 1988

[@MARKCREEKWATER1]

'87 or '88, I would guess.

[@chessdrummer]

His name is Jack Cohen.

[@nor123ron123]

yep roman dzindzi, but how come Zobre is not in this film. He was a guy whom mumbled in Russian I am guessing.. He had rings on all fingers, lived outside by appearance and he could give Roman really good games. I believe he was a GM.. anyone know what happened to him??

[@MARKCREEKWATER1]

You mean "Zilba" --- full name Josef Israel Zilber. He was definitely a grand-master, and won the Latvian Chess Tournament in 1958. Latvia is in Europe, near Russia. Wikipedia says that he might have frozen to death during one hard winter, as he was homeless, but that there is no record of a death certificate for him. He loved rings & buttons, wore dozens of them on fingers & clothing. I, too, would like to know what happened to him. He would be 85 if still alive.

[@koko40800]

@@MARKCREEKWATER1 There is a brief clip of Zilber in 'For Love or Money 2' (also on KZbin). It was a short European production, also made in the mid-late '80s and aired on Public Access Cable back then...It focuses on a few blitz games between Vinnie Livermore and Theo, with more of Vinnie's inimitable banter

[@johnnyjack1552]

is Theo still around

[@MrJusmobile]

Ralph Martinelli was a pro wrestler in the 50's known as the MAD TURK. he was a great friend, from the South Bronx. Loved killing the Patzers!!

[@VisionPoet]

Did Livermore pass before the movie came out?

[@MARKCREEKWATER1]

Yes, I believe so. He died in 1991.

[@koko40800]

@@MARKCREEKWATER1 Livermore did pass in 1991, but this film was produced and shown in 1988

[@sankalpsundar1668]

owned the grandmaster (at the end)

[@jarnovegetal]

roman dzindzichasvili?

[@MARKCREEKWATER1]

Yes: everybody called him "Jinjin." You can find him on youtube.

[@JerryAriGraham]

As that Larry Tamarkin?

[@CharlieZuko]

That Nee York accent man!!!

[@queennine]

Whos the guy narrating?

[@MARKCREEKWATER1]

Jimmy Jam, I remember him well. He's Puerto Rican, and a good chess player, hustles & rarely loses money. I seem to remember that he's a former NYU student, too.

[@kieranmartin6030]

Strong player in video is Vincent Livermore who died in the early 90's from a heroin OD. I believe he had a standard rating of about 1950 and possibly 2200 at blitz. These guys were the real characters of the Washington Square Park chess scene late 60's - 80's. I think today's bunch are rough, rude and cheaters - best to avoid.

[@3aeren]

i thought he died from aids

[@rhylpantaleon9022]

@@3aeren he did died from aids. because he was with this puertorican guy. he was gay

[@koko40800]

You are correct, he died from an OD (not heroin, though). And not from AIDS

[@wronggg]

Played some random guy that's been there for 20 years for $5 bucks and won while on vacation to nyc. Still paid him though, it was just cool to do (and at 10:00 PM).

[@xBorg6of9x]

Not true, there's still lots of clubs, you just have to get up your ass and go there.

[@adrianballesteros3922]

18 18.30 that´s mark k d sorprise

[@whitesonful]

No cheating that I saw. It was and adjustment on the black king to be more centralized on the square the king was supposed to be on.

[@johnmorra9625]

Adrien grenier spokesperson

[@jeffgreen3376]

I guess Roman Dzindzichashvili was not commonly known at that point.

[@MrJusmobile]

Roman showed up later and beat them all to death. He was the fastest in the park. Period

[@Pacalolo04]

Of course he was. They called him Gingi (Dzindzi). He introduces him at minute 8:23 ("We have one guy..."). He is not kidding Gingi was rated 7th to 8th in the world. Dzindzichashvili is a GM; he won the US Championship twice, tutored Kamsky and other great American GMs; and is perhaps most famous for having beaten the computer Fritz in 28 moves back in 1993.

[@MARKCREEKWATER1]

"Jinji" was there, and well known.

[@JerryAriGraham]

LOL

[@WhispersOfWind]

I guess some of these people got locked away for a long time into a psychiatric ward, often... hence people don't do this kind of stuff anymore... it's scary...

[@TruthTe11er]

Wish there was a version of this with the dude claiming he drew against Spassky cut out. He's just sitting there talking with a terrible cadence and his stories reek of bs. His segment lowers the quality of this imo

[@chessdrummer]

Funny!

[@jtleon7086]

Played Spassky and Tal and won a 30 grand tourney. Probably equivalent to 100 G today. The man is a legend in his own mind.

[@weevil601]

Later in the video he gives the punch line. It was all a dream.

[@TB-kl5vn]

If you were around 2000 (by today standards) you could clean up at WS Park in the 90's so easily. Complete trash. Just had to be able to spot the cons and cheats.

[@bailinnumberguy]

I travel a lot for work and judge a city by the quality of its' chess hustlers. New York: great. Chicago: very good. Washington: fair. Pittsburgh: terrible. I won every game I played and let the guys keep their money.

[@multieverything5763]

Yo he just went from Qf5 to Qb7+ like what the phuk!? Chess player??? More like Chess cheatin ass. lmao on 7:23

[@MlninPricl]

This is back when crack-cocaine was taring through low income communities like D.C. You could tell some of these guys fell victim to it.

[@MyDenis0]

americans truly are capitalists.

[@COCOLEAF1169]

these guys play chumps, they would get their ass rolled by people who actually know how to play chess

[@koko40800]

One of those 'chumps' is Roman Dzindzichashvili, who was top 10 in the world (8:22)

[@paulscarponescarpone.8681]

hey want to be guido.your Spanish. you are not in the family dick

[@charleswebsterjr.6350]

To be a chess hustler/street chess player you have to be very good . There around between 1800 to 1999 USCF /FIDE (Basically Class A ), the few rare top around just 2000 USCF/FIDE expert level . To hold you own your have to be at least a class B (1600-1799 which is above the average player) or Class C ( 1400-1599 which is average tournament/club player or good casual player) . They have to be good and experienced to make money or a good hustle. Now against Masters ( 2200 FIDE/USCF and up) they struggle and lose (like any player) . The Top Chess Hustler Livermore here is more than likely at Expert level just around 2000 or 2100 at most, which is very strong. The rest of the Hustlers are Class A 1800 to 1999 which is still strong or good that you have definitely play good.

[@koko40800]

@@charleswebsterjr.6350 Vinnie Livermore and Sammy ('Sandman') were both strong master strength in speed chess...their USCF ratings did not reflect their blitz strength

[@mikemanners1069]

Do any of these bums have a job?