Cupid's Move: A Chess.com Click That Sparked an Extraordinary Love Story
In the chill of February 2022, Ralf Keller was procrastinating work in his hometown Paderborn, Germany, and decided to play on Chess.com. Simultaneously, across the miles in Como, Italy, Valeria Oomen, while contemplating her life, also logged on to the platform and clicked "Play." They were instantly paired up and the course of their lives changed forever!
Meet the couple behind the tweet that went viral in February 2023 and mesmerized people around the globe.
Our two lovebirds shared their story with Chess.com on the most romantic move they ever made:
“Fate led us to play together,” says Ralf. While the pairing was done purely by chance, it was really Valeria’s bishop blunder that unfolded the next series of events.
When Valeria accidently lost her bishop, she messaged Ralf in German, saying: “Ich habe misclicked” (I have mis-clicked). Intrigued by her linguistic prowess denoted by the Italian flag next to Valeria’s username, Ralf performed a chivalrous maneuver: he intentionally blundered his own bishop in return! This act of kindness brought the game back to equal footing and made it more interesting. But, in the end, Ralf still won.
For the next two months, the couple continued playing and chatting on Chess.com, sending each other game invites. A solid friendship was forming, but there wasn't yet an inclination of romance.
The “Instagram stalking began later,” says Ralf. In April 2022, the couple exchanged phone numbers and the following month Ralf ventured to Italy to visit Valeria.
On their second rendezvous, he brought her tulips to which Valeria casually thought, “Ah, looks nice, but okay.” She was trying to keep the idea of dating someone from Chess.com out of her mind, but Ralf’s floral gesture made it irresistible.
By the time the Italian holiday concluded, the duo “both had some kind of feeling about this,” says Valeria. When, two months later, she flew to Germany to visit Ralf, their feelings for each other sprung forth and a beautiful long-distance relationship blossomed.
Today, Ralf and Valeria don’t play as much chess with each other, but when they do, they are “equally bad," says Ralf. Despite the challenges of long-distance relationship, their love knows no barriers. Ralf often drives five hours from Switzerland, where he currently resides, to see Valeria on weekends, and she reciprocates with less frequent but more extended visits.
During the Christmas of 2022, Ralf gifted Valeria something very special: a printed screenshot of his intentional bishop blunder from their very first game, immortalized and encapsulated in glass.
Call it destiny or proactive serendipity, but the couple is very happy that “this fortunate series of events [and] coincidences happened like this.” A reflection on the improbable odds leaves us marveling at the whims of fate, casting a glimmer of hope to many single chess players out there.
If we dive deeper into the origins of the story, the elusive cupid that set the stage for this romance was actually GothamChess. Ralf attributes his entry into the chess world to the captivating lessons and YouTube videos provided by the renowned streamer and content creator, noting that, “It’s kind of [Levy’s] fault that all of this happened.”
Their advice to single Chess.com players looking for love on the platform is this: “Don’t force it. You shouldn’t come to Chess.com to search for romance, but it can be a fortunate side effect. If you generally just enjoy what you’re doing, stuff like that [i.e. love] will just happen accidentally.”
Dear readers, Valeria and Ralf are wishing you the best of luck and plenty of joyful blunders that lead to friendship and love!
Happy Valentine’s Day! <3
