Chess on Cheers 1
Have you ever been such a bad sport at losing a chess game that you sent chess pieces flying? That is what happened in an episode on Cheers. Cheers is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993. The show is set in a bar named "Cheers" in Boston, Massachusetts, where a group of locals meet to drink, relax, and socialize.
In season 5 episode 15 (Spellbound), Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) beats everybody at the bar at chess until he plays Woody (Woody Harrelson). This episode has three chess scenes.
First, Frasier swiftly beats Norm (George Wendt) but learns that Woody knows something about chess.
Second, while Frasier plays Woody, Diane (Shelley Long) casually looks at the board and notices Frasier's king is about to be mated. Frasier did not know this before. Later, Sam (Ted Danson) says they need to wrap up the game. Frasier does not hestitate to begin putting away the chess board and pieces. Woody asks who is winning, but Frasier says it does not matter who is winning and insists on ending the game by putting all the pieces away and continuing tomorrow with a new game. This implies Frasier is losing but does not want to admit defeat.
Third, Woody vocalizes bombing sounds as he moves his pieces, which annoys Frasier. At this point, Woody has beaten Frasier in several games. Frasier wants to teach Woody a lesson about losing gracefully by beating him in their current game. But, Woody checkmates Frasier again. Frustrated Frasier sweeps the pieces off the table ironically missing Woody's king the first try.
Have these ever happened to you? Did your opponent distract you with sound effects? Did your opponent ever end a game by putting away the pieces without your permission? Have you or your opponent ever lost temper during a game?
Read more about chess on Cheers in the next installment here.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheers
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/CheersS5E15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tAluPxCi-U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy7gwQQ2PC8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv6bzeoS_dk
