In 1998, my work was in direct contact with customers, so I had always to keep my smile and be pleasant. Most of the time it was not a problem, but ...
There was a man, a very tall man, who looked like a gorilla with dark eyes and large eyebrows, with dark and dirty hair, and who spoke very slowly...That kind of guy that we did not particularly wanted to meet or to be alone with him.
The problem was: this big guy wanted to deal only with me. I confess that, although i was not at all comfortable with him, I had no choice...And hey, it was a good customer.
He frequented the store regularly, and with time, it is true that I finally gotten used to his low little voice, his short sentences,his eyes looking we don't know where, and his head always tilted to the side.
The employees still were all afraid of him...In fact, me too, but I tried not to show it ;)
During off hours, I was playing chess with a small portable chessboard, a Kasparov Travel Champion 2100, that I always took everywhere with me.
One day, Pascal (name of Mr Muscle) came in the shop at lunch time while i was playing chess...
Whaouh! he said with a strong voice,You play chess!
First of all, as i do not see him coming, i jump of my chair ready to protect my body from this animal that i think it is.
Yes,it is true! i know how to play chess and i love it. He said.
"Hello Pascal! you really make me scared as hell! You never came during off hours generally." i said.
Pascal say again: "I love to play chess you know! Let me tell you about this..."
His head well straight, a smile on his face, the eyes almost less dark than before with inside like a little light which appear suddenly... the "prehistoric man" looked now like someone else, and he began to talk, and talk and talk again and again about the subject he know best: the game of chess.
With a nice and clear voice, he spoke more then an hour about so many things:
-How Capablanca has play the day of that year when ...
-Why Kasparov did not play like this or like that when...
-You know: when he came (Kasparov) where i lived before for a chess demonstration for the chess federation, i was younger, but at the end, i was the only one who stayed against him, and we were 12...
Truth is, he talked about things and events i absolutely don’t understand.
About that theory or this other theory, and he told me the origins of chess...
How he has learn to play chess, alone in his room when he was a little boy...
Why he decide to replay ALL the party of a certain chess master...
Truth is, i do not recognize anymore the discreet customer which i find,(sorry) a little bit a moron.
But that day: I was the moron.
He was a brillant man, who was speaking about some precise technics, what to do here,what to do there... when doing this or that...
I do not understood most of what he was speaking about...
(and i will never understood because i was and i am nothing else that a small player.)
I really admire the man standing in front of me, it was amazing how interesting he was...
So i decide to speak with him, what he think about the actual events, any subject but something else but chess..(to me, chess was only a "passe-temps", nothing more.)
His head go slowly on the left, his shoulders go down, he stop talking, and the little light in his eyes disappear...
In front of me, was back the big guy i always know.
He turn round, say "au revoir" with his low little voice, and slowly walk to the exit.
I remember; at that exact moment, another customer came in and ask me something...
As Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, two person was living inside that strange man.
So boring most of time, but that extraordinary man was a passionate human been and a genius if you speak with him about chess.
I will never forget that incredible moment i live that day...
For me Pascal's day is a very good souvenir...
He stay in my mind as The big little guy.
(Please forgive my poor english...Google do not help me very much)
Hi everyone,
It may be a idea to post here story or events related to chess or having a relationship with the game.
Whatever the story is: funny, sad, beautiful, strange, etc ...
Thank you.