- Bringing the queen out. - Uh-oh, that's my girl. This girl is crazy. - Oh no, don't do that. Don't bring stuff out. - Yeah, let me get some other people in the party. - I'm gonna sacrifice pieces to make you think you're doing good. - Ponder me, right?

Well, since you're gonna do that, and I figured you was gonna do that, I'm gonna let you do what you wanna do so I can do what I wanna do. - Thank you, this is good. A few months back, I did a podcast with RZA, and we played an impromptu game of chess afterwards.

I wasn't sure if anyone wants to see that, but a few folks asked me about it, so here it is. Let me know if you want to see me play chess, have fun, and of course, talk a bit of trash with folks in the future. I should also say that when I was a kid, I deliberately decided to not play chess because given my generally mathematical mind and interests, I would be pulled all in.

Moderation would be impossible. I'm the same with fresh oatmeal raisin cookies. I don't know how to eat just one. Instead, I chose to avoid the game, playing maybe on a rare occasion of a few years at a party, probably drunk, and have lots of fun blundering all over the place and talking trash.

I do think chess is a beautiful game, and I do want to celebrate it. And perhaps my low level of play and my approach of fun is a good way to do so because if you're a beginner, we're in this together, my friend. Chess is not just about opening lines, positions, tactics.

It's also about two humans using their mind to solve weird little puzzles while chatting it up and having fun. In this life, dear friends, you have two approaches to choose for each activity. Have fun trying to be good or have fun being bad. For me, I try to do a bit of both.

For chess, I choose the latter. So let me know if you want to see more videos of me playing chess. Now, I give you RZA. Playing chess with RZA. - I'll do the same thing. See what you think about that. - All right. - Yeah, and I did this.

- We're replaying the match. It was already a great match. - Yeah, it was getting there. - Yeah. - I don't know about this. What's the strongest part of your game? The opening, the middle? - I think, I don't know, 'cause I've been weak lately, but I think that if you give me the time.

- No, we can't take the time. This is going to be fast. And I told you I'm terrible. - I said, if you give me the, no, but if I get the time. - Oh, to practice, to think. I get pretty good at chess, if you give me the time.

But it ain't just time, it's your own fatigue, your own feeling. You can be angry, impatient. - Let me just ruin it for you. - Hyper. - I just gotta take pieces. Very aggressive play here. What are we even doing? I'm just attacking. What's the worst that can happen?

- I could run. And not be shot. That's a big thing. - Losing to RZA is not the worst thing in this world. I'm telling you, I'm just gonna go on a rampage, just taking pieces. - Wow. - This is a horrible position for me. - Why did you do that then?

You just wanted to fuck with me? - 'Cause I want to move fast. - Oh, okay. - I want to fuck with you for sure. - Let me try this one then. - Bring the queen out. - Uh-oh, that's my girl. Oh, this girl is crazy. (laughing) - That's a real queen's gambit.

- There's a couple of counters. Here's one counter that may distort the energy between us. - Yeah, this could be a big problem. So I would need to, there's no options, right? - Yeah, you gotta make a move. - I'll stay off the white. - I'm gonna go for the white.

- Okay. - And then for me, okay, I see what you're doing there. I have to hit you there for protection. - Bring this guy out. - That's good. I actually didn't want you to bring that guy out, you know? - I got a separate, I didn't like the thing you had going on here.

That's not gonna end well for me. - Yeah, I didn't like that guy either. I didn't like him coming outside at all. It just felt like he should've, I was hoping he didn't come outside, you know? But he's outside now. So now that he's outside, when I told him not to come outside, mind you, I gotta now think about my own problems.

- The queen and the rook are dancing in the middle. - Yeah. - I think I'm in way more danger. I'm not sure though. - Yes, it's pretty peculiar here. - Gotta keep him distracted. - He'll take one more punch at you. You can't not do, you gotta make sure you do it in time.

That's really the big trick. - Timing is everything. - Yeah, so in that case, since timing is everything, let me kinda get some time away from this motherfucker. - What do you think about pawns? You're like, "Oh no, don't do that. "Don't bring stuff out." - Yeah, let me get some other people in the party because.

- You know, I'm gonna make it fun. I'm gonna sacrifice pieces to make you think you're doing good. - Pondering me, right? Well, since you're gonna do that, and I figured you was gonna do that, I'm gonna let you do what you wanna do so I can do what I wanna do.

- Thank you, this is good. He's not taking the quote bait. That's not an actual bait. - Okay, so let's get this guy out of here. Yeah, let's get him out of here. - See, this is not good. I gotta threaten you somehow. I gotta make you nervous. Yeah, here we go.

- Oh, that's your kung fu technique, to make me nervous. I don't know if I'm gonna get nervous from that one. - Watch your king, that's all I gotta say. - I know, I see you trying to punch me in my face and shit. - Yeah, but don't play around.

You can have the pawns. - I can have the pawn? - No, you can have the pawns. I'm just gonna knock you out. - Oh, he's gonna knock me out. You guys hear this guy? - I'm gonna trash talk while we're still even. I think I'm down a pawn, a couple of pawns.

- But you know what? It's actually, yeah, pawns don't mean shit. You're right, the pawns is not the way for this game to go the way I want it to go. So that's a fact. - You have so many options, it's overwhelming actually. - I'm glad you see it that way, 'cause I'm feeling the same.

But I still gotta be careful. So since I still gotta be careful. - This is some Grandmaster level. - This is not. - Chats right here. All right, so since you trying to shoot off my pinky toe. - I just feel like you're gonna attack so much here. And I got nothing.

I got no pawns to protect me. I got, and these kings just sitting there. - Yeah, but you got a couple of tricks up your sleeve though. Let me just continue my party my way. That's the most important thing you gotta do sometimes. You gotta continue your party your way.

- Keep bringing pieces out. You know what? I'm just gonna keep. - That was nice. Everybody who saw that would say the same thing. You know what they would say? - What's that? - That was nice. - Yeah. - That move was nice, yo. You seen that? I'm like, yeah, I saw it.

I said, I gotta take him. You know that. I have no choice in the matter. - A Grandmaster would just forfeit here. But I'm not that. I'm not that. - I like that. - 'Cause I'm a higher level. - I like, well, I like the pitch of that. - Yeah.

- He's like a Grandmaster would just forfeit here. - No, I'm just, I'm gonna have to give you the Bishop of the Night. - Well, do what you're gonna do, but don't forget. We talked about Fisher and Spassky, and I started the game in the famous Fisher opening. You know, it was good at one time.

- Yeah. - And it's like, I'm trying to bring it back. - The opening or what? - Yeah, I'm trying to, I really am a fan of Bobby Fisher. I know they say he went crazy and all this stuff like that, but like I said, his analogy that chess is a draw, it's something profound in that.

And I'm just like, I'm gonna try to represent Bobby Fisher a little bit. - You're the Bobby Fisher in this? All right. - See that? Now, would everybody agree that that was beautiful? - I think you got a problem with too many choices. I'm trying to paralyze you with too many good choices until you make a mistake.

- Which is good. I mean, that's the meaning. - You should be scared, 'cause you don't wanna make a mistake on camera. That'd be embarrassing. 'Cause you're winning, you're dominating, and then you could just-- - But if he makes a mistake on camera, what would the world think of that?

What would they tell him back home? - I'd be nervous for you, that's all I'm saying. - Yeah, I'm getting a little bit nervous, but not totally. And you know why I'm not totally nervous? - Why is that? - Oh, you wanna know? - I guess I'm just gonna have to wait and find out.

- Okay, so in that case, since this is one of those matches where-- - A friendly match? - Yeah, a friendly match. - I was gonna go for either that or war, but since I'm losing, let's just go for a friendly match. - Yeah, well, since this is a friendly match, let's do it, let's give you something to eat.

And I'll get something to eat. You eat, I eat. - Yeah. - Yeah, I think I'm gonna do that. I think I'm gonna let that be the way we eat. You cool with that? - Yeah, you give me a rook or what? - Yeah, why not? - Okay, okay, you're gonna give me...

This is great. - Yeah, I gotta give you something. - This is what a generous man does. - I'm gonna give you something to eat. You gave me something to eat. I'm gonna give you something to eat. - All right. - Okay, that was good. Hope it tastes good.

- Yeah, it did, it feel good. I'm winning, I'm winning. - I hope everybody liked it. Hope the rest of the audience is feeling it. Like, I got this guy got a chance to eat. - On the official chess point system, I'm up by a pawn. - Yeah, all right.

- For one move, I was up. - Well, I'm gonna get back out of your way 'cause I didn't like, actually didn't like the vibe of that. So I have to get back and protect my other rook. - If I would've gave him two rooks. If I would've gave him two rooks.

- That's too generous. You're not that generous, I appreciate that. - Yeah, the people would've been talking about me for years to come. (laughing) Oh, look at this guy. - He's getting nervous. He's like, what you doing? You gotta... - I'm gonna get a good look. - Yeah, yeah, 100%.

- So let me count my money. You count your money, count my money. Oh, you got more money than me. - I gotta make you feel nervous about something. - Whoa, that was a bad move right there, brother. That one there. What you gonna do with that? You gonna zoom in on that?

(laughing) That's a blunder. What's the, when it's a really bad blunder, it's like super blunder or something like that. - Yeah, well, it makes this move bad, right? It's a couple of things about it. - Well, you really don't wanna bring the king out like that, right? - Yeah, even if you would've left him back there, it would've been a better exchange for you because I gave you this rook, but you took the wrong rook.

- Yeah. - You should've took this rook, right? - Yeah. - But you took that rook, which I was cool with. I was hoping you'd take that rook. Even if you took this rook, I was cool 'cause I would've got the horse. And then I would've still been up two points.

- Yeah. - But you took this rook, which was detrimental. - 'Cause I'm gonna lose it anyway. I'm gonna lose the knight. And then, yeah, so you're saying I should've taken this. That was the mistake. - That would've been a better shot for you. Taking that rook, 'cause now this rook just does something very simple.

Just goes here. Even if it was there, though, I would've lost the rook. - Yeah. - Which I thought I was gonna lose. - You would've traded it. - Yeah, but this is worse for you. - It's not checkmate, is it? - No, but it's check, but it's a tough looking check.

But you got it now, jet up out of there. And you only could jet so many places. - Maybe I undo the mistake 'cause I can't jet forward. - Well. - I can't jet forward. - No matter where you go. But anyway, I'm not here to tell you. - Yeah, I have to undo the mistake.

- But the point of this rook check was a discovery of which was set up since the beginning. - Yeah. - This discovery has been here for almost four or five moves. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - And so, I like, you know, they say white guys love black women.

- Yeah. (laughing) Now I know, now I know what that means, thank you. - Yeah. (laughing) That's a tough looking check. - Yeah, I can trick you into a draw somehow, all right. - I think that way. Don't you think that way? - Yeah. - You got all the right philosophies, you know what I mean?

- It's not the skills. - Well, yeah, you know, the application, it takes time to apply everything we learn. It just takes time. That's definitely the right philosophy. Everything you've been saying for this conversation has been the right philosophy. Just the time to apply it has been ducking you.

- Yeah. - So, I'll just keep this there. And then, you know, you can take this as far as you want to take it. - But I think in the interest of time, we're running out of time. You have to go, man. - Yeah, we should shake hands, thank God.

- Thank you, man. (laughing) That was beautiful. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)