How to deal with unsportsmanlike player at chess club?
Its from a deleted post on r/chess asking for advice on dealing with a a chess club member who is unsportsmanlike and weird to others. The post instantly became a meme and was circlejerk within the chess community.
Theres a very unsportsmanlike player at our club who constantly taunts and belittles everyone else. Whenver you make a mistake he yells out "blunder!" or "inaccuracy!" ... "better move was..." and then says the engine move or what he thinks the engine move is. He also says what he thinks the engine +- is. He plays the kings gambit as much as he can and knows like 30 moves deep into every variation. If you respond something other than e5 to 1.e4 he just laughs and calls you a patzer.
He's also OBSESSED with Hikaru Nakamura. He talks about him all the time and shows everyone a picture of him with Hikaru (Its really blurry so its hard to tell if its even him). He's constantly talking about him as if he's a close friend even though he only (maybe?) met him one time. Its bordering on creepy and makes everyone uncomfortable. He calls him "Hikaru-San" which I think is part of his obsession with Japanese culture. He also brings japanese noodles/Ramen to the club every day and will spend like 5-10 minute eating them during his turn just to taunt you. Meanwhile he will be mumbling words in japanese.
We tried approaching about his conduct but he just did some weird anime villain laugh, yelled something in Japanese, then ran off to challenge another person to a blitz match. We obviously don't want to tell him not to come but it feels like his presence is deterring new people from joining and its also exhuasting.How to deal with a sportsmanlike player at my club.
How to deal with a sportsmanlike player at my club.
byu/johnnyfuckinghobo inAnarchyChess
There is this very sportsmanlike player at my club who always praises and encourages everyone. Whenever someone makes a decent move he always yells out "brilliancy!!" Or "that was way better than my idea...." And then says you must have spotted the top engine move. He also tells everyone how they must have the biggest pipi in the room, plus or minus. He only plays the bongcloud and if you respond with anything other than e4 to 1.e5 he says you're very creative and asks if you'll teach him the line.
He's also OBSESSED with Eric Rosen and shows everyone a picture of him with Eric (it's really blurry but it just makes him really happy to share it). He's constantly talking about him, but everyone is cool about it because he backs off if you ask him politely. The only time it gets a little creepy is when he refers to him as "Daddy Rosen". But everyone looks past that because he always shows up with donuts and snacks to share. He distributes them during his opponent's time even though he could be calculating at the board.
We tried approaching him about his conduct and had a real down to earth conversation about the "Daddy Rosen" thing and he quoted Marcus Aurelius and said that he'll exercise more self control. We really love it when this guy comes to the club but we're all too shy to say anything. We're just worried that the club is going to get too popular if he keeps bringing free donuts for everyone.
