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https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2020/01/30/kobe-bryants-chess-mind/
How Strong was Kobe Bryant?
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I don't know if i'd take the checkers and chess comment and the ad as evidence that he played chess much if at all. Any more indication that he played? I wouldn't be surprised if he was a chess player, but i wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't, too.
I’m so sad about his death.😔
His body was found hugging his 13 year old daughter that also died.😣
Feb 1, 2020
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#6
Quasimorphy wrote:
I don't know if i'd take the checkers and chess comment and the ad as evidence that he played chess much if at all. Any more indication that he played? I wouldn't be surprised if he was a chess player, but i wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't, too.
I don't have a clue, but Dan Heisman posted a tribute chess game (Heisman vs. Tobias). Dan mentions that Bryant grew up less than a mile from Dan's house, yet Dan makes no mention of Bryant playing chess. That doesn't mean anything one way or the other, but I'd figure if anyone outside of Bryant's relatives would know, it would be Dan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STr7JYCwV9o
Feb 1, 2020
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#7
GMKyleP wrote:
His body was found hugging his 13 year old daughter
That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
It's sad, you big bully!
Feb 1, 2020
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#9
Since use of emojis is inversely proportional to IQ I guess I'll give you a pass.
lol
Feb 1, 2020
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#12
I'm really getting tired of these actor/athlete types getting reputations for playing chess, yet none of them ever seem to have official USCF/FIDE ratings. They need to set aside their elite lifestyles for an afternoon or two and show up in a dingy, body-odor filled chess tournament hall to rub shoulders with the common folk and get an official rating. ;-)
I mean, dang, I'd like to play a chess game sitting next to Willie Nelson, wouldn't you?
Feb 1, 2020
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#13
EscherehcsE wrote:
I'm really getting tired of these actor/athlete types getting reputations for playing chess, yet none of them ever seem to have official USCF/FIDE ratings. They need to set aside their elite lifestyles for an afternoon or two and show up in a dingy, body-odor filled chess tournament hall to rub shoulders with the common folk and get an official rating. ;-)
I mean, dang, I'd like to play a chess game sitting next to Willie Nelson, wouldn't you?
To all the yorps he loved before...
rip kobe
As a chess player I mean. I know he was a legendary NBA multimilionaire shooting Guard, 18 time All-Star 2k8 MVP and youngest to reach 30k career points, but here is most definitely NOT the place to discuss iabout his amazing career, or his saddening tragic death in an helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.
What few people know is that he was also a chessist amateur. He famously said "These young guys are playing checkers. I’m out there playing chess.", but he also less famously featured in an ad in 2009 playing chess with Lebron James. I haven't been able to find the ad back, could someone do it?
Also, how strong was he? Strong club player? weak GM? naturally gifted casual?
And most importantly, are there recorded games from him?