The Five Most Unexpected Chess Players
A list of some well known personalities and athletes who break the chess stereotype
Hafþór Björnsson
Bio
Hafthor (Hafþór) was born in Reykjavík, Iceland on November 26, 1988. He is best known for being the Worlds Strongest Man, winning the competition in 2018. Being 6 feet 9 inches tall and more than 400 pounds probably helped. He also holds the world record for deadlift at 1,104.52 pounds. Besides being an athlete, Hafthor played The Mountain in the popular Game of Thrones Series (2011–2019). Most recently, Hafthor has a boxing match confirmed for September 2021 with fellow strong man Eddie Hall (the 2017 Worlds Strongest Man).
Chess
Hafthor played in the Chess.com PogChamps tournament with twitch.tv streamers, losing in the quarter finals of the championship bracket. He also participated in lessons with popular chess streamers and top players like Hikaru Nakamura. The full lesson is available on Hikaru’s YouTube Channel (see video below). During the first five minutes or so, Hafthor explains his background in chess. According to his Chess.com profile, he has a rating of about 800 blitz.
Devon Larratt
Bio
Devon Laratt was born in Victoria British Columbia, Canada on April 24, 1975. He is a former member of the Canadian Special Forces, and is currently a professional arm wrestler. Devon is best known for winning the WAL (World Arm Wrestling League) Left-Arm Championship in 2015 and winning the Right-Arm Championship in 2016. Besides these accomplishments, he can also be seen on YouTube arm wrestling the likes of Hafþór Björnsson and Shaquille O’Neal, all of whom he beats convincingly.
Chess
Devon started playing on Chess.com recently, and currently has a blitz rating of 1000 and a rapid rating of 1400. You can watch him play a game on Chess.com and explain his background in chess in the the embedded video below. Since Devon does a lot of collaborations with other YouTubers, it is possible you might see him do a chess collaboration in the future.
Lennox Lewis
Bio
Lennox Lewis was born in 1965 in West Ham, London, England, and holds dual Canadian and British citizenship. He was a professional boxer from 1989 to 2003 and is a three-time Heavyweight Champion of the world. Some of his most notable wins are against Mike Tyson (June 8, 2002), Evander Holyfield (November 13, 1999), and Vitali Klitschko (June 21, 2003). Lennox also provided commentary for HBO Boxing and currently works as a commentator for PBC (Premier Boxing Champions) on Fox.
Chess
It’s been known for quite some time that Lennox plays chess. It was probably first mentioned by Max Kellerman on HBO boxing, and Lennox has subsequently done appearances on the topic. Still, being the greatest athlete on this list, and also given the fact that most don’t associate chess with boxing (unless you are familiar with chessboxing), it comes as a bit of a surprise. Currently, Lennox has a Chess.com rating of 1000 blitz and 1200 rapid. He also has the most total games played compared to anyone on this list, with 5,257.
Gordon Hayward
Bio
Gordon Hayward, born March 23, 1990, is an NBA player who currently plays for the Charlotte Hornets as a small forward and power forward. On November 5, 2019 Gordon had a regular-season career high of 39 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers while playing for the Boston Celtics. His top scoring season was 2016–2017 with the Utah Jazz where he averaged 21.9 points per game.
Chess
You can watch Gordon’s chess lessons with International Master Levy Rozman in the embedded video below. Currently, Gordon has a Chess.com blitz rating of 1100. He also has quite a few games accumulated on the site, with a total of 2,211 games played.
Howard Stern
Bio
Howard Stern is a Radio and Television Personality born in 1954, New York, USA. He is best known for his antagonistic commentary on WXRK K-Rock on terrestrial radio and later SiriusXM. He has also been a judge on the television show America’s Got Talent between 2012 and 2015. In 2020, he renewed is contract with SiruisXM for another five years.
Chess
Howard claimed that he was addicted to the game, and that chess was almost responsible for ruining his marriage. As a result, he has since given up the game for photography. He picked up chess in around 2006, and likely stopped around 2012. Although his account was always left unknown, his chess tutor FIDE Master Dan Heisman claimed he got to a rating of about 1700 on ICC (Internet Chess Club). He is also the only person on this list to attend an actual rated tournament. Although there is some (but not great) video content about Howard and chess, a Chess.com article by Dan Heisman offers a unique perspective.
