In many more ways than one, basketball and chess share some striking similarities. There are varying strategies for offense and defense, a seemingly unlimited number of potential moves per possession and when it comes down to the finest of details, very few (if any) games are exactly the same. And it only takes one wrong decision to jeopardize one’s chance at winning.
“You have to think one or two moves ahead,” says Hornets forward Gordon Hayward. “If you want to be good, you have to think way more ahead than that. In basketball, you have to think what is the defense going to do if I do this? How are they defending me in certain ways? In chess, there’s very similar concepts. What are they going to do if I make this move? How are they defending this square or this piece? How can I exploit that defense?”
For the past few years, Hayward has been attempting to master this brilliantly complex, often times maddening game. The premise of chess goes something like this: competitors take turns moving 16 pieces – a king, a queen, two bishops, two knights, two rooks and eight pawns – around a square-shaped board made up of 64 spaces. Pieces vary in strength based on their maneuverability and every piece is capable of capturing any opposing piece simply by knocking it off its square.
The objective is to ‘checkmate’ the opponent’s king, meaning the king no longer has any moves to make without being captured. The more pieces one has on the board, the better the chances are of winning. Classical games can last for hours, even days in some cases. To say strategy, critical thinking and patience are required for chess would be quite the understatement.
“I played as a kid with my mom,” Hayward explains. “During the pandemic, everyone is home, you’re by yourself. I just started watching YouTube videos and streams of people playing and I wanted to get better at it, so I just started playing more regularly.”
In lieu of a traditional physical chessboard, Hayward primarily uses Chess.com to play. “I think Chess.com does a really good job of letting you play on your phone or computer. You get a game instantly,” he says. “Right after the game, you can analyze it, figure out what you did wrong, what was the best move you should have done, could have done, where you could have made it. As a competitor, that really drew me to it. You’re able to play, learn, get better and it’s something to do that’s not just video games. That’s why I started playing again and I’ve been playing ever since.”
For classical chess matches, players have up to an hour-and-a-half to make a move. The style of chess that Hayward prefers is known as blitz chess, a faster-paced version where each player has a predetermined amount of time – usually around 10 to 15 minutes – to make all of his or her moves over the course of an entire game. Blitz chess requires more intuition according to Hayward, and can be more engaging to both play and watch, thanks to its swifter tempo.
Hayward wasn’t the only one turning to chess as a way to pass time during the long, lonely hours of quarantine. Top players from around the world began streaming more online and coupled with the debut of The Queen’s Gambit – a very popular critically-acclaimed Netflix miniseries based on a fictional chess prodigy – in late 2020, chess saw a significant rise in popularity.
One of those renowned players, Daniel Naroditsky, recently linked up with Hayward for a nearly four-hour-long Twitch stream a few months ago. Referred to as ‘Danya’ in the chess community, Naroditsky is currently the 162nd-ranked player in the world, the resident Grandmaster of the Charlotte Chess Center (Grandmaster is the highest title in chess), a chess columnist for The New York Times and interestingly enough, a massive basketball fan, as well.
“I’ve worked with a couple Grandmasters now and it’s amazing how good they are,” says Hayward. “[Daniel] is one of the best rapid blitz chess players in the world. The best players make it look so easy. That’s a parallel to anything professional. When they’re coaching you, you feel like you can win every game. It makes it very easy and fun to play. As soon as you’re by yourself, you’re like, ‘Man, what was the move they told me to make?’ You start forgetting things, but it certainly was fun.”
International Master Levy Rozman – known online as GothamChess and pictured below – is another prominent chess streamer and content creator that Hayward has learned from. “I actually took his course,” he says. “He messaged me and asked if I was actually Gordon Hayward. He’s a big basketball fan, so we connected over that. So, I went on his stream and he gave me a lesson.”
Even with a basic knowledge of chess, trying to keep up with Naroditsky or Rozman breaking down Hayward’s game is about as easy as solving a calculus problem in a foreign language. The dialogue is incredibly precise and it’s nearly impossible to decipher all the strategy being discussed in real time. On the hardwood, Hayward’s basketball IQ, decision-making and sense of control sets him apart from a vast majority of his peers. When it comes to chess though, the roles have reversed – he’s now the inquisitive student learning from the seasoned master.
Chess players are classified via a complex formula called the Elo rating system, which is what the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and other major organizations most commonly utilize. The higher the rating, the stronger a player is. Norwegian Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen is currently the world’s top-ranked chess player with a classical rating of 2859, while the peak ratings of Naroditsky and Rozman sit at 2617 and 2333, respectively.
Hayward’s rating is unofficially right around 1200 right now. As he explains, “Anything zero to 1200 is considered novice. Anything 1200 to 1700 or 1800 is considered intermediate. Anything over that is considered advanced. So, I’m still a novice, but on the higher end of that. My goal would be to get to 1700 or 1800. The higher part of intermediate would be really good. Just like anything, you have to practice, though.”
He adds, “When you play a rated game, if you lose, you lose points and if you win, you gain points. Depending on how many games you play with this account that I have, if I win against people in my range, I only get 10 points. When I lose, I lose anywhere from 10 to six or seven points. I’d have to win a lot in a row. It is frustrating because sometimes it comes down to one move. If you play somebody that’s way better than you, you’re never going to beat them.”
Hayward isn’t the only NBAer to dabble in chess, either. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Klay Thompson both supposedly play, although Hayward has yet to take on either one of them. Having additional means to release competitive energy is pretty common around the league, whether it’s chess, video games, cards, golf or something else entirely different.
“It’s another outlet for competition,” Hayward says. “I think people are drawn to the competition part of it. I’ll play on the road or the bus – we’re on buses a lot. At home, I probably play too much. It’s just me against you. I think with chess, as soon as the game is over, I can figure out where I messed up and how to fix it for the next game.”
Life as an NBA player and father of four doesn’t leave a ton of time for other endeavors, but listening to Hayward talk chess, there’s an undeniable passion and genuine curiosity for this somewhat outside-the-box interest. Hayward’s decorated basketball career is a clear and obvious byproduct of his work ethic and smarts and now, he’s also making all the right moves on the chessboard in his quest to reach that coveted 1800 rating.