Chess grandmasters can't stop laughing after opening their tournament match with the worst possible moves


Fans of The Queen's Gambit will get a kick out of Monday's match between Norway's Magnus Carlsen and the United States' Hikaru Nakamura at the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.
The game between the grandmasters started with Carlsen moving his king's pawn up to e4, a popular first move; Nakamura mirrored it. But it was then that things got silly: Carlsen next moved his king up to where the pawn had been, an opening known as the Bongcloud Attack, and "one of chess' worst possible opening moves," Vice reports.
"Don't do this!" one of the commentators watching the match blurted.
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When Nakamura saw his opponent's move, though, he burst into laughter — and mimicked it. Both Carlsen and Nakamura had already qualified for the next stage of the tournament, and their Bongcloud game, which was just for laughs, ended in a draw. You can review the game at Chess24.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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