‘I was very angry’: Chess player goes viral after collapsing from chair (VIDEO)
Chess mastermind Pawel Teclaf has admitted he has received unexpected attention after he sprawled backwards and fell from his chair in a dramatic end to a high-speed tournament defeat.
Playful Pole Teclaf was engaged in a rapid battle of brains at the FIDE World Blitz Championship in Warsaw when he blundered towards the end, reacting to his loss by tottering backwards and crashing to the floor.
The comical clip has become the highlight of the tournament for many viewers, although the 18-year-old said he had not envisaged the eventful end to his challenge.
"I just lost balance, kind of, and fell down," Teclaf confessed to FIDE, having been offered a hand by his Armenian opponent as he collapsed.
This is priceless! 😂 #RapidBlitzpic.twitter.com/vZjL1qndZv
— Tarjei J. Svensen (@TarjeiJS) December 30, 2021
"Do zabawnej sytuacji doszło podczas turnieju mistrzostw Świata w szachach szybkich w Warszawie. Polski szachista, Paweł Teclaf, po wykonaniu złego ruchu krzyknął tylko "KURWA!" i spadł z krzesła" pic.twitter.com/NDUeCYAnkV
— 🇵🇱 Ananakofana 🇪🇺 (@Ananakofana_) December 31, 2021
"He tried to help to bring me up and give me a hand but I was fallen. I was very angry but when I look at the video, it was funny.
"In the morning, I was in the elevator and a person was staring at her phone and then at me. She was kind of smirking.
"Then when I got to my room, I opened WhatsApp and saw plenty of links. Then I realized I am getting popular.
IM Pawel Teclaf, the hero of viral "chair" video: "In the morning, I was in the elevator & a person standing next to me was staring at me and on her phone back and forth, smirking. When I go to my room, I opened WhatsApp and saw plenty of links and realised I am getting popular." pic.twitter.com/f7OtGAlYUx
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) December 30, 2021
Lol he actually did great. Gained more than 100 points to his blitz rating.
— Ozymandias (@OzymandiasPL) December 30, 2021
"Normally I wouldn't behave like that but it was just – it wasn't planned but I just folded back on the chair and fell. I stood up and shook his hand; I didn't scatter the pieces."
This is not the first time Teclaf has flirted with danger on his chair, and his frustrations about his performance do not sit easily with the promising prospect.
"I usually swing on my chair because I just like it, and that was the first time I just fell down," he explained. "Then I stood up fast. Everything was fine, it was just the moment.
handshake and/or attempt to catch defeated opponent
— Scott Rose (@rprose) December 30, 2021
literally the move made him jump out of his chair🤣
— Yugdeep Singh (@over_thinker404) December 30, 2021
"I was winning, totally, the whole game. First, I sacrificed a piece – objectively, it wasn't good, I believe, but it doesn't really matter.
"We had a maximum of ten seconds left on the clock in a time scramble. I was gradually spoiling my position until I was unable to set a fortress, and then I even managed to screw it up.
"In the previous game, I was also playing well until a certain moment when I just blundered everything."
