Houston Rockets Continue NBA Tradition of Chess Events

Apr 30, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard Troy Daniels (30) reacts after making a basket during the second quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers in game five of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Twenty seven years after the members of the 1987 Boston Celtics were destroyed by 11-year old Bob Seltzer in three simultaneous games of chess, an NBA franchise was finally ready to take another shot at defeating children in chess as the Houston Rockets contingent of Daryl Morey, Trevor Ariza and Troy Daniels traveled to the Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan Middle School on Monday afternoon for something called the Clutch City Checkmate Challenge.

Or at least that is what I think is going on based on Morey’s twitter feed.

Earlier this morning Morey replied to a tweet from Susan Polgar, a world-famous chessmaster with this picture of those 1987 Celtics taking on Seltzer:

There is a lot going on in this picture obviously, so let’s break it down person by person.

First there is Danny Ainge, who according to this article I found, put up the toughest fight on the day for the 11-year old prodigy. Ainge is clearly focused on what is going on in his game though there seems to be some worry on his face so this may be the point where he realized he was toast.

After Ainge is Kevin McHale in the middle of a move that he seemingly was pretty happy with judging by the smile that seems to be close to appearing on his face. Based on the way the game played out though, whatever McHale did played out horribly wrong as he was the first to be defeated.

Then there is Bill Walton, who looks absolutely flabbergasted by what is happening in front of him and is my absolute favorite part of this picture.

Meanwhile Seltzer stands in front of McHale full of confidence in his ability to beat three professional athletes at the same time with relative ease. Just a great picture and props to Morey for bringing it back.

As for Morey’s Rocket selections I have to question him a bit. It stands to reason that point guards probably are the best chess players in basketball considering that they more than any other position have to thing multiple steps ahead of the action. With that in mind Morey should have probably made sure to take one of

Patrick Beverly, Isaiah Cannon or Ish Smith with him to give his team the best chance to not get swept by the kids.

Then again maybe Morey knows more about his roster’s chess playing skills than it seems. Only time will tell.