Signature pose for a chess player

[John Foley]

The athletes Usain Bolt and Mo Farah have established victory signature poses to endear themselves to the public.
I wonder if anybody has ever seen a chess player strike a winning pose?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Kasparov putting his watch back on when he thinks the game is over? Suppose that doesn't really count. Chess (and other cerebral activities) doesn't really lend itself to physical poses like 'proper' sports do (e.g. football goal celebrations).

[John Moore]

Running round the table waving your arms around and making whooping noises is probably not to be encouraged - although I have seen it.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I looked up a bit more about Kasparov's "watch routine". Apparently he would take his watch off to signal the start of serious play, and then put it back on again when he considered the game finished. Ironically, the book I found that goes into the most detail is about one of the matches against a computer, which obviously didn't care less what Kasparov was doing with his watch:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=bLrU ... C&pg=PA143

There is a nice description here here of where Kasparov's action of putting his watch back on prompted the human operator of the computer to resign:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=bLrU ... C&pg=PA150

[Clive Blackburn]

Elbows on edge of table, chin(s) resting in hands, sunk deep in thought.

[John Foley]

Elbows on edge of table, chin(s) resting in hands, sunk deep in thought.

A bit like this? Krishnan Sasikiran in a winning pose - according to Chessbase.

[Andrew Camp]

[Scott Freeman]

Not sure about a signature pose but I figured suitable wording to go on one's tombstone after you have died, if you wanted people to know you were a chess player. All you have put is your name and underneath the phrase "I was winning......"

[Stewart Reuben]

For chessplayers it is clear from the Laws that it has to be one hand only. I see 4 obvious variations.
The index finger on the top of the head; on the chin; or in the mouth for younger players.
Hand vaguely waving around is the preserve of the wrinklies.

[Gerard Killoran]

From

http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter71.html

6596. Chess Masters in Action (C.N. 6587)
From ‘Chess Masters in Action’ by C.H.O’D. Alexander

'I remember a curious incident in one of my games with Alekhine. Someone told me that when Alekhine was worried about his position he always twisted his hair with his fingers. In 1938 I played Alekhine in the Margate tournament and he made what looked to me like a weak move in the opening; I made my reply with a nervous feeling that I had probably overlooked something. What was my delight to see Alekhine, after a minute or two’s reflection, start to twist his hair.

This was about 10.0 a.m., and from then till 2.30 (it was the last day of the tournament and no adjournment for lunch allowed) Alekhine sat without leaving the board, and through all the turns of a complex game continued (to my great moral support) to twist his hair.

At 2.30 I made a slight tactical error and let my advantage slip; Alekhine moved, took a comb out of his pocket, ran it through his hair, got up, and walked up and down the tournament room. My own judgment (that my advantage was gone) was thus confirmed as clearly as if he had told me so, and I took an immediate opportunity to force a draw before worse befell me.’

[Gordon Cadden]

Placing both feet on the playing table, whilst reading a newspaper; peeping over the newspaper waiting for resignation.

[JustinHorton]

From

http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter71.html

6596. Chess Masters in Action (C.N. 6587)
From ‘Chess Masters in Action’ by C.H.O’D. Alexander

'I remember a curious incident in one of my games with Alekhine. Someone told me that when Alekhine was worried about his position he always twisted his hair with his fingers. In 1938 I played Alekhine in the Margate tournament and he made what looked to me like a weak move in the opening; I made my reply with a nervous feeling that I had probably overlooked something. What was my delight to see Alekhine, after a minute or two’s reflection, start to twist his hair.

This was about 10.0 a.m., and from then till 2.30 (it was the last day of the tournament and no adjournment for lunch allowed) Alekhine sat without leaving the board, and through all the turns of a complex game continued (to my great moral support) to twist his hair.

At 2.30 I made a slight tactical error and let my advantage slip; Alekhine moved, took a comb out of his pocket, ran it through his hair, got up, and walked up and down the tournament room. My own judgment (that my advantage was gone) was thus confirmed as clearly as if he had told me so, and I took an immediate opportunity to force a draw before worse befell me.’

This game

[Geoff Chandler]

It has to be Nimzovitch jumping up onto the table, raising his fists to the sky and shouting:

"Gegen diesen Idioten muss ich verlieren!"
'Why must I lose to this Idiot.' (or words to that effect.)

Either that or the guy a plastic carrier bag.

[John Clarke]

When I was playing league chess, a sure sign that a middle-aged player was satisfied with his position was when he leaned back in his seat, arms folded across his front (not resting on the table), and chin sunk on chest so that he was staring down his nose at the board.

[geoffgammon]

Back in the 70's I was playing in the Summer Tournament at a club in Bristol against a player who I later found out liked to win the Summer event. He was noted for the vast number of games he played, often more than the club nights available. I won a pawn early on and applied what I thought was appropriate pressure but about two hours into the game my opponent sat up straight and began looking around the clubroom! I was surprised at this because he had been concentrating very hard up to then, I looked hard at the position and saw what he had obviously seen, that I was busted, and resigned. I can't imagine that I was the only early conquest he had but I had no idea I was lost until he changed his pose. Maybe there were others who experienced the same.