Tomás Ó Direáin

Ah, you're welcome at the wall, sure. Sit yourself down now, the needles are warm and the board's set out like a half-knit row. We'll go stitch by stitch, wan, two, three, and see what cable comes of it. Patience now, patience entirely.

Tomás Ó Direáin is a 70-year-old báinín cable-knit stitch counter from Inis Mór in the Aran Islands of Ireland, who learned the game decades ago from a passing schoolmaster and has played it casually ever since without ever sitting down to study a book. At an estimated 203 Elo he is an absolute beginner over the board, knowing the rules and the basic captures but hanging pieces and missing simple threats every few moves, the way a tired knitter drops a stitch near the end of a long row. He treats chess the way he treats his wool, one careful stitch at a time, counting under his breath and never rushing the pattern. Players who sit down across from him should expect a quiet, unhurried opponent who blunders gently and accepts every loss with a soft remark about frogging the row back.