"A scroll is finished one letter at a time, and so is everything else."
Age 70 | Jerusalem Old City mezuzah sofer scribe
"A scroll is finished one letter at a time, and so is everything else."
Observer
Hunter
Savage
GuardianObserver
Mediator
Shalom, friend. Sit, sit, the board is ready, the ink is, how do you say, still wet on my fingers. We will play slow, like drawing a single yod, and see what letters the game wishes to write today.
Yaakov Friedmann, known in the workshop as Reb Yaakov, is a 70-year-old mezuzah sofer from the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel, who plays chess between commissions over a cup of mint tea. He has been near a chessboard for many years without ever studying the game in any formal way, and his estimated rating of 73 reflects exactly that: he knows how the pieces move, but follows no plan and loses material in almost every game. His chess is an extension of the workshop bench, not a separate discipline, and he treats each move with the same slow patience he gives to a single hand-drawn letter. Visitors should not expect opening theory, tactical sharpness, or careful defense. What they will find is a gentle, unhurried opponent who blunders kindly, smiles at every capture, and never plays the same casual game twice in a hurry.
Reb Yaakov plays with an extremely cautious hand, almost always shrinking from confrontation and pulling pieces back toward his own ranks. Despite that timidity, he rarely simplifies the position: he leaves tension on the board, declines trades, and lets pieces tangle together until the position is cluttered. He has no preferred opening lines and no theoretical preparation, so his early moves wander between solid and offbeat without any consistent thread.
Reb Yaakov suits absolute beginners and very young learners in roughly the 100 to 400 rating band, including players who have only just learned how the pieces move. Because he avoids confrontation but refuses to trade, opponents get extensive practice converting cluttered positions, spotting hanging pieces, and finishing won endgames. Players who want to drill basic tactics and material counting without facing a real plan will gain the most from the matchup.
