Scowling, banging pieces, wild expressions: In chess, being stoic is art form but emotional players add to its theatre
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As a dense fog of complexity envelops the board during the Candidates game between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Hikaru Nakamura, the faces of the two men in charge of marshalling the 24 wooden pieces betray their inner thoughts.Here’s Ian Nepomniachtchi, planting his palm on the side of his face, seemingly struck by how he’s allowed the game to get so complicated. He mutters to himself. Scowls at his pieces. He wears the desperation of a man sitting on a ticking explosive trying to guess which wire to disconnect. He looks skywards, as if beseeching Caissa, the goddess of chess, for inspiration. He plants both palms on his temple as if trying to block his thoughts from leaking out. He lowers his head to stare at the board from a different angle, hoping for a fresh perspective. Now, he bu...