of all the kick ass things that happened at the world open in philly, one of the all time best thing, the event that made it all end on such a good note and left a happy feeling lingering inside me, was my interview with the dreamy Elizabeth Vicary, who was cool and kind enough to let me talk to her. turns out not all high rated pretty chess playing women from new york are stuck up….

chess loser: first question, thong or regular panties?

Elizabeth Vicary: it depends on what i’m going to wear.

cl: when did you start playing chess?

EV: two times. the first when i was 11 years old, then on and off, and then, i started in 2005 with gusto.

cl: what is your favorite game, the one you would want everyone to see?

EV: Baginskaite - Vicary 2007 us womens championship. it was a bogo-indian. it’s on chessgames.com. i won a brilliancy prize for it.

cl: what would you do without chess?

EV: sit at home drinking white wine, maybe watching tv. i don’t know what people who don’t play chess do.

cl: does anyone remark on your cool accent?

EV: (rolls her eyes and sighs) yeah…. (gives the look of someone who is on fire and has to deal with people asking them if they know they are on fire)

cl: are crazy people attracted to chess, or does chess make people crazy?

EV: both i think. i don’t know, i’d rather meet crazy people than boring people. at least crazy people are interesting.

cl: how long can you hold your breath?

EV: i don’t know. (so i timed her, she got ready, i said “go” she sat there holding her breath. came out to 1 minute 8 seconds.)

so this was by far one of the most fun interviews i’ve ever done. liz vicary is a genuinely cool, nice person, really smart, a bit off center, has a great sense of humor and timing, and is quite dreamy. i feel truly no kidding honored that i got to meet her and ask her my stupid ass questions and she indulged me.

You can do worse. I've seen some players fianchetto rooks.