There 20 chess players sat, boards in front of them in a large square, waiting for their opponent. However, all were waiting for the chance to play the same person.
The opponent was a 30-year-old Kazakhstani international chess grandmaster, Darmen Sadvakasov, who came to AU on Friday to play 20 members of the university's chess club - simultaneously.
Displaying no consistent style, he opened each board differently, sometimes with a queen's or king's pawn and sometimes with a knight. He moved from table to table casually, with one hand in his pocket, making his moves with quick and seemingly haphazard decisiveness.
Born in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, Sadvakasov began learning the game at two-years-old, under instruction from his father. He denied ever being considered a prodigy.
"To be exceptionally good, you have to train long and work hard, and only in that way can you get somewhere," Sadvakasov said.
Half an hour after beginning play, Sadvakasov checkmated the first of 20, and apprehension is visible in the faces of several others.
Kristin Parrotta, a sophomore in the School of Communication, was checkmated fifth, and described the experience as humbling.
"When you know you're going to lose, you make some really rash moves, and you do whatever you can to try to get some pieces to get some leeway," she said. "Everyone knows that they're going to lose to him, so it's just like, 'oh, he's a grand-master.'"
Sadvakasov himself had a somewhat more dramatic perspective on the event. Playing multiple opponents simultaneously reminded him of an action movie showdown, he said.
"Do you remember the movie 'The Matrix?'" Sadvakasov said. "And you remember when the character Neo fought all of the agents? It is a lot like that, you look, see an opening and strike. And like in the movie, Neo fights his rivals and exceeds them."
One spectator, Alex Rose, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he could see Sadvakasov "in the middle of a samurai battle."
Two hours after the games began, Sadvakasov checkmated his last opponent. The score was settled at 19 wins and one draw. After a group photo, each participant received souvenir gifts, including cultural music and books, courtesy of the Kazakhstani Embassy.
The match was sponsored by the International Student and Scholar Services, AU Central Asian Club, AU Chess Club, International Student Leadership Team, with cooperation from the Kazakhstani Embassy.
You can reach this writer at news@theeagleonline.com.
