On Monday night, hip-hop legend GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan brought his top-tier rhymes to Nashville's City Winery. But a couple hours before that, the legend known as The Genius stopped in at acclaimed Wedgewood-Houston bar and fine-dining establishment Bastion to show off one of his other talents — playing speed chess.
Last week, GZA sent out an invite to all those interested in taking him on in speed chess, also known as blitz chess. This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise — the rapper has a record called Grandmasters, after all, and is a noted aficionado of the game.
Among the rapper's Nashvillian challengers on Monday night: 10-year-old Kyan Washington, a student at Nashville Chess Center who's been participating in tournaments for the past three years. Photographer and sometime Scene contributor Ray Di Pietro was present for the GZA-Washington match, which the fourth-grader won.
“When you stood up, was that the moment when you knew you were going to win the match?” Ray asked Washington.
“Yes!” the 10-year-old responded.
"When he stands up, that’s his beast mode," Washington's mother Bonita added.
Ray notes that Washington beat GZA twice, but the legendary rapper won the majority of his matches.
