Polish chess player Pawel Teclaf becomes overnight sensation, but not for chess, for falling off chair

The comical clip has become the highlight of the tournament for many viewers, although the 18-year-old said he had not foreseen this eventful end to his challenge.

In a dramatic endgame, Polish chess player Pawel Teclaf, 18, furious after making a losing move in chess, fell off a chair. He blundered in a World Blitz Championship match against Tigran Petrosian, 37 from Armenia.  

Playful Pole Teclaf was engaged in a rapid battle of brains at the FIDE World Blitz Championship in Warsaw when he blundered towards the end, reacting to his loss by tottering backwards and crashing to the floor. The hilarious clip shows Teclaf throwing himself back in his chair and tumbling onto the ground. He gets up straight away and offers a handshake to his opponent.

The comical clip has become the highlight of the tournament for many viewers, although the 18-year-old said he had not envisaged the eventful end to his challenge. “I just lost balance, kind of, and fell down,” Teclaf confessed to FIDE, having been offered a hand by his Armenian opponent as he collapsed.

“He tried to help to bring me up and give me a hand, but I was fallen. I was very angry but when I look at the video, it was funny,” Teclaf further said.

“In the morning, I was in the elevator and a person was staring at her phone and then at me. She was kind of smirking. Then when I got to my room, I opened WhatsApp and saw plenty of links. Then I realized I am getting popular.”

“Normally I wouldn’t behave like that but it was just – it wasn’t planned but I just folded back on the chair and fell. I stood up and shook his hand; I didn’t scatter the pieces,” Teclaf said.

The clip, which has gone viral, was shared to YouTube channel SpeedChess where it has had more than 30,000 views. It has attracted 702 comments, some remarking on the fact that Teclaf could potentially have been injured in a sport not known for its physicality.