The back of his head. That's all Ben was able to see.
Campus was closed for winter recess. Marat stayed the week as a guest at the New Haven, Indiana, home of teammate Alex Close. Ben, Alex's younger brother, set up the chess board. Marat called out his moves. Ben placed Marat's pieces where he was told. Ben moved his pieces, called out his positions to Marat, who continued to look away. Really, it was over before it started.
"Marat beat my brother without looking at the board once," Close, a senior on Purdue's swim team, remembers. "I'd like to say it was only my brother but, eventually, me and my dad were in there trying to help. So it was a team effort going against him and he whooped us."
Another contest for Marat Amaltdinov where the opponents only saw the back of his head.
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