Who’s Bad?

He first impressed us by flipping the script on the phrase about Knight placement. He says, “Knights on the rim are grim unless they belong to Jim.”  The 6 Time Louisiana State Champion and National Master James Rousselle, 2301 is a very “Bad” man. James  A.K.A. Jim, is polite, courteous, kind, noble, I mean the guy is a Boyscout complete with bow tie but when he steps into his “pheaux” phone booth on a chess board the “Bad” man emerges. He is Clark Kent in the chess world.

But who is the Baddest? If we’re talking about superheroes that query just isn’t specific enough. It depends on several factors. If by “Bad” you mean fearless then Batman of course. He’s a staunch billionaire whose high intelligence and care for Gotham is paramount to the love a man should have for his family. Now if by “Bad” you mean care for humanity, then of course the son of Jor-El from the planet Krypton is your man. He’s capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound, has x-ray vision, also a mild mannered reporter of the Daily Planet and totally enamored with Lois Lane.

Did I mention he can fly? Oh, and his very name is Superman, a.k.a The Man of Steel. (Why is it that all of the people surrounding him are suddenly unaware of his true identity when he places on a pair of specs?) I digress. But, if by “Bad” you mean the ability to hold your breath under water for hours at a time then the logical choice is Aqua Man, Chris Rock says, “He can talk to the fishes.” However; if by “Bad” you mean wealth/money, influence and power, then the obvious choice is Iron Man; Tony Stark, hence his billionaire, philanthropic, genius status with contracts with every military division the world over. Now Spider Man is inhumanly strong but cant really fly, he reputedly swings from things and allows gravity to do the rest. I believe every man secretly wishes to be a conglomerate of Clark Kent, Tony Stark, Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker. However; in the words of R&B artist Jaheim, “He Don’t Exist.”

Since we’re talking about Bad, we must mention, Thriller the biggest, “Baddest” album of all time but then there’s Off The Wall, Invincible and Michael has released two more albums post modem. That’s pretty amazing. When Michael introduced us to Wesley Snipes in the Bad music video, my thought “Mike’s about to get his butt kicked. Wesley has a black belt in several disciplines like The Dark Knight. But to our surprise on the Bad World Tour Mike sold 4.4 Million tickets, has 15 #1 hits and remains #1 as the most purchased non-living artist surpassing even Elvis, has more Grammy Awards and is heralded as The King of Pop. So, yup, Mike is “Bad.”

Ali in a speech before the press right before the Foreman Fight in Kensasha Zaiere said, “I’m a bad man fast too.”

“The Rumble in The Jungle” was epic, the #1 contender, Ali came up with his now famous, Rope-a-Dope” and defeated George Foreman on October 30, 1974 in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo).

There are three more very “Bad” brothers we need make mention of, Master Jeff De Jesus, 2352, Candidate Master Bo Githoro, 2165 and up and coming, soon to be Expert Adrian Patterson. These guys are so “Bad” on a chess board until people come from miles around just to play against them, be defeated by them and learn from that beating.

But what is “Bad” is never, ever losing “Knock on wood.” In 12 years of existence, The Knights have won 1st place in at least one category, 1st place team and in many tournaments 1st place in every category.  The Chess Academy is, “Bad.” To quote another “bad” man, Muhammad Ali, The Chess Academy is so bad, “When they turn out the lights, they’re in the bed before the room is dark. Wrestling alligators, tussled with whales, handcuff lighting, threw thunder in jail. Just last “knight” they murdered a rock, ingured a stone and hospitalized a brick. They’re so mean they make medicine sick.”

At the National Master James Rousselle Invitational Tournament, the Knights won 1st Place in the Advanced Division with Adrian Patterson besting  all by going 3.0 and 1st Place in the Intermediate Division with Aaron Lazo, also undefeated, 3.0. With an “Eeeeh-heee” and an “Ohhhh” in the voice of super entertainer Michael Jackson, the Dark Knight asks, “Who’s Bad?!”