Almasi, I learned, is a fairly unassuming, smiling, nice guy. Until he wants something. Small aspects of his character showed me why he is such a strong chess player. An example: I introduced him to the Kangaroo TV device. This little television gives its user the opportunity to watch the action on the track, to listen to the radio conversations between the drivers and the cars and to look at the lap statistics, position of the drivers, etc. It also provides the track commentators in both English and the local language.
I saw Almasi using the device and I noticed that the antenna was not extended. I showed him that the antenna could be extended by actually pulling it out like a walkie talkie antenna. "I know," he snapped, then rammed the antenna back in. "It works just as well without."
Far more telling than that about his strength of character and desire to go for the throat of what he wants, was his search for driver autographs.
Almasi and Lewis Hamilton, the F1 Championship Leader:
Friday afternoon, just before the second practice session, the chess master said he would wait in front of the McLaren Mercedes motor home to try to get an autograph from Lewis Hamilton, the leader of the championship, or Fernando Alonso, the second placed driver. I said, "Good luck."
In as gentle a manner as I could, I explained that it was a bad moment since the drivers would go directly from the motor home to the garage, deep in concentration, without stopping. To myself I said he'd never get an autograph at that moment.
In addition to the problem of the drivers' concentration, there was also the problem of having half the television journalists and a crowd of photographers standing around the front of the motor home themselves waiting for a shot of the drivers. No way would a simple autograph hunter get close to the drivers, even if he was a world champion chess player.
I took a walk around the paddock to leave the master to his misery, before working my way back a few minutes later. To my shock I arrived upon the scene just as Lewis Hamilton made his way out of the motor home into the pack outside, and who should I see getting an autograph from the rookie star but the chess player.
The whole operation lasted as long as it takes to perform the opening move of e4 that Almasi is famous for. To my huge regret, it was far too quick an operation for me to lift my camera, focus and shoot a photo.
My own lack of belief in his ability to score an autograph at that moment led me to blow possibly the best shot of the weekend. But I did get a couple of shots of the proud Almasi admiring his catch - both privately and while showing it off to me - of the autograph on Hamilton's own photo in the race program.
It showed the difference between the focus of a world champion on his prey and my own comparatively lackadaisical way of going about my business. I promised I would work harder through the rest of the weekend to not miss a photo opportunity like that.
Zoltan Almasi Meets Bernie Ecclestone:
Following our experience hearing about backgammon and Jean Todt and backgammon and Michael Schumacher, I introduced Almasi to Bernie Ecclestone, the man who plays chess by moving all of the pieces of the paddock - motor homes, team owners and directors and other F1 denizens - who is the big F1 money man promoter. Bernie's wife is Croatian, and I wanted not only to introduce the chess player to Bernie, but to mention that he plays for the Croatian national chess team.
Bernie is very busy and sought after, however, and our meeting lasted only a few seconds. The promoter was surrounded by people wanting to shake his hand and take photos with him in it. The meeting only lasted long enough for Bernie to point out that Almasi would beat him easily in chess, and that he himself was, on the contrary, a backgammon player, not a chess player.
"More backgammon?!" said the Grand Master with some puzzlement as we walked away.
I also introduced Almasi to Zsolt Baumgartner, the Hungarian driver - formerly of F1 and now of Champ Car - and I thought that of all people his fellow Hungarian must play chess.
"No," said Zsolt. "Too slow for me."
