Chess became a recent obsession of mine. I fell ill sometime last year and picked it up while I quarantined in my studio- I got pretty good too. Learned some of the basic openings and familiarized myself with some of the top dawgs in the sport such as Magnus Carlsen. I knew I was getting good when

my brother-in-law came to visit back in October of 2025 and after winning he said I was the first person to (maybe ever) beat him in a game of chess. Fast forward to a residency in June 2026 I participated in at The Swimming Hole where I met Saif Bajnaid. He was helping me settle in when I noticed a little set of blocks on an end table that made me think of the game. I asked him about it with him saying, “Oh yeah- I play! I’ve been moving the blocks around as if I’d been playing against myself.” Later that evening he and I tried to see the stars since we were quite far from large towns, but the clouds were covering the sky. We stayed out there watching the fireflies and he told me about his work and this chess set he designed based on sculptures in Jeddah.

Now ain’t that one of the funkiest chess boards you’ve ever seen? I love it. Hopefully someday I get to play on his board.