GM Levon Aronian is not only one of the best chess players in the world, but one of the nicest ones too. No matter good or bad things are going at the chessboard, he always has a smile on his face and a cheery disposition. He’s also known for being a sharp dresser, especially his bright and colorful shirts!

On day 3 at The American Cup, he lost with the white pieces to GM Leinier Dominguez in game 1 of his Championship Bracket match and so today (day 4), he needs to win with the black pieces to take the match to a playoff. Of course with this format, the bright side is that even if he doesn’t get a result, he’ll head to the Elimination Bracket and still retain chances to win the event.

A couple of minutes into the start of his game, he was in the Boardroom, an area where the Saint Louis Chess Club provides the players with a veritable feast of delicious snacks and drinks to see them through the day. When players enter this area, one of the arbiters usually follows, and in this case it was me.

Looking at me seriously, Levon whispers “what is the difference between the regular salmon rolls and the spicy salmon rolls?” Thinking this was a serious question (I should have known better), I responded “the spicy ones are spicy?”

“No” says Levon, “the spicy salmon rolls are older.” A rue smile then crosses his face as he continues with the punchline, “yesterday we had salmon rolls, today we have spicy salmon rolls!” and he chuckles as he heads back into the main playing hall.

Ugh… got me!