War of chess words between Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Donald Trump

Abdul-Jabbar tangles with Trump: Who’s got game?
By Lisa Suhay
Christian Science Monitor

Donald Trump reacts to a newspaper opinion piece by former basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who replies with a chess analogy.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s scathing response to criticisms by basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has set pundits and strategists back on their heels wondering if anyone can checkmate him in the polls.

Mr. Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, former cultural ambassador for the United States, chess aficionado, and author, penned a criticism of Mr. Trump’s lack of “grace under pressure” in The Washington Post.

In the op-ed, Abdul-Jabbar posited that “how each man responded [to pressure] revealed the type of person he is and the type of president he would make.”

The conclusion he reached is that Bernie Sanders “opened immense new possibilities as a compassionate person and serious candidate for president,” while Mr. Trump, “authored his own doom.”

In a hand-written note over a copy of Abdul-Jabbar’s piece, Trump stated, “Kareem – Now I know why the press always treated you so badly – they couldn’t stand you. The fact is that you don’t have a clue about life and what has to be done to make America great again!”

Abdul-Jabbar responded to the Monitor in an email Friday, likening Trump to a trash-talking chess player with no game.

“Trump is that chess player who likes to make every move with an aggressive slam of his piece on the board while shouting, ‘Bam!’ This will intimidate the novice and rattle his game,” Abdul-Jabbar says. “But it’s ineffective against the more experienced player who welcomes such players because they are usually weak on strategy and therefore easily defeated. It’s the same in basketball. The guy trash-talking all the time is usually the most insecure about his abilities.”

Full article here.