Josh Friedel looks at the chessboard, his eyes revealing his laser focus.
He studies the board and its many pieces for 10 seconds, makes his move, and then it's on to the next board.
He's there another 10 or so seconds before making another move and turning to yet another board.
The sequence repeats again and again as Friedel simultaneously plays about 30 chess games, each against a different opponent.
Friedel, a chess grandmaster who won the 2013 U.S. Open Chess Championship, often takes part in such 'simultaneous exhibition' chess events, called 'simuls' for short. He serves as the expert player and takes on as many opponents as show up. He was the expert player for a Dec. 10 simul held by the Waukesha Chess Club at the Eagles Club, 709 N. Grandview Blvd.
Challenging the master
The Waukesha Chess Club has been holding simuls for about three years, said club President Jim Nickell.
'It's the novelty of it — that one person can be strong enough to challenge 30 people and win,' explained Nickell, a retired 76-year-old of Waukesha.
The club's simuls last about three hours and are open to anyone. The first 30 players who want to face the expert pay $10 for the opportunity; additional players must pay $15, Nickell said.
'Most people who play (chess) will never meet, let alone play with, a grandmaster,' he said. 'So, for $10, now they get to see how it feels.'
Attendees find a slew of chessboards set up in a horseshoe. Participants sit along the outside while the expert chess player walks from board to board inside, Nickell said.
'I'm just walking around in circles basically,' said Friedel, 28, of Brookfield.
Keeping a clear head
Friedel doesn't do much to prepare for simuls, he said.
'The more special strategizing you do, generally the worse you do,' he said.
His only strategy is to think clearly and take every game seriously, even those against beginners.
'Each board is the whole focus of my existence (when I'm at it),' he said.
Many people think the expert at a simul has to possess a photographic memory, so he can log away future moves and the positions of pieces for every single chess game. But that's just not the case, Friedel said.
'There's a rumor that we just remember all the games, which is completely untrue. We're not machines,' he said. 'I'm mostly operating on a little bit of memory and then looking at the positions and taking the first move that looks good to me.'
That usually takes him 10 seconds, though once in a while Friedel will take 30 to 60 seconds to make a move, he said.
In most of his simuls, Friedel wins all of the chess games. If there are a lot of strong players, he may have a few draws, he said.
From age 3 onward
Friedel has spent years honing his chess skills. He learned to play at age 3 and entered his first tournament around age 7, he said.
'I got hooked on it very early,' he said. 'I just find it fascinating: the moves, looking over games. There's always things I'm learning all the time.'
The Waukesha Chess Club meets every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Eagles Club, 709 N. Grandview Blvd. in Waukesha. All ages and skill levels are welcome.