Losing their heads

Chess players tend to fidget while they think. They crack their knuckles, stir their coffee, and bounce their legs. I have watched Boris Gelfand and Daniil Dubov twiddling a captured pawn in their fingers, with notable dexterity, despite being deep in thought. It’s a common tic, so when Sam Sevian reached out to pick up a piece while contemplating the position shown in the first diagram, I presume the motion was entirely unconscious.

But it was odd for several reasons. First, it wasn’t Sam’s move, and the unwritten etiquette is to refrain from fiddling while the opponent is thinking. Stranger still, his outstretched hand didn’t settle on a stray pawn. In fact, he picked up the enemy king, which must have come as a shock to his opponent, since it was still very much alive and soon to capture a pawn on b2.

Fun fact – the pointy bit at the top of the king is called a finial, like the decoration at the end of a curtain pole.