Thai Fortuneteller uses Chess to Predict the Future!

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hello everyone,

An interesting chess story from an unlikely place? Decide for yourself after you hear this: Amunnata Lamwanna (Ajarn Nong, by her prophetic name) uses chess to predict the future! Ajarn Nong is a fortuneteller from Thailand. 

After a failed marriage, giving birth to a premature child and being homeless for a while, Amunnata Lamwanna got a job in public relations, working for a famous fortuneteller who thought it would be wise of her to pursue the same career. After studying everything under the stars, she finally became a fortuneteller herself and adopted her current name, Ajarn Nong. The idea of chess prediction came to her when she saw people playing chess in the park. She soon began developing a new method of telling the future that involved the popular strategy board game. 

“I invented a way of fortunetelling using a chessboard set up to show the position of the stars in Thai-style astrology, as well as cards and Feng Shui, in which each star indicates your horoscope. The method was completed in 2010, and the first person I used it on was my husband,” she explains to OddityCentral.com.

Ajarn’s now famous chess fortunetelling sessions cost from B1,000 to B1,500 ($30 to $50). Clients can also opt for a year’s subscription to her enchanted chessboard by paying about $200. 

During a session, they are asked to pick five chess pieces and place them on the board in any way they see fit. Each piece has its own meaning – the pawn is Venus which represents everything feminine, altruistic and open, while the horse is the Earth and represents the deceiving and working man. The King which embodies Jupiter, portrays a person with a cold, calculated and very rational personality while the Queen – Saturn, is all about passion and impulse. 

Although Ajarn doesn’t know the true rules of the game, she observes how her customers move the pieces on the board to determine future events in their lives. Her usual clients include soldiers and law enforcement officers curious to know when they’ll be promoted to higher ranks. 

“Most people who ask for my services are concerned about legal problems, business or want a consultation on a possible job promotion,” she says. Others, such as mothers who want to know about the well-being of their deceased children also come in for psychic chess consultations.

Well, if anyone out there can get her to predict the future World Chess Champions, please do let us know here at Chess Blog. ;)

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal chess blog 
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
YouTube Channel