An entrepreneur who appeared on Dragon’s Den this week stumped the internet with the equation branded across his t-shirt.
Take a look here:
David Hawcock, from Bath, already established a legion of fans after being hailed the show’s ‘best ever’ contestant following his pitch of his ‘genius’ invention to the dragons.
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The paper engineer left Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Sara Davies, Touker Suleyman and Steven Bartlett blown away with his ‘entirely unique’ pop-up chess set.
While the dragons raved about his invention, lots of viewers at home scratched their heads after being distracted by his clothing.
People took to Twitter to speculate on the meaning of the equation on his t-shirt, which reads: “1.d4 d5 2.c4.”
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Who would have thought it’d be such a huge talking point?
“Need a translation for his t-shirt please,” one confused viewer tweeted.
“His t-shirt intrigues me,” another Dragon’s Den fan wrote.
A third person penned: “Distracted by trying to crack the code on his t-shirt.”
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While another fan asked Twitter: “Anyone else determined to crack the code of his t-shirt before a Dragon asks?”
Although the equation on David's t-shirt went over the heads of many, others were clued up on the very clever reference.
Let’s just say chess players and fans of The Menu actress Anya Taylor-Joy were a few steps ahead of the pack.
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One Twitter user said: “Paper guy never did explain his t-shirt... Was it fools mate chess moves perhaps??”
Another person used a queen emoji and tweeted: “The pop up board games were just brilliant. Did anyone else get the reference on his T-shirt?”
Someone else wrote: Brilliant guy just got offers from everyone. I was curious about this t-shirt. I found out, and was right. Anybody else see it? I want one!”
And for some viewers, the equation was immediately recognisable. “Is that the Queen's Gambit on his t-shirt?” someone asked.
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In case you’re not well versed on the game of chess, the equation on David's t-shirt are the opening moves for the Queen’s Gambit.
It is one of the oldest openings, originating in the 15th century and is still commonly played today.
The hit Netflix series about chess prodigy Elizabeth Harmon starring Taylor-Joy was named after the iconic chess opening.
At some point, we’ve all had to dress up according to a theme but David totally wins this round.
“The pop-up chess set can open or close in any position,” he explained during his successful pitch. “The unique design of the board makes it impossible to upset any of the pieces.
“These unique selling points make it an ideal travel set, but also, as it folds flat, one that’s easy to store on a bookshelf at home.”
In the end, all of the Dragons apart from Bartlett made an offer with David, but he eventually went with Peter and Touker who both took a 10 percent share and contributed £20,000.
Topics: BBC, TV and Film, Deborah Meaden
Gregory Robinson