squeeeb

you say "chess" and everyone thinks "nerd." at least in the states they do. that is bullshit and i want to change it somehow. chess is violent. chess is punk rock. chess is artistic. hell, you would think all the emo kids would like it, but most of them are just a bunch of whiny posers anyway.

i don't get people who loudly proclaim chess is for brainy nerds and they would never play it. that means they willingly admit that a bunch of dorks are smarter than they are. how cool is that? if they were so cool, they would play and kick the dork's asses and make them cry and prove thier superiority.

ok, right now, many chess players are a bit nerdy, true, but it doesn't have to be like that. i want to make chess a "Sex, drugs, and rock and roll, and chess" kinda event.

chess doens't have to be stuffy and dull and boring, it's just that way because that is what people expect it to be and that is what people make it. some of the great grand masters, like tal, were drinking, womanizing kinda guys. why can't it be seen as cooler?

what would make chess a cooler activity? what would make young men and women more interested in it?

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Willravel

Chess is punk rock?

Chess is for people who appreciate that the responsibility of the general or field commander cannot be overstated. They understand that strategy can be an incredible skill to have in any situation. They understand the burden of command. It's the original Command and Conquer or Star Craft.

I play often, though I've still not developed the skill I want to have (I want to beat deep blue).

What would make chess cooler? If hollywood stopped pretending they knew what the hell constituted a nerd and what being a nerd means. They're still stuck in 1985 with the breakfast club labels for groups. It's stupid.

Grancey

When I was growing up chess was very popular. My brother would play for hours. Today, however, when my niece and nephew walk in the door with phones at their ears the TV or computer is turned on and the "games" begin within minutes without even a hello. I only see them 5 or 6 weekends a year, so I deal with it. Chess is not fashionable at the moment. Games go through phases so maybe chess will come back. Without the bells and whistles it's going to take a hip character in a mainstream film who plays chess to make it happen.

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Cynthetiq

chess is for nerds??? go to Washington Square park and see how "nerdy" those people are... they'd rock your world in under 5 minutes.

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aberkok

Chess is an intellectual pursuit, not a performance art. Intellectualism is not concerned with style over content... that is the point. You are fighting a losing battle by trying to make it cooler. Go practice some moves instead!

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snowy

I like to play wizard chess in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Additionally, there is a chess event in one of the high-level instances in World of Warcraft.

So I wouldn't say chess is totally out or uncool...perhaps just a bit...underground.

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MexicanOnABike

i played online a few times. the main reason it's not more popular i THINK is because it's a 2 player game. you NEED an opponent as skilled as you or it's very boring. either you beat the other guy or he beats you by a lot. when it's almost equal, it's the best.

But then trying to find someone to play with you at the exact time you want can be hard. playing ps2 is easier.

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QuasiMondo

One word: Battlechess

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Slims

Quasi Mondo you beat me too it!

But chess isn't just a nerd game, though many nerds do embrace it. It is about strategy, conquest, and territory: just like football.

Now, if you want to make your average joe's eyes really glaze over, break out a Go board.

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tenniels

I don't know how to play chess, but I don't believe it is for "nerds", whatever that label means anyways. I think it's a game of intelligence and I can appreciate that. No one has ever taught me to play, so I guess that's my excuse. But if you like to play chess, rock it out and if someone thinks that makes you nerdy, rock that out too!

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Infinite_Loser

Erm... Who cares what other people think about chess? I play it because it's fun, not because of what other people think about it.

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The_Dunedan

In Prague, Chess and Go are popular games in most pubs. Walk into a Hospoda away from the tourists, and you'll frequently see at least a couple of games going on. At the hole-in-the-wall speakeasy where I do most of my drinking, the owner is the local Chess/Go king. He regularly whips all comers and loves to teach people new moves (even though he and I communicate mostly by trial and error). He whipped my ass at Go last night through four rounds of vodka.*

Over here, the "nerd" stereotype simply isn't present the way it is in the US. I don't know if it's because they missed that whole 80s-Breakfast Club-not-being-Communist train or what, but it's just not very visible or well known. As a consequence, Chess is seen as just another difficult, fun, time-consuming game to play in parks and pubs. The real fun comes when someones dog runs off with someone else's Bocce/Boules ball...**


*The central hazard to playing board-games in Czech pubs is the aspect of gambling for drinks. This is a good way to get very drunk and lose a fair bit of cash in short order.
**Seen this happen in parks -and- pubs. A German Shepherd even stole a hockey puck inside my neighborhood pub a few weeks ago; someone had brought a souvenir puck from this year's Nat'l Championships and they dropped it on the floor...th dog was faster than the dropper, unfortunately. Took potato-chips to get the puck back, too, Elisku liked that thing!

eribrav

If you enjoy it, go ahead and play and stop worrying what others think.
When they see how much you enjoy it they might take up an interest themselves, and then you help grow your circle of friends and players.
Don't worry about what's "cool"; too many people shuffle along in a meaningless meandering between what was cool yesterday, and what they think will be cool tomorrow.

squeeeb

it's not that i'm worried what people think of me. it bums me out what people think of chess (i'm talking most people in the states). i love chess, the game, the culture, the history of it all. i guess i just want others to share the same passion, or at least a small degree of it....

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Siege

Try playing doubles chess. It's fun, fast paced and involves 4 players.

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Ch'i

I'd also recommend triple baseball.

warrrreagl

I don't know anyone who plays chess that gives two rat fucks about its perceived image or what people will think of them for playing it. Are there really people out there who would flock to chess if it had a better image?

Are they more interested in doing what they like or doing what appears cool?

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xepherys

Squeeb, it seems your mission is counterproductive. From a realistic standpoint, you'd end up with a huge "poser" population playing, which would just water down the game. Secondly, you'd end up having chess off-shoots. Chess monopoly. How big is my Chess(t) tee shirts. Chess Master gameshows (that don't resemble chess). No, keeping chess right where it is is perfect.

By the way, I'm a geek, and I'm glad chess is mostly for geeks and nerds. There's a reason behind that. Strategy and logic are the domain of your typical geek.

Also, some of you need to brush up on your culture lingo. Geeks and nerds are not interchangeable.

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roachboy

ways to change the image of chess:

you definitely need to tamper with scale



here are some other helpful suggestions:

1. play while wearing gas masks.



the more insectoid the better.


2. play while seated in separate bathyspheres.



you can relay your moves via telephone to your seconds.

3. organize huge group chess matches as in the prisoner or through the looking glass




3. play secret chess from remote locations by walkie talkie



while pretending to be otherwise involved in Espionage.



4. only play chess in the company of your private crew



5. invent your own chess playing machine



6. you could play beer chess

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World's King

Cheerleaders?

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Sion

strip chess

chess, the drinking game

lose a piece, get punched in the face


these things would make chess more popular

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FoolThemAll

So we'll then have millions playing chess in the same 'rebellious' way and complementing each other on their resistance to conformity?

Yay.

< /potshot >

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Baraka_Guru

I'm afraid chess is in the same category with reading: timeless, engaging, and rewarding, yet only truly appreciated by those who know better.

Chess might be cool again sometime--maybe even reading, too--but there is no point giving chess a gimmick. If it's not broke, don't fix it. Seriously, it's been hundreds of years in the making.

Let the plebs have their bread and circuses.

[/condescension]

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rlbond86

Chess is difficult to pick up, for one. It's an abstract strategy game, which is a turn-off for lots of people. Chess has no luck at all, which can make for a more pure game but does take away excitement (compare a blackjack table to a craps table for example, craps is all luck and look how rowdy it is!)
I just think it's too complex for most people. It's not complicated, but very complex.

BadNick

I don't buy the nerd only theory. I think it just seems that way if you don't look around. For example, here in Philadelphia as in many other major cities, most of the public schools (and in Philly most of these schools are generally considerd the antithesis of education) along with many other local schools of course, are very active in chess. There are many stories of inner city kids who had otherwise been failing or lagging in school, then getting involved in chess and doing great with it; e.g., a young kid can barely read, write, and do arithmetic but he excells in chess. In addition to schools, many inner city playgrounds have local teams of kids who compete with kids from other neighborhoods. This level of chess is quite alive around here. In the city it's easy to focus only on the gangs, guns, drugs, violence, killing but there positive things going on, too, and chess is a big one.

squeeeb

i don't want a gimmick or hook. i want chess to be truly appreciated and enjoyed by more. it would be cool, to me, if in highschool, the captain of the chess team got the chicks and was the bad ass mofo while the captain of the football team was just a regular guy (yes, gross stereotypicalization and all that, i know, i'm just trying to explain)... i don't want posers, i want genuine interest. IF chess were seen as "cooler" then more kids would be drawn to it, boys and girls, and those kids would grow up to be adults who encouraged other kids to play, and it would be a cool thing.

ultimately, it's a game, no more. a fun way to fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way. sure it builds logical thinking and there are lots of benefits to it all, but really, i wish it was more prevalent in the states, not just in the larger cities like new york, dc, philly, san fransisco, etc....

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bazkitcase5

these were some interesting points, most of which I agree with, that i enjoyed reading

but as usual, my curiosity is making me wonder what some of you think about checkers, both in relation to chess and in general - seeing how its out of place here, I will start a separate thread

Journeyman

It's worth noting that Guy Ritchie played a lot of chess on his movie sets. The same Guy Ritchie who brought us Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and Revolver (which features chess as a theme, but not in what anyone could consider a "nerdy" way).

longbough

How about the limited edition Aliens chess set?




I thought it was the coolest thing and bought one ... then I realized it still spelled "geek."
In fact "The 40 year old Virgin" came to mind.

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BadNick

To diverge only slightly from the intended course, and I hope not too off topic: many years ago I remember trying to play "3-D" chess ...this is three boards each stacked on top of the other, and of course the normal players can move their normal moves in each plane, but also up and down across the planes, etc. I could never get my mind around it.

I was first exposed to chess by my father who was a very good player; he and I played quite often starting when I was about 7 or 8yo. I play with my sons, especially my younger one who seems more interested in it, he's 11yo. So all "good dads" go play with your sons.

analog

I used to play chess with my grandfather on occasion. He's the one who taught me how to play. I can still play, but I never got all that great at it... i just never had the time to learn movement patterns and such... I mean, there are people who play an entire game as patterns of movement, not single movements, and I just never got there.

Telluride

Anything intellectual seems to automatically get the stigma of being "nerdy". I love to play chess and even *I* acknowledge that it's "nerdy" to a lot of people, which is fine with me. So are things like anime, sci-fi/fantasy movies and books...all of which I generally enjoy. I don't care enough about the opinions of others to consider changing my hobbies.

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Nimetic

Probably... if chess players destroyed hotel rooms. If chess players played well on dope. If chess players had sex with stacks of women... and leaked the videos to the web.

Those would all help change the perception. So yeah, basically the players need to take more drugs and be seen having irresponsible sex. And yeah, maybe a few players should be in shooting incidents (?)

Er... maybe scratch that last suggestion.... No shooting incidents please...

BadNick

I thought "sex sells" ...so all us chess players should start sexing it up.

There are quite a few sexy chess images here, some NSFW:
http://chess.vegard2.no/index2.html

squeeeb

badnick - you win with that link

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BadNick

glad you like it.

It gave me new insight into the term "chess mate". So from now on when I win a game against a female type human (my preference for such purposes) I'll be saying "chess mate" and getting it on! ...or at least that's my fantasy.

Baraka_Guru

It's not all fun and games. You don't want just anyone playing chess because you might get sore losers who have a fit an wreck the board if they're not into it:

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Jetée

psst... Baraka_Guru... your image link didn't work... try tinypic.

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willynilly

Chess bores me. Dominos sucks too. Don't really care for any board games, except maybe trivial pursuit.

Monopoly, 21,
Checkers and chess,
yeah yeah yeah yeah,



One night in Bangkok


THE AMERICAN:

Scene from the music video
Bangkok, Oriental setting
And the city don't know what the city is getting
The creme de la creme of the chess world in a
Show with everything but Yul Brynner

Time flies -- doesn't seem a minute
Since the Tirolean spa had the chess boys in it
All change -- don't you know that when you
Play at this level there's no ordinary venue

It's Iceland -- or the Philippines -- or Hastings -- or --
or this place!

COMPANY:

One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free
You'll find a god in every golden cloister
And if you're lucky then the god's a she
I can feel an angel sliding up to me

THE AMERICAN:

One town's very like another
When your head's down over your pieces, brother

COMPANY:

It's a drag, it's a bore, it's really such a pity
To be looking at the board, not looking at the city

THE AMERICAN:

I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine
Whaddya mean? Ya seen one crowded, polluted, stinking town --

COMPANY:

Tea, girls, warm, sweet
Some are set up in the Somerset Maugham suite

THE AMERICAN:

Get Thai'd! You're talking to a tourist
Whose every move's among the purest
I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine

COMPANY:

One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble
Not much between despair and ecstasy
One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble
Can't be too careful with your company
I can feel the devil walking next to me

THE AMERICAN:

Siam's gonna be the witness
To the ultimate test of cerebral fitness
This grips me more than would a
Muddy old river or reclining Buddha

Scene from the music video
And thank God I'm only watching the game -- controlling it --

I don't see you guys rating
The kind of mate I'm contemplating
I'd let you watch, I would invite you
But the queens we use would not excite you

So you better go back to your bars, your temples, your massage
parlours --

COMPANY:

One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free
You'll find a god in every golden cloister
A little flesh, a little history
I can feel an angel sliding up to me

One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble
Not much between despair and ecstasy
One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble
Can't be too careful with your company
I can feel the devil walking next to me

KungFuGuy

this is hilarious! most of those guys look like they are borderline homeless.

Chess is easy, playing chess well is HARD!!! That's why it's never really quite gone mainstream with the proles Same with GO, although GO has gained some popularity because the rules are simpler with strategies being extremely deep.

I'm okay with chess being where it is. It's stood up to the test of time and I'm confident that it will continue to do so. The sort of people that consider chess for "nerds" are the sort of people with whom I don't care to hang out with.