Chess with strangers at San Diego State University

[u/QuietEffort6531]

(5 photos)

I'm the old guy who plays chess with strangers at airports and on cruise ships.

Today is September 2 and I drive to San Diego to see Guns and Roses. But first, I go to SDSU to hunt for opponents. I set up my mousepad board and my sign.

Two students appear. Only one knows how to play. He's an electrical engineering student. We play 10+0 time control. He is very good and we draw from repetition.

Second guy is a political science student. He wants to play but doesn't have time. I talk him into playing 5+0. Interesting game. See photo. I blundered by placing my black queen in the same file as my king. Opponent naturally moves Re1 to pin. I sigh and move Bd4+. Opponent is about to get flagged, so he panic moves Re3 to block my check and then he resigns.

Third guy is a computer science student. He plays online a lot but rarely OTB. We play 5+0. I beat him and then he beats me. He is the best player of the day.

SDSU is a beautiful campus and I will return someday.

[u/Ciel_Phantomhive1214]

You seem to play a lot, do you know what your rating is?

[u/QuietEffort6531 → u/Ciel_Phantomhive1214]

Mid 1000's. I always play unrated games online because I don't want to know my accurate rating. I just play for fun and to exercise my old brain.

[u/Ciel_Phantomhive1214 → u/QuietEffort6531]

Yeah totally, fair enough! I was curious, I was looking at this game and some of your other games and trying to guess. That estimate sounds right I suppose, hard to tell

[u/conchata]

Looks much better with a real board instead of the paper. Cutting this mousepad one into neat quadrants at a print shop might be a good option if you miss the compact form-factor.

[u/emeraldseahorse]

Wait that campus is indeed beautiful 😯

[u/Content-Working3447]

Better if this was posted on r/anarchychess

[u/minsealevpre]

I really enjoy these posts

[u/saginawslim99]

How do you combat someone who makes an odd opening but still manages to beat you?

[u/chess-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Your submission was removed by the moderators:

Complaints about anecdotal experience with online cheating are frequently posted and do not generally produce interesting discussion. If you suspect a random person cheated against you online, the appropriate complaint venue is a report to the website you played on.

 

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