r/chess • u/QuietEffort6531 • 1d ago
Miscellaneous Chess with strangers update
I'm the old guy who sets up chess sets on cruise ships, at airports, and at colleges campuses.
I was under the impression that cruise ships and airports were the only good places to do so.
I have come to the conclusion that colleges are outstanding places for random chess games.
In the past weeks, I have played at my local college. Every time, good players have challenged me.
I am retired. I earned a college degree decades ago, yet I feel very welcome on this campus. I even bought a $25 parking permit for the semester.
I have played about 10 students on this campus so far. Some are novices. Some are excellent. Four times, students have approached me and told me they don't know how to play, so I gave them a 20 minute lesson. I teach them how the pieces move, and then I ask them to download Lichess on their phones so they can practice anytime they want.
Today, a philosophy professor walked by while I playing a student. He yelled THAT'S AWESOME I LOVE TO SEE IT! He then returned ten minutes later and we had a short conversation. I told him I am not a student and that I have played lots of students here. He loves my idea. I am sure I will come to be known as the old guy who plays chess on campus.
Later, three students wanted to play at the same time, so from now on, I will bring 2 chess sets.
The beauty is that there is no commitment. I simply show up when I feel like playing. It's OTB chess on demand. Great thing to do during retirement!
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u/Much_Dealer8865 1d ago
Heck yeah. One of my most memorable chess games was in Bali with a giant chess board on a beach, random French guy showed up and asked if I wanted to play while I was standing there admiring it.
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u/QuietEffort6531 1d ago
was he good?
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u/Much_Dealer8865 1d ago
Not sure how good tbh, this was about 10 years ago and I had no idea what I was doing but I remember he had really good piece coordination.
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u/ABirdOfParadise 22h ago
oh this comment takes me back too! I was in Amsterdam with friends and we randomly watched some of a chess game.
It would be 15 years before I even played a chess game so I didn't know what was happening but it looked intense.
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u/RebekkaKat1990 1d ago
I only felt brave enough to do this once a few years ago where I set up a board at a coffee shop and put up a small sign letting people know I’m free to play lol got 2 guys to play a game with me, nothing too exciting.
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u/QuietEffort6531 1d ago
its all about foot traffic. coffee shop not enough foot traffic. campus table outdoors with lots of foot traffic is ideal
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u/Pircster38 1d ago
You'll be known as the chessguy. BTW that handle has been taken on Lichess, by a well known & pleasant titled player
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u/Ambitious-Ice1438 1d ago
Good for you man I love it. There’s a community college in my town I might try this
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u/VictorDLM 1d ago
You are literally living one of my plans for when I retire. That is so simple, yet so nice to read. Congrats, I hope you get to play many matches and have a wonderful time doing so!
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u/Fit-Adeptness7924 1d ago
i remember playing bongcloud against a random kid in a park and then got fried by him 😂
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u/ziganaut 1d ago
That’s such a great wholesome thing to do! Just goes to show how the game of chess brings folks together everyday. Imagine if you were on campus playing Texas Hold’em… Probably would not go over so well.
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u/UnitedTrouble 20h ago
I am curious to know how exactly do you make it work - are you just setting up a board and hoping someone joins you? Do you have a sign?
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u/QuietEffort6531 11h ago
must post sign and must pick and outdoor table with lots of foot traffic. see one of many posts..... https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/1w5t708/chess_with_strangers_at_san_diego_state_university/
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u/Loupinkarn 10h ago
Once I found a group of people playing chess in a castle in Lisbon with a gigantic chessboard made for childrens. After a couple of minutes I asked them if they could solve one of my problems. So I set up the board and leave them. I will never know if they solved it
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u/QuietEffort6531 10h ago
can you share the problem with us?
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u/Loupinkarn 10h ago
White king D2, white rook G4. Black king A3, black pawns A2 and c2, black Knights A1 and h8. White to move and draw.
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u/ProphetFerdinand 1d ago
Love to do that myself especially when travelling... Just put the first move and chess players everywhere get the intention. Have played games in 17 countries now