And Chess is supposed to be the most Intellegent of all games out there....

[Hon'ya-chan]

I have no clue why, but i've gotten some very odd requests for Chess Boards. Again, why people think "Book Store" = "Toy Store" is beyond me.

Anyway, today's request was a real winner.

Guy: "You guys don't sell Chess Boards."
Me: "We don't sell them."
Guy: "Do you know who would sell them?"
Me: "Don't know."
Guy: "Anyone?"
Me: (Resisting urge to send him to some out of the way place that would sound plausible) "Don't know."
Guy: "Someone should open a game store."
Me: (Too bad Business Loans are hard to get right now dickwad.) *Blind stare with nod*

[mharbourgirl]

Because in pretty much every movie with an 'evil villain', or movies on Masterpiece Theatre, there is always a library in the mansion and that library always, ALWAYS has a chess board in one corner. Sometimes the villain even plays a few moves with the hero just to add 'class' to the stale plot. Or movies set in New York City that always seem to include a scene with two guys playing chess in the park and discussing some abstract philosophical/scientific idea. Chess is synonymous in our culture with intellectual pursuits, and so is reading, so the two have become linked in the public consciousness.

See? Not so strange if you really think about it.

[Mark Healey]

Oh, the chess customers. I've found them to be evenly divided between the people you would expect, and people who are just above homelessness. The second group is more interesting. I have the impression that they assumed that since "smart people play chess" playing chess will make them smart. This is true to a certain degree when it is done in early childhood, but an adult taking it up will not get any cognitive benefits.

There is also the historical social coding. Back in the day, being good at chess meant you had lots of free time to master it, which only the wealthy had. Now all it means is that you can't afford a computer or game console.

[BlaqueKatt]

Now all it means is that you can't afford a computer or game console.

hey I play chess on/against my computer......

[StanFlouride]

Back in the day, being good at chess meant you had lots of free time to master it, which only the wealthy had.

Or that you had spent considerable time in prison.

[fireheart]

hey I play chess on/against my computer......

So do I. I used to play when I was in primary school (elementary school for the US people) but now that I'm in uni...I've lost my touch

[stucksb]

Definite suck points for expecting you to be the directory of Chess board sellers.
However, just about every chain bookstore I go to now has a game section and chessboards and poker sets are usually fairly prominent.

[Gravekeeper]

Definite suck points for expecting you to be the directory of Chess board sellers.
However, just about every chain bookstore I go to now has a game section and chessboards and poker sets are usually fairly prominent.

That's fairly true, honestly. Its harder for me to name a bookstore around Vancouver that doesn't carry some sort of game sets. Next time tell them to try Vancouver. =p

[Jester]

Back in the day, being good at chess meant you had lots of free time to master it, which only the wealthy had. Now all it means is that you can't afford a computer or game console.

Well, also that you have lots of free time to master it. Which, lets face it, the homeless do.

[Hon'ya-chan]

That's fairly true, honestly. Its harder for me to name a bookstore around Vancouver that doesn't carry some sort of game sets. Next time tell them to try Vancouver. =p

But I don't wanna anger my fellow Retail Brethren in BC.

[LillFilly]

Oh. Idea. Find a prison with a working inmate program. Teach them how to shape rocks. Then have them carve the pieces and you can sell your very-own authentic hand-crafted in the USA chess sets, $89.99 plus tax!

I don't know, Shashank Redemption just came to mind.

Heh. Rock hammer.

[wagegoth]

Most chess sets now seem to be sold nowadays for ornament. I think that most people don't play anymore. I learned to play when I was twelve, but that's not early enough. I learned to play poker at age seven; I'm much better at poker.

[bunnyboy]

YOu think Chess is a "smart strategists game" try Shogi....muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch harder, since you have to keep track of not only what moves an opponent is using, but also other things like, what has he captured, and how to set up a check with a Gold a Bishop, and a lancer (much different pieces, only 1 bishop and one rook... yeah, different but more complex)

[LibraryLady]

Slightly OT but relevant in a way.

A few years ago there was an older man who would camp out at a window table in the book store Cafe. He always had a chess board in front of him and a hand-lettered sign in the window. The sign read,

"I give chess lessons. Harry Potter plays chess."

Of course, he didn't mention that Harry didn't play chess very well.

[cslater]

Great book about a chess prodigy: Queen's Gambit, by Walter Tevis, who was also the author of The Hustler (later a film with Paul Newman).