NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/rec/games/chess/11903

Text File | 1992-12-22 | 1.8 KB | 40 lines

Newsgroups: rec.games.chess
Path: sparky!uunet!spool.mu.edu!umn.edu!csus.edu!netcom.com!hcb
From: [e-mail] (H. C. Bowman)
Subject: Chess' cultural baggage...
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Organization: Box of Rain Productions
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 16:55:00 GMT
Lines: 30


Hullo--

I've read with interest the recent postings regarding the psychology of
chess players.  While I must confess that this business about anti-social,
sexually-frustrated chess-nerds strikes me as lame flame bait, I am very
interested in the social baggage that burdens chess so heavily.  As a new
player, I am continually frustrated (there's that word again...) at not
being able to find "friendly" games to sharpen my skills.  If I were a
neophyte bowler, bridge player, or backgammon nut, I could probably talk
most of my friends into "giving it a go" for the simple pleasure of trying
something new.  But chess is different: one's ability to play chess seems
inexorably linked to one's intelligence, and people seem afraid to try
chess because failure would imply some sort of general mental deficiency.
Furthermore, people do not seem to view chess as a game simply to win or
lose...  While one might lose a bout of backgammon with a light heart,
a horrible shame seems to be the penalty for being DEFEATED in a round
of chess.

I wonder what everyone thinks of my observations.  Am I misreading people's
reluctance to play?  Sometimes I think I'm being hypersensitive or paranoid
because to me success in chess has almost nothing to do with those mental
powers I associate with "intelligence."

--Cliff

--
| Cliff Bowman     |[phone] Voice | As of 1 December, 1992, I was |
| Electronics Wonk |[phone] Pager | approximately $1,017,077 shy  |
| Innovation Ind.  |[phone] Fax   | of being a millionare.        |