General Do you enjoy playing Chess?

Yes

To clarify, I don't play with overly much "strategy" or anything. Usually just with my wife playing "casually".
 
Last edited:

James Stevenson

Steamflogger Boss
Staff member
Yes! But I often find, in the mid-game, that I don't really know what to do. I see a bunch of meh moves, I don't have a particular strategy, and I can't decide anything because it all seems arbitrary. I don't like that, but it's a situation I could learn to deal with.
I played chess a couple times with a guy at work who is really into it. That was fun, because any time I didn't know what I should be trying to do, I could ask him, "what should I be thinking about now?" But then we all went home and I didn't see him for like a year.
We played on a chess board, and he was so used to playing online that he had to stand up and look straight down in order to see what was going on.
 
I like chess when I'm evenly matched with my opponent. If there's any imbalance, it quickly becomes anti-fun, regardless of the direction of imbalance. If the outcome is deterministic, it's a slot machine, not a game.

James' situation with his chess fanatic friend sounds fun to me, though, but I think that I'd enjoy the learning/teaching aspect of it in spite of the game, not because of the game--that is, the learning/teaching experience would be fun regardless of the subject matter so long as it interests both people.
 
I was in the Chess Club in middle school, so yeah, but I've never played against someone who really knows what they're doing.

Now let me ask you a question - Do you like poker?
 
I do, but it's like League of Legends to me -- not worth really attempting much unless you put in the work to understand the patterns of play and the metagame. I don't need to be successful to enjoy a game, but I want to be playing the same game as other serious players! Both games are relatively simple on their front end but really do ask you to dedicate ~500 to "start", which is great imo, but I only have so much room in my life for games and I don't find chess (and certainly not LoL) compelling or satisfying enough minute-to-minute to invest in.
 
Although it is quite a nice game, it lacks some randomness. You could add knighmare chess, but regular is a bit too boring. That is why magic is great. It has a randomness and hidden information element.
 
Chess is great when you don’t play to win (so, when you and your opponent both aren’t that good). When it becomes too strategic it becomes less fun, also because it’s a perfect information game with a predetermined set of rules, so by Zermelo’s theorem (1913) there exists an optimal strategy (but nobody knows what that strategy is). So yeah I prefer games with hidden information, like Magic or other card games…

Not really. I like more "gamey" card games like Canasta and Hearts though.

Yeah these are the best. I don’t know Canasta and Hearts specifically, but in my country there are a lot of those games, the most popular are: Briscola, Burraco, Machiavelli and Trisac. Here everybody knows the rules, they are one of the favourite hobbies of elderly people, so it’s very easy to find someone to play with. My grandma has a weekly playgroup for these games ;)
 
Yeah these are the best. I don’t know Canasta and Hearts specifically, but in my country there are a lot of those games, the most popular are: Briscola, Burraco, Machiavelli and Trisac. Here everybody knows the rules, they are one of the favourite hobbies of elderly people, so it’s very easy to find someone to play with. My grandma has a weekly playgroup for these games ;)
Italy?

I played Buraco with my grandparents as a kid in Brazil. Had no idea where else it was played, and I'm surprised the name is the same. It means "hole" in portuguese, which is the discard pile.

I played chess very few times, though I watch videos sometimes because I find them interesting from a game design perspective. It's such a "loser's game" - not in the sense the people who play it are losers! - but in the sense that there are lots of terrible plays you can make and I feel like I'm navigating around a minefield when I play. Maybe Magic is the same, but my experience with it clouds my comparison.
 
I adore chess. I watch it frequently and understand it quite well.

I do not like to play chess. Top level chess is about memorizing super computer lines as far as you can and then beginning to play the game once it's gone outside your preparation. Which is impressive as hell, but it's not the kind of thing I'm interested in doing.
 
Italy?

I played Buraco with my grandparents as a kid in Brazil. Had no idea where else it was played, and I'm surprised the name is the same. It means "hole" in portuguese, which is the discard pile.

Yeah, Italy!

I think the origin of Burraco is south American, but I don't know exactly the history of the game

I played chess very few times, though I watch videos sometimes because I find them interesting from a game design perspective. It's such a "loser's game" - not in the sense the people who play it are losers! - but in the sense that there are lots of terrible plays you can make and I feel like I'm navigating around a minefield when I play. Maybe Magic is the same, but my experience with it clouds my comparison.

I have a similar thought, in my opinion in Magic it's easier to see the "best" lines, or at least to avoid very bad plays. But maybe it's just because I played a lot more Magic than Chess in my life
 
You would think chessis something i'd enjoy but i every time play i just feel plain stupid, i think i just lack the patience /concetration/ skill/intelligence required.

Sadly the same problem i 've got with RTS games



Also @alvoi not mentioning of Scopa is outrageous
 
I tend to get bored halfway through a match and start punting. Then again, I was something like 12-13 the last time I played, so...

I'm more of a cribbage/gin player anyway.
 

landofMordor

Administrator
I like chess when I'm evenly matched with my opponent. If there's any imbalance, it quickly becomes anti-fun, regardless of the direction of imbalance. If the outcome is deterministic, it's a slot machine, not a game.

James' situation with his chess fanatic friend sounds fun to me, though, but I think that I'd enjoy the learning/teaching aspect of it in spite of the game, not because of the game--that is, the learning/teaching experience would be fun regardless of the subject matter so long as it interests both people.
I like this idea of a slot machine. It reminds me of Maro's "What is a game?" episode of Drive to Work.
-----
I do enjoy playing chess, but i'm not good on an absolute scale, and I also don't like training my brain to replicate supercomputing, so I don't have much desire to improve. My #2 game after Magic will always be Spades, and then *insert other board games here* which includes Chess.
 
Chess never was my game. But Archon, which includes some elements of chess. Navia Dratp was good, too. And the too short lived Dreamblade, that one I loved. Dang, I still have my minis somewhere.
 
Top