The Perfect Chess Set Up

A while ago I wrote about the perfect chess table. At the time I was fired up over the idea of the perfect chess nook, which all stemmed from a photo I found on the internet of a castle window, flanked by two stone, nubs where two people could sit opposite each other, in intimate reflection. It was all very romantic and seemed like a great place to have a quiet game of chess. One thing led to another and I went through an imaginative, phase of ‘Star Trek’ doors and pneumatically controlled table heights, only to be brought back down to Earth with the stark reality of my actual circumstances. I lived in a very small house with three people and a dog – a dedicated spot for chess was not really practical. The eventual, compromise is the photo above, the key being the sturdy little trestle table that I can easily set up and or knock down and store. I had a local company make the table for me using the FIDE recommendations for competition tables as per the photo below;

At the end of the process, I would have to say FIDE got it right, the table is a perfect size, and for me there is enough room for all my bits and pieces. The FIDE rule book is fairly lenient when it comes to equipment specifications, because they want to be inclusive; their motto ; “Gens una sumus” translates to “we are one family.” Although I’m not a competitive chess player I like the table and I like the FIDE chess set and through this process I have refined my criteria, for a chess nook, albeit a temporary version;

1. a nice chess set
2. adjustable lighting
3. comfortable seats
4. internet and power

As for the rest of my set up for those that are interested its just a Raspberry Pi 4B set up as a PC. The Debian OS came loaded with several chess apps which I use to play against, moving the pieces manually. I like the feel of a real chess board, I also find it easier to think things through. If I only play part of a game the games boot up again exactly where I left off which is also handy.

Overall I have enjoyed the process of creating the perfect nook and even now I collect photos of other peoples set ups with great interest. There are some great chess set ups out there, especially for people interested in chess computers, some of which automates chess notation and online play. In my case that’s cost prohibitive but I enjoy observing what people come up with next, and quite possibly within my lifetime the economies of scale will make it a possibility for me too.

How cool would it be to play chess against a life sized replica of the ‘Terminator’!

Travel Gaming

 

• Set of dice
• Playing card deck
• Notepad
• Pencil

With a little knowledge these four simple items open up a world of games. Dice have been around for thousands of years whilst playing cards are only a mere eleven hundred years old. They have survived through to this modern era of computer games simply because we find them amusing. Beyond that we like them because of their social aspect. They make conversation easy.

If you take the time to learn some games or expand on the ones that you already know you will have a repertoire that you can pull out at any time. Missed your flight? Stuck in the emergency department? Not yet out on bail? Then perhaps a game of craps is in order or even strip poker. Maybe the grandkids are over and you can play Beetle or Old Maid. The choices are as many as you can memorize and teach.

The real trick here however, is in keeping it all compact. You can buy ‘Bridge’ sized playing cards which are generally a quarter of an inch smaller in width and die usually come in 10, 14 and 16mm sizes. The 10mm die are still a good size to play with, as are the ‘Bridge’ sized cards. Once you’ve sorted those items out and sized matched them with a pad and pencil you can start looking for a suitably sized tin or Tupperware container. Good luck with that.

My personal favorites dice games are ‘Pig’ and ‘Ship, Captain. Crew’ whilst I like Conquian and Euchre card games. I’m slowly learning new games and testing them out on my family; some work and some don’t. When they’ve had enough there is always time to fit in a couple of hands of ‘Solitaire’.