washington square park nyc

I'm sure somebody here on this website has gone down to Washington square park to play? I know many famous players have played there

There are also local, many times homeless people who okay down there regularly for money. How good are these guys? I was thinking about taking a ride down there one day to check it out. Anybody have any good experiences to share?

Do they only play blitz games or would they willing to play longer games like 15-20 min?

i havent visited the Wash.  square park yet but i think they only play blitz...5/0 3/0 or handicap time games (eg 3 vs 1 min)There are some really good players there so be careful cause the rules are dif... for example they don't call checks(usually) so u may c your king captured....

Bobby Fischer used to play chess there as well as many other masters. I used to play in Washington Square Park quite a bit also. They are hustlers who play for whatever they can get, usually 5 min. blitz games. Some will play for a flat fee of a few dollars a game and once in a while you will find someoone who will play for free. Last time I was there, there were a lot of drug dealers hanging around also, don't know if they were cleaned out or not by Bloomberg. Just don't carry a lot of money when you go there, be careful and have fun!

Thanks guys. I know they're hustlers. I'm no expert player so I have no problems spending a few bucks on playing there for an experience. Even if I get whooped. I'm sure it'll be fun.

Just because someone is homeless does not mean he is stupid. Homeless people lack families to support them and/or social and work skills to get a job and some of them are drug addicts or alcoholics. But that doesn't mean they are stupid! 

you won't know till you ask..... or play

Spoken like a true liberal. And not for nothing, but anyone who pisses their life away because they were an alcoholic or a drug addict is pretty stupid.

frank124c wrote:

Just because someone is homeless does not mean he is stupid. Homeless people lack families to support them and/or social and work skills to get a job and some of them are drug addicts or alcoholics. But that doesn't mean they are stupid! 

True. Fischer was nuts, and you can't call him a crappy player. Did he ever play in Central Park?

I'm so terribly sorry Anthony. Maybe I should be much more sensitive. I feel so awful.

AnthonyCG wrote:

mattyf9 wrote:

Spoken like a true liberal. And not for nothing, but anyone who pisses their life away because they were an alcoholic or a drug addict is pretty stupid...

Perhaps you could discuss your political views in a polite manner instead of talking at others like all the American sheep that argue at each other instead of the politicians that screwed them in the first place?

Thanks a bunch.

Hahaha. I guess not. Maybe you can teach me some etiquette Anthony.

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/community/chesscom-posting-rules

A bear and a human have roughly the same maximum running speed. Bolt easily outruns a fast bear. The story works better with a cheetah (and that is the original version imho)

You don't understand the basic trick of all hustlers, this includes the big gambling casinos as well. The idea is that if you sit down with a chess hustler and you beat him, he will pay off the few dollars you win but then he will refuse to play with you anymore. And none of the other hustlers will play with you either. If you go to a legal gambling casino and you win too much your photo will be taken secretly and you will never again be allowed to return to that casino or any other gambling casino. If you play three card monte or the shell game on the streets and you win, the money will be given to you and you will be followed and at an opportune moment you will be banged on the head and when you wake up in the hospital you will find your wallet missing!

Alcoholism and drug addiction are diseases and they should be treated as diseases. As far as pissing one's life away, how about certain "respectable" people who spend their lives acquiring money and power and destroying other people's lives and their own in the process. Is this any better?

I hope you don't say that from personal experience:)

I wonder if you have any theories about what the magician does if he accidentally saws the volunteer from the audience in half? 

Three card monte is a magic trick... although the money disappearing from your wallet if you are ignorant enough to play is not an illusion. Psssst.... The guy winning money when you show up and the guy angry and arguing and the other guy just watching and winning some and losing some.... they are all, shills, part of the crew. Back in the late 80s my roommate was in a three card monte crew (as a shill) He showed me the card move, it's a simple but effective sleight of hand that is impossible to see when executed correctly. The guy running the game can reveal any color card from any position whenever he likes. You don't ever win. Ever. If the guy running the game muffs the move and you spot it and call him on it, "proving" the game is a set up, it is now on you to beat the money out of him and his crew of two or three shills and a lookout or two. Good luck, Bruce Lee. 

There is--or was--a tv show called magician's tricks revealed. I believe you can still download the episodes on bit torrent or usenet. I saw one of the episodes where they showed there were actually two women in the box, one whose legs showed and one whose head and torso showed. They're both folded up pretty good in compartments in the box so there is no danger that the woman would actually get her legs sawn off. But there is real danger to you if you see one of those three card monte guys cheating. They do have a crew who are willing to hurt you if you win or if you make too much of a fuss about being cheated. It never happened to me personally but I have hung out with people who have "street smarts" and know what goes on.  

Wow.  This thread went from talking about washington square park, to hustling, to bears, to being a magician doing 3 card monte, to sawing women's legs off lol.  What happened!?

I went to NYC on vacation the summer of 2011 and I wanted to go to that park. I probably will never return again. It was not to be, even though we passed it many times. My wife wasn't up to going there. Here is a photo of the park.