Casual Chess

Well what do you think of it? Is chess restricted to the sanctioned institution of tournament play, or do you practice it with friends and strangers at the bar or in the park?

I'm interested to know the rough % of casual and competitive games. All of my OTB experience is with friends whenever we can get a game in-- a friend has a very handsome portable set that he lugs around with him all the time. But I get the feeling that this is relatively uncommon in the U.S. and especially among chess.com members who tend, naturally, to be a bit more serious, and play most of their games at tournaments or in school.

I suppose this reflects a deeper question: is chess a pastime for short-term enjoyment or a pursuit of long-term achievement?

Everyone I know who plays chess plays a lot more casual games than serious ones.

i play in at least 20 serious cash tournaments a year.

I worked at a bar for years, and kept a board there.  Sometimes I would play with friends, and quite of few of our regulars knew where the board was kept and would play even when I wasn't around.

I have a small magnetic set in my truck that I often take into a bar, with a book, so that I can play through positions/variations as I read the book.  And I have a full size set that I get out if someone asks to play a game, which does happen. The magnetic travel set is more convenient when it's just me and a book, but is sort of a pain for playing agaisnt someone else, because the pieces are so small.  But having it out often prompts someone to ask for a game, at which point I'll get the real set out.

Almost all of my games are casual games.  I'm not a hot-shot, and perhaps that's related.  I have one close friend who is an expert who could, I suspect, make master if he played "serious rated games" more often, but he, too, plays a lot more casual games than serious games.

As the skill level gets higher, they may have less interest in casual games.  I suspect, though, that they still play a lot of casual games - but that they want to play them with players of similar skill level.  Strong players aren't really going to want to spend a lot of time playing against people like me.  :)

Some people care a lot about their rating, and if a game doesn't count for the ratings, maybe it doesn't interest them.  Those people are going to play more tournaments.  But I think most players enjoy the game itself, and will play regardless of whether it will change their rating.

I play anyone anywhere.  In fact, I enjoy playing strangers and not having any idea what level they are or what rating they may have. To me it is an adventure to sit down OTB with a stranger and not know what is going to happen.  Will I be stomped immediately, or will it be a long-drawn-out tooth and nail bloodbath?  Once while on a cruise I set at a board in the library and soon I had some opponents.  I won the first few, but the last man I played won all four games we played, because he was much better in the endgame.  However, I knew by the middle game he was more experienced then I am.  

I play chess for the sheer joy of it.  I enjoy seeing fascinating combinations appear on the board.

For me, chess has been a long-time enjoyment! Win or lose.

I did exactly the same thing with a neat little Drueke 8-inch foldable magnetic set, except I carried mine around in my backpack through grad school.  I spent lots of time playing with it in bars, either going through games if I was by myself, or playing OTB if a willing colleague was available.  Alas, I don't know of any chess players where I live now, and I haven't played a single game OTB for quite a few years.

Please do not think I am making fun of you, but when I read your question I found it difficult to comprehend why you would ask it.  It is sort of like a person who enjoys fishing asking the same question about fishing or anything else that brings pleasure and enjoyment. If you love chess, does it matter? Whatever makes you happy you will do no matter what.

Most of my OTB games are with friends. Once in a blue moon I go to a tourney, usually with the intent to make friends with more players, so I can enjoy a wider selection of playstyles, interests, views and whatever other benefits one will usually find in making new friends.

I didn't play a single game of Chess for about 25 years, and then I started playing in tournaments.  At the same time, I started dropping in on a few clubs.  I just don't know people who sit down and play Chess outside of Chess clubs or Chess tournaments.  The few people i do know who play Chess that are not part of the Chess scene (i.e. club or tournament players) also play other games, and we are much more likely to play cards or board games than Chess.

I was strictly a casual/recreational player the first decade that I knew how to play chess. That changed with the Fischer/Spassky match of 1972 and in 1973 I entered my first rated event. As I studied and played more in tournaments my understanding of the game grew and eventually friends quit playing casual chess with me, they didnt like losing all the time. Now, almost all my otb games are tournament games or blitz games and casual games for me never happen anymore. I didnt quit playing casual chess , in fact I would still play if the opportunity arises, but casual players quit playing me. For many years I kept a chess set ( and clock ) in the trunk of my car along with my cue stick....... eventually I gave up pool and sold my cue......

I play much more casual than tournament games ... in fact, I've only recently played my first rated OTB tournament game (and that's a tournament where one game every two weeks is played) - however, all of my casual games take place in my local chess club since I don't know anybody else who plays chess at my level - all of my friends either don't play chess or are masters :)

I never saw chess players in cafes or parks -  however if I do, I'd always be in for a game ...

For me, chess is even better when I play just for the sheer pleasure of it.  It's sort of like what Akiba Rubinstein said, "Who is your opponent tonight, tonight I am playing against the Black pieces."  

However, I can't not really play without thinking about my opponent, but I do remind myself once in a while about that quote. When I concentrate on why I am playing, rather than beating an opponent, I seem to play better and enjoy it more. 

Some people are clearly more interested in their ratings than in the actual games, and don't seem to enjoy playing in itself. Surely you've met people like that on here, if not OTB. For them I think, chess is more like going to the gym- you don't do it for the kicks, you do it because down the road you will have achieved something that you can be proud of.

I second this. Our chess group (club) gets together every week to play, what I consider casual chess. It can still be competitive but we aren't playing rated chess (though we may start some quick rated games soon to spice things up ).

After high school, I used to play a lot of casual games in a now defunct local coffee house.

I mentioned earlier (#7) that I will play anyone anywhere, and this morning as I was shaving I remembered an incident that happened while waiting on my wife while she was shopping at a mall.  I was playing with a small computerized set.  A boy that looked to be about 10 ask if I would like to play a game with him. Children do not usually ask a stranger to play chess with them. A warning flag popped up: Is this kid a chess prodigy?  There was only one way for me to find out. Play him. I decided to play him as though he was a prodigy. If he was going to beat me, I would go down like a Viking, with a sword in my hand!

When we were about half way into the opening, he asked, "Do know what I am doing?"  I wondered why he would ask me that, unless someone showed him one of those tricky quick mates.  I thought that unless he had some weird opening in mind, I couldn't detect any grand form of playing from him up to that point.   However, I did check his position closely, and then admitted that I did not know what he was doing. Believe me, up to that point his playing was a puzzle, but then, I felt that way the first time I played a chess club president.  I never really knew what he was doing until it was too late to recover, so that kid my have been playing over my head.

As it turned out, he was definitely not a prodigy, because whatever he had in mind fell fat!  We never made it into the middle game.  He gave up, and just walked off without saying anything. He seemed disgusted.

That's why I will play anyone anywhere, because if he had been a prodigy that game would have been interesting.  No doubt the game would have ended just as fast. Maybe quicker, but I would have gone down fighting. 

Passtime? or a pursuit of acheivement to me depends solely on my opponents NEED to be the victor at any given time

I am definitely most interested in playing casual games; especially against people I don't know.  I find the most exciting games to be the ones in the park against the oddballs, crackheads, and troubled geniuses.  In terms of percentages, perhaps ten percent of my otb games are against strangers, the rest are purely casual (yet impassioned) play against pals.

I play in an OTB tournament that's a 5 round Swiss, one G/90 game per week (minus a couple I miss because of family holidays etc). I hope to play in the New York International, which is a 9 round standard time control. All other games are casual. Typical for old married types, with young children!

When I lived in Sydney I used to play in the local bar (pub), and after about 6 pints used to get in really funny games! Too bad that we never wrote down the moves!

I only play casual games.  I'm not interested in tournaments or playing competitively.  Nor am I interested in time limits on OTB games.  I did drop in on the local chess club recently and plan to go as often as I can, but I'm not really interested in participating in a tournament.  Maybe if I were to get better that might change, but even so when something I do for enjoyment seems like work it takes all the fun out of it.  Like, for instance, one of my other hobbies is bass fishing which I enjoy whenever I can, but I would never want to fish in a professional or even semi-professional bass tournament.  I do it to relax & enjoy my time on the water, but if there were pressure to perform then I wouldn't enjoy it at all.