Do people make fun of you because you like to play Chess?

Ah, violence.  Are there any problems it can't solve?

     It also depends where you live as to whether or not you are perceived as
cool.  I live near NASA but the school was divided up into either the Nerds, the Rockers, and the Athletes.  In the late 70's and early 80's I was in the
school's first ever computer class(we had a giant Pet Computer, hilarious, and we used BASIC to program) and video games were brand new(Pong, Space Invaders, and Breakout).  Star Wars was just released in 1977.
     The Nerds did not get the pretty women at all back then, so I decided to become more athletic and listen to Rock.  Suddenly I was dating pretty
women that wore tight Levi jeans and halter tops , so whatever works.  I
don't remember being made fun of after that.

     I also used to drink muscle-building shakes from GNC and since I was young
and didn't injure easily my muscles grew incredibly fast back then.  I bought some boxing gloves for a quarter from a garage sale and challenged bigger kids in the neighborhood(one guy promptly punched my face around at first).  That was an ill-advised plan.  My dad would leg-wrestle me to build up my leg strength(his legs were like iron and none of his military buddies could beat him, like Nolan Ryan who supposedly never lost at leg wrestling.    
     I don't really care for fighting that much and I like John Lennon and Bob Marley music.  However, I had great self-confidence knowing I could handle myself then in a fight if I had to do so.
     Those were fun days!  Today I have a bad back from golf and car accidents
and play Wii instead of sports.

     
    

Hehe, I use to know a guy in high school, who was the captain of football team, extremely well respected, very well toned, and our common friendship was all the various video games, activities, music, etc---a lot of nerdy stuff. He use to say he was simply a hybrid of jock/nerd.

Since college, I've determined that this hybrid breed is what is replacing most kids today. It use to be that there would be certain nerds (like back in the 80s/70s), and simply those who are into sports etc. It was a clear divide.

Nowadays, almost every kid in high school/college plays some sort of video game or somewhat intelligent activity. Everyone does some sort of studying. And everyone does some sort of job. Plus, most people try to do some form of exercise, but that is much more difficult as a lot of people are lazy or busy.

A lot of people are hybrids now. Also, let me just say, that I am not sure how it was in the 80s/90s/70s, but when I went to university in the 2000s, I was never once made fun of for any activity.

@Hayn, for girls it's different. A girl playing chess alone in public, is usually thought of as intelligent. A guy may be thought of as nerdy, weird, eccentric in some cases. Not sure what other girls may think about girls that play chess tho (but I'd assume some jealousy may be involved).

@zankfrappa, looks like you've done a great job at being a hybrid. But for some people, no matter how much working out or exercise, the difference in tone and body structure rarely changes due to genetics.

Same here, but my girlfriend knows and she makes fun of my chess intrest from time to time.

When asked who's winning, point to the empty chair across from you, and say dejectedly, "I think he's going to beat me."

You mean, other than the problem of all that violence?

That must be an awfully big closet to have room for a table with the chessboard, and chairs for you and your opponent.

It's a surprise she's still with you. In that case, you should teach her chess. Just force/beg her to play a few games, and in one game, just blunder your queen away and lose the game while putting up a good fight. Get a tad annoyed at her.

She will surely gain confidence and want to play again and again. It won't work for every girl, but my uncle has gotten her girlfriend to constantly play backgammon with her (and not even giving her one win!)

"If you kids don't knock of that fighting you'll both be sorry!"

my "friend",but not really does that

Chess makes fun of us because people play it. (Chew on that science!)

Yeah, she gave it a shot one game but she doesn't think it's fun enough to play more then once a year. I might try a blindfold game maybe to give some handicap next time.

If anything, I think I get some respect from my peers because of my interest in chess.  Of course, we are reasonable adults, school kids can make fun of anything.  But people who don't know much about the game tend to think you have to be some kind of brainiac to play.  They think I must be some kind of super genius becuase I spend my lunch hours and breaks looking at my online chess games.

Yep.  I have some friends who tell me it's a waste of time.  Nothing wrong with studying to improve yourself.  It's the same as practicing a sport.  Then people above the age of 18+ are usually very interested in the fact that I play chess. :D

I pride myself on being a geek :)

 RAGBRAI?

The Iowa response would be "What's a mountain?"

I snowboard in Iowa. And to respond to the question, no, not really. Even though I'm in high school people seem to be mature enough to understnad varying interests

I grew up in Iowa, and it seemed pretty damn flat to me! The top soil that makes good farm land was pushed there by glaciers.  Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa by the way. Its sponsored by the Des Moines Register.