I think the best "comeback" to someone saying that chess is nerdy or making fun of you for playing chess - apart from ignoring them - just tell them to grow up. Then one day further down the track when they realise that they were being idiots you can say "i told you so" and if you run into them in the future and they still are immature brats then you can say "I thought I told you to grow up"
Hows that for thinking a few moves ahead?
You can be a nerd and play chess (as has been suggested). But anyone who thinks of chess itself as nerdy is obviously ignorant of the variety and scope of people who play this great game.
I'll bet if we we're to introduce your friends to the hustlers at Washington Square Park, N.Y or Market St, S.F they would probably wet themselves before they ever got the courage to call any of those boys nerds, h3ll just being in the presence of Hikaru Nakamura while he's playing blitz would likely do the trick.
PS cheater_1 if your listening: Chess is a sport.
firstly I would correct his grammar (thats always a sure way to prove a point)
Then I would say that only idiots think that.
Then I would follow him around and any time he says anything I would contradict what he says and call him an idiot.
I like being a nerd. XD
But I don't look like one, lol.
no his friends are youths. And are used to living within what is socially acceptable/dominate. A lack of understanding/fear/hatred for the unknown is sadly a natural stage in development which is hopefully for the most part grown out of.
This sort of behaviour (calling players of a game nerds) is likely to slow down their own learning as they are fearful of ever looking stupid or having interests in things that make them look "nerdy".
What you find fun and your friends find fun may be two completely different things. The important thing is that both of you are interested in things you enjoy for whatever reason and attacking an interest in something you don't share is not the best course of action if you want to keep your friends.
Chess is for people who can stand to learn and abide by certain rules and logic that pertain to a board game and stay committed to it. That's usually not the on-the-go outdoorsy type, is it?
Read up on Josh Waitzkin... call him a nerd
Read up on Josh Waitzkin... call him a nerd
What about him!
Well apart from the whole chess prodigy thing, he was very outdoorsy always into his rough housing and fishing. I believe he beat Fischers record age to national master. He ended up giving up competitive chess and took up martial arts. Won World Champs in Taewan.
(He's the guy that searching for bobby fischer is based on)
Chess is for people who can stand to learn and abide by certain rules and logic that pertain to a board game and stay committed to it. That's usually not the on-the-go outdoorsy type, is it?
I do endurance mountain biking (and some free-riding), hiking, snowboarding, running, swimming and oh yeah sometimes just plain old wanderin.
I'm not a fan of absolutes (not even the vodka)
If all a person did was play and think about chess then yes they go into the spectrum of geek/nerd in the same way if all a sportsplayer does is live and breathe their sport than they are a jock. The thing is though, that there are very few people in this world that go to that extreme. And even when they are in that extreme you will probably find that they actually do other activities as well that go counter to the semantics of nerd/jock.
For example Bobby Fischer boxed (or so I've read)... boxing and nerd are hardly mutually exclusive but at the same time not really something you would expect.