NYC Chess in the Park

I'm going to NYC in June & looking to play some chess in Washington Square Park.

Does anyone have any tips, advice or experience they can share?

I've heard chess is also played at Bryant Park & wondering if anyone can comment?

Thanks,

CaliforniaRook

May 2019

Don't waste your money. when you can play for free here. Best tip I can give...

Get your experience out there!!! ....they sure as hell don't do that here in any Cali parks here in San Diego County. Nothing underground atleast... street chess I mean.

You can find hustlers all over Manhattan.  Wash Square, Bryant, Central, they are there--WSP plays most of the day, Bryant mostly during lunch hour and after.  Good luck and bring plenty of dollars.

Play 3 mins or 5 mins blitz online. If you are 2000+, you will likely beat 80% of huslers.

If you are 1200 in blitz, 99% of huslees will beat you. 

There is no quick tips in chess but hardwork.

Most huslers are approx 1600-2200.

Thanks for the comments, guys - had a good time playing in multiple parks, but notably in Washington Square Park.  As a 1050 Blitz-rated player, I got my pieces handed to me, but all-in-all a good experience and one I'll never forget.

sad!

Hey as long as you enjoyed yourself and the money is not an issue then who cares what other people think, now you have some pretty cool memories!!

I too think it's pretty cool that you did that.  Couple questions, what were the most common time controls you played and what kind of money per game did the players expect to play for?

oops, Taco beat me to it

Playing in Washington Sq. was a great experience that was totally worth a couple of dollars for me. In addition, you support people who probably need the money more than you...

Try playing against Cornbread, he is an hillarious trashtalker...

The only time controls were 5-minute games.

I played one opponent whose "fee" was $10 for two games.  My second opponent played $5 games.

Some good videos on YouTube showing the NYC Chess Life...

Chess Twins NYC

That park scene in 'Searching for Bobby Fischer' made it to my list (no.7) of the Top 10 Greatest Chess Scenes in Movies. Check it out! 

Edit: link to that particular scene: https://youtu.be/-MtPmFQx-Tg?t=7m59s