What about the casual, non-elite player?

The world of chess is dominated by the tournament player. This type of player thinks more or less systematically about his/her strategies, tactics, endgame, middlegame, openings, psychological tricks, etc. Chess to him/her is an intense competitive sport. Chess publications capitalize on the desires of this player--there are tons and tons of books about how one can improve one's chess abilities.

On the other side of the coin, there is the casual player. The one who logs in occasionally to online portals to play (and generally lose) to other players just for the fun of it.

Most chess players generally fall in between those two extremes of serious and casual types of player. But for the casual player, there is almost nothing that caters to his/her desires for fun. Bringing the game of chess to the streets is my effort to cater to this casual player. You can simply show up, play with me, win/lose/draw and laugh about it, and go home happy. No need to worry about whether you achieved your chess goals, or if you're becoming a better player.

Of course, winning is always better than losing. But I open to you (my reader [who are you? ;)]) the possibility of winning in the stakes of fun. Play, have fun, and win even if you lose the game on the board. Win in the game of life, because you've learnt how to have fun without spending a huge load of cash, or doing something horrible to your liver.

Most of you will probably lose though.

MUAHAHAHAHAHA.

First post!

Hi, I'm the self-proclaimed champion of popchess.blogspot.com. What did I do to deserve the title? Why, I set up this blog! *applause*

I really am just another guy who plays decent chess. I don't have an FIDE rating yet (I hope to change this soon), and I still haven't beaten my favourite computer opponent, Chessmaster 10.

You might see me on the streets playing chess soon, and you may come to this blog to see what I'm all about.. And when it comes to that I promise I'll have some kind of explanation as to why I consider what I do as performance art.

Till then, toodles!