Author: Roy Brunjes
Date: 08:49:19 07/03/02
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You bring up an interesting point. Your point is focused on the Internet, which
seems to bring out various behaviors that ordinarily would not be shown in
public [in person], but yet on the net we are free to blast people with
obscenities and the like.
I have noticed that in general (yes, always a dangerous thing to do as there are
so many exceptions) the chess-playing folks I have come across in my 25+ years
of playing chess (face to face) is that there is a higher proportion of people
in the chess circles that:
1. Have questionable skills when it comes to person to person interaction
This can include ability to conduct "reasonable" conversation, especially
when the topic is not chess. It can also show itself in situations that may
require either compromise or some form of conflict resolution (even if the
conflict is not what many would consider very serious). Some people here show
little ability to rationally discuss two sides of an issue. They simply see
thier views as correct and any other views as nonsense and not worthy of
consideration, let along debate. On the Internet, these tendencies are quicker
to surface as a person on the net is at least faceless, and to some extent
anonymous. On the net, there is less reason to fear retaliation for their
inappropriate aggressive behavior.
2. Have questionable personal hygiene.
Here the net is a saving grace. The opponent might have many things "out of
whack" in this department, and you cannot tell over the net - thankfully! But
face to face, this issue is one that has shown itself repeatedly (though again,
the majority of players do not seem to have a problem).
I suppose the list could get longer with more thought, but I think the point is
made. Certainly the majority of chess players do not fit this description (in
my opinion), but a disproportinately high percentage seem to.
Perhaps this is due to the way that people try to improve their chess game: we
tend to sit at a board with a book (or at a computer) and study/analyze games of
other players. We typically spend much more time doing this than actually
playing games in tournaments or other situations where "it counts".
This self-improvement activity tends to be done alone (away from other human
contact). This gives chess players relatively large chunks of time isolated
from situations which enable a person to use their interpersonal skills. And, a
person sitting at a board by themselves may not mind if they haven't bathed in
the last few days -- their focus might be solely on chess and not the odor
filling the room. In fact, some may well rationalize this as: If I get used to
the bad smells, my opponent cannot use that as a distraction against me in a big
game!
There might well be some other reasons why people that are strongly interested
in chess might be prone to poor manners, poor hygiene and the like ... others
with more knowledge in this area than I have may care to venture a guess.
Roy
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