MeFi on Red Hot Pawn?

June 20, 2007 3:28 AM

Anybody want to play chess?
posted by felix betachat to MetaFilter Gatherings at 3:28 AM (69 comments total)

Inspired by this great post, I went back to try to dig up my old account on Red Hot Pawn. But of course, I can't find the information. So, I've registered a new player under my MeFi username. There are probably more than a few people who might be interested in playing, so look me up and add me as a buddy (community --> buddy list --> add people to my buddy list --> felix betachat). If we get at least 20 people, we could start a MeFi clan, which would make things a lot easier to manage.
posted by felix betachat at 3:29 AM on June 20, 2007

Inspired by that post, I decided to give chess another go and downloaded a free Java chess game for my cellphone.

It beat me.

It has beaten me 3 times in a row now.

I've been beaten three times by a 30 kilobyte piece of software on a device the size of a chocolate bar.

Please advise: am I likely to have better luck playing against humans?
posted by Jimbob at 3:38 AM on June 20, 2007 [10 favorites]

As long as you're playing against humans like me.
posted by metaculpa at 3:52 AM on June 20, 2007

Don't feel bad, Jimbob. I've never beaten the chess game on my M3100, either. It beats the ever-loving shit out of me, often in a scant few moves.

I think I'll stick to guitar.
posted by chuckdarwin at 4:03 AM on June 20, 2007 [1 favorite]

GREETINGS PROFESSOR FALKEN

WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY A GAME?

█
posted by Plutor at 4:51 AM on June 20, 2007 [14 favorites]

1. e4
posted by the quidnunc kid at 6:06 AM on June 20, 2007

Actually play Wargames.
posted by meh at 6:08 AM on June 20, 2007 [4 favorites]

Though I'm still waiting for HP-style chess and I haven't played in years, I'll give it a shot. Will sign up in the next few days to relearn how to play.
posted by jmd82 at 6:21 AM on June 20, 2007

jmd82: I think you have to play 20 games on their server before you get ranked, so the best way to relearn is to jump in and try it out. You have around 48 hrs or so per move, so there's plenty of time to think about strategy.

Once you sign up, go ahead and challenge me to a game. I'm not a terribly good player, so there's little chance that you'll get crushed right out of the gate.
posted by felix betachat at 6:30 AM on June 20, 2007

Thanks for that meh. Good fun.
posted by MrMustard at 6:30 AM on June 20, 2007

That chess game that comes free with OS X routinely kicks my ass, but I keep coming back, gratefully, because it's probably my fault anyways.
posted by chlorus at 6:43 AM on June 20, 2007

Or, Actually Play Wargames.
posted by Inkoate at 6:52 AM on June 20, 2007

My mom's water broke during that movie, but I can't win a game to save my damn life.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 7:09 AM on June 20, 2007

The last game of mefi chess was fun to follow. I'm in for the redhotpawn action.
posted by carsonb at 7:22 AM on June 20, 2007

Well, I'll give it a go. Hope this turns out better than gameknot.
PS - I stink at chess.
posted by solotoro at 7:59 AM on June 20, 2007

I dunno. I used to like battle chess, back in the ol' CGA days, but I was never any good. And the last time I played, I got my ass kicked by a zooming coke head (though he's currently the subject of a manhunt for forging mortgage documents— no joke!).

Backgammon, though, that I'm a motherfucker at.
posted by klangklangston at 8:13 AM on June 20, 2007

klang: I'll double.
posted by absalom at 8:27 AM on June 20, 2007

Ok, I signed up as well.
posted by bshort at 8:49 AM on June 20, 2007

I signed up too, as Ryabovsky. I haven't been a caddy for many, many years.
posted by thecaddy at 9:05 AM on June 20, 2007

The last game of chess I played was several years ago, on my palm pilot. I accidentally played what I later learned was called the Fool's mate, the shortest possible loss in chess.

I am not cut out for chess.

Personally, I prefer Go. I'm not much better at it, but it makes more sense to me.
posted by Arturus at 9:11 AM on June 20, 2007

I signed up as "Squid Voltaire". Thanks for the suggestion, Felix!
posted by Squid Voltaire at 9:17 AM on June 20, 2007

my username on rhp is 'yabloko'. I'm going to revisit the site now
posted by cotterpin at 10:04 AM on June 20, 2007

I'm also gyc on ICC if anybody wants to play there.
posted by gyc at 10:13 AM on June 20, 2007

Are you on RHP?
posted by bshort at 10:18 AM on June 20, 2007

hmmm... I've never been much for online chess. I prefer FTF.

However, I might play blitz. It might keep me off MeFi so much.
posted by MtDewd at 10:20 AM on June 20, 2007

I'll sign up, but I don't usually have the focused online time I need for chess. I'm a slow player.


klang and absalom: I have a magic backgammon set found leaning against a trash can. It caught my eye, looking like an abandoned briefcase as it was. The trash can was at Target, where I had arrived to spend a birthday gift card, on a birthday for which all I really wanted was a backgammon set. Just like this one. Vintage, corduroy, enchanted. I can never lose as long as I play on this board. As for online, I dunno, maybe if I use it as a mousepad.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 11:16 AM on June 20, 2007

Oh, rad that you can set your move frequency. It's a brave new world of online chess for me, then.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 11:20 AM on June 20, 2007

Neat idea.

I'll sign up at some point in the next day or so.

Thanks, felix.
posted by jason's_planet at 11:45 AM on June 20, 2007

I have a similar backgammon briefcase (mine's rich, orangish '70s leather), which I thought about bringing with me to my office job and pretending it was full of important things.
posted by klangklangston at 12:11 PM on June 20, 2007

If anyone here ever goes on FICS my handle there is ducksauce, too. Send me a "tell" if you log on.
posted by ducksauce at 12:19 PM on June 20, 2007

I just signed up as NDcent. I was in the chess club in middle school, so watch out.
posted by ND¢ at 2:28 PM on June 20, 2007

I'm in. Username same as here. I max out at an average of about a move a day though, so avoid me if you want quick games. I am also not very good. I don't mind playing you if you happen to be good, but just don't be expecting much.

BTW in case anyone was wondering about the outcome of my game with flabdablet, he won.
posted by juv3nal at 2:49 PM on June 20, 2007

Okay, so I count nine registered at the moment:

yablonko
bshort
juv3nal
NDcent
solotoro
carsonb
Ryabovsky
Squid Voltaire
felix betachat

If I've missed you, or you sign up later, fire me off an email and I'll add you to the list. When I get a minute tomorrow, I'll look into setting up a MeFi clan so we have a list of members. I can't tell how to see who's listed you as a buddy, so that will help with challenges and such.

For now...bedtime.
posted by felix betachat at 3:27 PM on June 20, 2007

1. e4 c5
posted by simcd at 3:49 PM on June 20, 2007

felix: Ambrosia Voyeur. 10.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 3:53 PM on June 20, 2007

I see MtDewd as also.
posted by juv3nal at 3:58 PM on June 20, 2007

as well/also bleagh.
posted by juv3nal at 3:58 PM on June 20, 2007

Weird. It looks like the player search feature on RHP doesn't hit everyone. But you can make buddy requests if you know the name. So, add to the above list:

Ambrosia Voyeur
MtDewd
johnjoe

That brings us up to 12.
posted by felix betachat at 1:54 AM on June 21, 2007

Aw crap. To start a clan, you have to be a subscriber to the site. I'm not sure I want to throw in $30/year just so MeFi members can find each other to play chess.

I'll try to keep a running tally of signups in this thread, you can update your buddy lists accordingly. Also, it might be a good idea to follow bshort's lead and put "MetaFilter member" in your profile.

In 30 days, this thread will close, so my suggestion is that, if this gets off the ground, we should mess around on the site for a month, and then schedule a MeFi chess tournament. We can work out the details in a new MeTa thread then.
posted by felix betachat at 2:10 AM on June 21, 2007

I just registered as sveskemus. I know how the different pieces move but that is the extent of my chess knowledge. Be gentle.

*off to read the chess tactics post*
posted by sveskemus at 2:57 AM on June 21, 2007

I registered as ozjimbob - I did add myself to your buddy list.
posted by Jimbob at 3:39 AM on June 21, 2007

I just signed up as whir and will be adding folks to my buddy list. I'd guess I'm just a tiny little notch into the intermediate player category. Currently I'm way too busy to play, but my time should open up in a week or so.
posted by whir at 11:42 AM on June 21, 2007

Metafilter: Ha! Castling. They'll never see that coming!
posted by ND¢ at 12:19 PM on June 21, 2007

Metafilter: Ha! Castling. They'll never see that coming!

You talkin' to me?
posted by juv3nal at 12:33 PM on June 21, 2007

Oh crap. Stupendous blunder on my part. I should give up on trash talking.
posted by juv3nal at 12:36 PM on June 21, 2007

You were like the third in a row. It just seemed like such a Metafilter-type move. If Metafilter had an official chess move, it would be castling.
posted by ND¢ at 12:40 PM on June 21, 2007

Also, if that stupendous blunder was in your game with me then you are in the clear because I didn't see it.
posted by ND¢ at 12:49 PM on June 21, 2007

Yeah it was in the game with you. Not a stupendous blunder in that it didn't leave you anything egregious to exploit (knock wood), but just in that my whole internal rationale for the move was based on flawed premises.
posted by juv3nal at 2:02 PM on June 21, 2007

Heh, I'm thinking the archetypical MeFi move would be capturing en passant.

"Hey, wait a second...."
posted by johnjoe at 2:29 PM on June 21, 2007

Whoa! I totally didn't know about that. Okay, that is the archetypal move for smart Mefites. For the rest of us, castling is as tricky as we can get.
posted by ND¢ at 2:57 PM on June 21, 2007

I'm in as jaronson11

I've played a handful of games on Red Hot Pawn..."Last moved 858 days 2 hours and 42 minutes ago"

Mostly I play on Net-Chess as jaronson

Thanks, felix betachat
posted by jaronson at 7:15 PM on June 21, 2007

I feel like Bart when he had that montage when he was trying to be smart and he was at the park playing five chess games at once and then you just hear everyone that he is playing against going "Checkmate," "Checkmate," "Checkmate," "Checkmate," "Checkmate." Damn you Metafilter!
posted by ND¢ at 7:39 PM on June 22, 2007

Oh it was three games and it doesn't look like it was part of a montage. Dang.
posted by ND¢ at 7:41 PM on June 22, 2007

Heh. I know I was surprised my knights caught you in 3 forks in the space of 7 turns or so.
posted by juv3nal at 2:46 AM on June 23, 2007

We're only on the 3rd turn but I already like ND¢'s style.
posted by carsonb at 9:31 AM on June 23, 2007

...Mainly 'cause he beat me in 4. *sigh*
posted by carsonb at 11:26 AM on June 23, 2007

I joined RHP as BrotherCaine, although I was tempted to sign up as une pissant for a laugh.
posted by BrotherCaine at 4:10 AM on June 24, 2007

1. e4 c5
2. f4
posted by the quidnunc kid at 9:41 AM on June 26, 2007

not 2. Nf3 ???
posted by bshort at 9:50 AM on June 26, 2007

how am I holding up? :x
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 1:15 PM on June 26, 2007

Felix--
Thanks for setting this up this is great!
posted by Squid Voltaire at 1:47 PM on June 26, 2007

This is great, but it's stopping me from getting work done even more than mefi is. I got suckered in like ND¢ and I'm trying to juggle a bunch of games now.
posted by juv3nal at 4:54 PM on June 26, 2007

Here's an updated list:

yabloko
Ryabovsky
juv3nal
bshort
jaronson11
solotoro
NDcent
zealeus
johnjoe
whir
MtDewd
BrotherCaine
Squid Voltaire
OzJimbob
carsonb
Ambrosia Voyeur
sveskemus
felix betachat

Once again, if I've missed anybody, let me know. Since this thread is getting old, I'll also message the list to each of you individually on RHP.

I'm having lots of fun, even though you all seem to be kicking my ass pretty soundly. Let's keep playing and then talk about whether or not we want to have a tournament in early August some time.
posted by felix betachat at 9:55 AM on June 27, 2007

Felix -

Just sent you an e-mail about the mefi clan on rhp.
posted by jasonspaceman at 6:31 PM on July 2, 2007

You can find me @ tssparky on RHP. I'll be looking to play against someone other than my coworker, who is far better than me right now.
posted by EastCoastBias at 6:08 PM on July 12, 2007

Oh... and me.

(same name, because I have no imagination...)
posted by pompomtom at 6:50 PM on July 12, 2007

I'm unSane on RHP and chess.com and chesspark and 64squar.es and... well, you get it! Challenge me! I'm shit!
posted by unSane at 8:13 PM on July 14, 2007

and I
posted by hayeled at 1:23 AM on July 15, 2007

I'm in.
posted by flabdablet at 12:41 AM on July 20, 2007