Re:An Indian village addicted to chess
by fao_ on Thursday May 18, 2017 @06:18PM
(#14371562)
It's cultural. The ability to play chess well is generally taken as an indicator that someone can plan well, think up masterful schemes, and generally out-wit other people. The result is someone that you would either not want to get on the bad side of -- especially if you take into account the fact that they are in prison -- or someone that would be handy to have around if you have anyone with a budding escape plan.
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I would assume that the type of planning done in chess is very different from the skills you would need to do well in a prison environment, even if being good chess often implies a good intelligence baseline. Since I don't know much at all about actual prison life, I can't confirm this hypothesis. In any case, I doubt that the Machiavellian planning that is a familiar sight on TV translates well to the real world of an inmate.
>generally out-wit other people
Pretty sure that in prison it's more about who's ass you can kick than who you can outwit on a chess board when it comes to safety.
>handy to have around if you have anyone with a budding escape plan.
That sounds more like Prison Break than reality.