president obama hates american chess
chigago open, philly open, vegas, reno, so many tournaments that are out there, so many tournaments that i wont be playing in this year.
no, i will not be going to any tournaments this year, partly because i’m not really focused on chess right now, and partly because its just so expensive right now. not counting the entrance fee, there is airfare, hotels, rental cars, with the economy the way it is, i have to be a bit more frugal with my savings.
and it struck me. i cannot be the only one who is thinking like this. what will the tanking economy’s impact be on chess tournaments, and by extension, the chess scene itself?
then i got to thinking, obama is doing a lot to change the country, and not for the better. all these government programs to “help” the people have to be funded by someone, the government doesn’t just give you shit for free out of its pocket. all these government programs, the bailout, free healthcare, all that, comes from TAX DOLLORS that everyone must pay. so our taxes are going up, giving us less money for chess tournaments and the cool new book on the latest in the catalan opening.
obama is also doing some hinky shit, like the blair holt gun control bill, making it a criminal act to not register as a gun owner. why does the government need to know i have a gun? it also makes it more difficult to buy guns and ammo. how does this affect the hunters and people who live off of hunting, feeding themselves and others off what the earth gives us, instead of processed crap food that makes us fat and unhealthy.
but i digress…
thing is…people are so worried about what is happening, the government running things into the ground, chess is a low priority, being put on the back burner. what will happen to chess?
so i think i figured it out. obama is working for the russians, it all makes sense. he is a socialist, bit of a communist, and he wants to get the government running everything, take the power away from the people. but why? why would he do that? because the russians were afraid we would start to dominate chess. so not only do they get the united states to turn communist so they can rub it in our face, but also, seeing as no one will be playing much chess because everyone is worried about jobs and eating and living in a house instead of their car, we will fall out of the whole chess scene, and the russians will again dominate the chess world.
fuckin obama. not only is he destroying my country bit by bit, but he’s also taking away chess. if it gets much worse, we need to have a revolution and take back our country and chess.
Nate said,
March 9, 2009 at 12:35 pm
That’s it! I’ve been trying to figure out the motive behind all the batshit crazy stuff Obama has been up to. Now it all makes sense.
Obama is out to destroy chess. What a fucker.
PawnShaman said,
March 9, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Are you going to host the first “Pawn Party?” We can probably get a solid seven or eight people to hold signs and demand that chess tourneys are a right! Free chess now! Stop en passanting my kibitz!
Blue Devil Knight said,
March 9, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Chances are your taxes will actually be lower under the big O, unless you make more than 200K a year.
Good to see you posting regularly again.
Howard Goldowsky said,
March 10, 2009 at 8:10 am
Taxes? What taxes? The problem will be inflation. Once people start spending their savings again, the market will be flooded with cash…
Rocky said,
March 10, 2009 at 10:28 am
Ahhh … chess and politics. It doesn’t get any better than that!
Art Vandelay said,
March 10, 2009 at 3:30 pm
“Chances are your taxes will actually be lower under the big O, unless you make more than 200K a year.”
Or unless your business is sub-chapter S. In my case, the tax hit forces me to lay off 9-10 employees just to maintain profitability and keep my line of credit. If Obama gets a pay-or-play health plan passed, that’s another 4-5 employees I can’t afford to keep. If my work force unionizes, I’ll hang it all up and retire.
someguy said,
March 10, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Bring back chess and pantyhose.
Rolling Pawns said,
March 11, 2009 at 7:01 am
The Russians are coming!
. I don’t think they are. Kasparov said they now care more about tennis than chess.
“GK: It was a part of some culture. Chess was one of Soviet Union’s calling cards. Hockey, chess, figure skating – we knew that we’re better than everyone else there. But now, sadly, it’s all lost mainly because the regard for intelligence declined sharply, especially from the government.”
Ray said,
March 11, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Our taxes will go up, as soon as Obama and the Dems realize that if you took all the money from the top 5%, it still wouldn’t balance the budget, even if they were stupid enough to keep working after being robbed.
Chessed said,
March 11, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Actually chess has the potential of growing if the economy tanks badly. Think of it, it’s a hobby that isn’t all that expensive (as long as you don’t subscribe to every magazine and buy 20 books a year and play in a couple dozen tournaments… OK, there goes that argument..) All it takes is a set and an opponent. That’s one of the reasons it was so popular in Russia, nobody had anything.
So maybe the plan is to make chess popular again. All of us unemployed folks can spend our time playing chess.
The Mascot said,
March 12, 2009 at 9:57 am
Obama’s anti-gun policy is also a slap in the face to the eggish community.
Due to our fragile shells, we eggs use guns for self-defense rather than hand-to-hand combat. Pretty soon, eggs will have little recourse to fight against their oppressors (farmers and supermarkets).
Obama’s blatantly valuing omelets above freedom is galling, immoral, and unconstitutional.
PawnShaman said,
March 12, 2009 at 11:48 am
Chessed, interesting point. Maybe it really will be good for chess. People might actually break the nerdy stigma just because its free. When should we start brewing hard liqour in our tubs?
Mascot, I hear he is outlawing easter too. Something about the colors and racial undertones.
Rolling Pawns said,
March 12, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Chessed, there was a discussion on Canadian ChessTalk some time ago, where some people shared your point of view:
“Legend has it that during the last depression, in the last century, … chess gained popularity. It’s not like there was a lot to do. Listen to the wife talk about the job you didn’t have or go play chess. It was a no brainer and when you get down to it, who really ever wants to work?”
Chessed said,
March 12, 2009 at 8:11 pm
In the USSR chess was popular because it was cheap – but also because it got a lot of attention in the press. I met a few of the first wave of immigrants in the late ’70’s, and the casual chess fan in the USSR would have been a decent tournament player here. But chess got more press there in the newspapers than the major sports do here.
Of course in about ten more years we won’t have any newspapers here. But we get our chess information from the internet so it’s a completely different world. I also suspect there is a boom in chess right now, but it’s happening on the internet. If we can just get some of those players into playing with a set and board…
As one of the great unwashed (?) unemployed I’d have to say that I’d prefer working – as much as I don’t like it on occasion. My joke about having become a Democrat when I was laid off is getting old – and there isn’t much of a demand for Civil Engineers specializing in Land Development right now.
CRZ said,
March 12, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Chess & politics… Where’s Gary?
Last week I was at a political rally and a chess game broke out.
Raul said,
March 13, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Great writing!
anonymous said,
March 14, 2009 at 9:20 am
“Bring back chess and pantyhose.”
+1
Brenan said,
March 15, 2009 at 9:00 am
“Chances are your taxes will actually be lower under the big O, unless you make more than 200K a year. ”
Yeah but considering 100k is the new minimum wage and married couples file jointly, 99% of us make well over that.
In a metro area people make even more. In NYC for example single people can earn 200k and not even have white collar jobs. This is the crap that happens when you vote for the candidate that MTV told you to vote for. At least you have your hopechange. Good luck spending that.
The Mascot said,
March 16, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I hear he is outlawing easter too.
Yes! No more immoral and degrading egg hunts!
But I think most eggs will see this as a political ploy to get our vote back. It won’t work.