Jouer aux Bouquinistes

 Voici une petite nouvelle heureuse pour les lecteurs de ma région. J'ai trouvé cette photo il y a quelques jours sur la page Facebook des Bouquinistes. Il fallait que je la partage, parce que ma librairie préférée du Saglac et sans doute du Québec vient de prendre un degré de plus de coolitude. Parce que oui, imaginez-vous donc qu'on peut maintenant y jouer aux échecs, au backgammon et aux dames. Bon, je n'ai pas joué à ces jeux depuis des années. Et je vais à Chicoutimi très rarement. Mais quand même, les jeux de société, surtout ceux qui demandent de la concentration et du silence, ça se joue bien dans une librairie. En fait, une librairie est pas mal le lieu idéal pour y jouer.

Classic Games Compendium

During on eof my last visits to the local toy shop, I saw this board games box. A Classic Games Compendium, with "over 100 classic family games." That is a lot of games for a single box, maybe too many. I mean, is the rulebook as big as a dictionary? And what if it is in many languages? I can see just on the cover checkers, chess, dominoes and backgammon. My grandmother had a special board like this, with many games included in it, but a handful, not a hundred. It might be practical, but I kind of prefer to have a good set of each.

Backgammon, Checkers and Chess Board

 I took this picture a few weeks ago, when I saw this board through a shop window. As you can see, it is a backgammon board, but there are also checkers and chess pieces. So I suspect the other side of the board allows you to play the other games. My grandma had a similar board, that was gigantic. One side was for chess, the other was for various board games. We loved it. I like the idea of a single set for various classic board games, especially when it looks fancy like this one. It looks as an elegant piece of furniture and gives a room character. If money and space were no objection, I'd buy it.

The Chess Player's Bible

When I go to the local bookshop, I often find treasures. Actually, that's not true: I always find treasures. In fact, I find so many treasures that I cannot buy them all. So yeah, I stumbled upon The Chess Player's Bible in the children section, of all places. I blogged about chess recently, it's one game I used to be quite into as a child, but I stopped a while ago. I suggested to buy it to Wolfie, but he was not interested. A shame: one of his best friends loves chess and I know they've played a few times together. But anyway, I just thought it was nice to have it in the children books section.

Giant Chessboard

During our last trip to London, we went to a park. I can't remember the name now. But anyway, it had a few interesting things there, such as a giant chessboard, with its pieces. A grandfather and his granddaughter were playing it, but they allowed me to take a picture. Not the best shot, but it gives you an idea. I used to love playing chess as a child, but stopped playing when I reached teenage. I hope I can find another giant chessboard one day and it's free. So I can maybe play a game with it. I don't think I would be very good (I never was), but it would be thrilling.

Question existentielle (386)

 Une question existentielle inspirée de mon billet d'hier. La voici:

-Aux échecs, préférez-vous utiliser les pièces blanches ou les pièces noires?

Apprendre les échecs

La fin de semaine dernière, Wolfie est allé voir une amie pour une "play date". Elle a une fascination pour les échecs, allez savoir pourquoi. Elle s'est entiché du jeu il ya quelques mois à l'école et maintenant, elle les apprend avec application et discipline. Par conséquent, Wolfie a commencé à apprendre à jouer aux échecs. Je suis heureux, il fût un temps où j'adorais jouer aux échecs et j'aime quand Wolfie apprend des jeux éducatifs et intelligents. Je crois comprendre qu'il ne joue pas en suivant les règles rigoureusement comme son amie, mais ça fait partie de son apprentissage. Son amie va dans un club le samedi et je sais qu'elle aimerait que Wolfie aille avec elle.

The Coolest Chess Pieces

I found this picture in the Facebook page of the British Museum a few days ago. They are called Lewis Chessmen because they were found on the Isle of Lewis, but they were carved in Norway around 1150-1200. You can read more about it here. I shared them on this blog today because,while I have played chess since childhoodand owned many sets, I never ever seen such beautifully, meticulously crafted ones. And although I haven't played chess for years, I want to own a set like this one.

Chess

I took this picture in Totnes in Devon during their carnival procession (I think). I am using it because it illustrates tonight's topic, which is the ancient game of chess. I haven't played chess for years" Last time was not even playing "properly": it was against our old computer, on our old laptop, when I was unemployed and bored. But there was a time when I was an avid chess player: first playing mostly against my brother PJ, then against my best friend during childhood. I played chess from the age of eight until early teenage, then stopped. I have never been a good player: too impatient, unable to think ahead much, etc. I did play in a tournament in secondary school when I managed to beat two adversaries before being eliminated, but otherwise, I was not exactly Gary Kasparov. I think what I liked most about chess is the aesthetic of it: the black and white chess board and armies, the look of the pieces, etc. It is soberly elegant. So yes, I would like to play it again one day. Oh and on a side note, anybody knows who was Miss Torbay in 2014 and if she was meant to be the white queen?).

Viking chess

Today, my wife and I went to the local May Fayre with her friend, her friend's daughter (Buffy's owner) and her friend's daughter's friend. As I often mentioned them and I need to find them a nickname to make things easier, I will call them from now on the trio of Valkyries. Even by reading the title of this post, you can guess why I had this inspiration for this name...

Because there was at the May Fayre a Viking display, with people reenacting Viking fights and so on. As my wife and her friend were having Pimm's (their first of the year), the two girls wandered around the fayre with me the responsible adult (hum, hum!) and they ended up at the Viking display. Various artifacts were The girls were fascinated by the drinking horn and the small dice and many trivial things, but I was fascinated by this board. The woman at the display explained that it was a Viking chess board, also called Tafl. There is a king in the middle, surrounded by his guards. When you play the pieces on the edge, your aim is to capture/attack the king, if you play the pieces at the center it is to protect the king. From the researches I made, there seems to be no clear rules we kept from the time it was played. Oh and there is a dragon on the board, although I wonder how authentic this is. In any case, the dragon adds to the coolness. The woman told me that you can still buy Tafl boards. It is now one of my new projects: find one, buy it, play it.