"I find that chess is very useful when travelling alone in Turkey. ...Take yourself to the nearest teahouse. Order a glass of tea, and another or Raki, and set up a chess problem. Within seconds Turks will appear. they won't play chess with you, but it starts a conversation. "I did this once and someone asked, "Can I practise my English with you?" His first question was: "How many princesses have you slept with?" So now you see the point of chess."
Members' chess sets
Quotes
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"She hung up and I set out the chess board. I filled a pipe, paraded the chessmen and inspected them for French shaves and loose buttons, and played a championship tournament game between Gortchakoff and Meninkin, seventy-two moves to a draw, a prize specimen of the irresistible force meeting the immovable object, a battle without armour, a war without blood, and as elaborate a waste of human intelligence as you could find anywhere outside an advertising agency." |
Raymond CHANDLER, The Long Goodbye, Chapter 24, final sentences. |