English Chess Forum

Are chess players more geeky than road cyclists?

I couldn't say about geekiness, but I've always noticed a bit of overlap between cyclists and chess players, myself included. Possibly to do with the solitary nature of both activities?

Nick Thomas wrote:Are chess players more geeky than road cyclists?

You mean 'geekier than'.

I find chess players are more geekier.

We look less good in lycra

On the whole

Andy Stoker wrote:We look less good in lycra

Speak for yourself!

Speak - and smell. My wife collected me once from a tournament and recoiled from the fragrant aroma as she opened the door. I now have to walk 50m up the road.

Or cycle home.

I have played Competitive Chess for 37 years (177 ecf at the mo) and also am a racing cyclist. Mainly time trial but some road races. Last year I combined the two (sort of ) and took the Sunday morning off the Staffordshire Congress and went for a ride with the club and then diverted to play the afternoon match in Full Club Lycra , then road home . Think I got 70 miles in and a win at chess. I do have a picture but a 55 year old in Lycra may put you off your dinner

To answer your question Road cyclists are no where near as geeky as chess players.

John Upham wrote:

Andy Stoker wrote:We look less good in lycra

Speak for yourself!

"Lycra is a privilege, not a right."

Tim Krabbé seems to be spending more time on cycling than Chess in recent years.

In his online diary he even had to put the following back in 2009.

http://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/chess2/diary.htm

384. 14 February 2009: I'm fine, but...

Several readers have expressed their concerns about my health, as I had not updated this Diary in over 4 months. In fact, I had only added one new item in the 4½ months before that. Thanks for worrying, but don't - my health is perhaps too good for this Diary, as I'm devoting more and more time to my other sport, cycling. And to my real work, writing fiction.

No, if you're referring to the cyclists who always have a state of the art machine and dress up like spiderman. I take great pleasure in burning them off on my rusty old ex-commuting bike with its full size mudguards, dressed in t-shirt and old track suit bottoms.

Interesting that you confine your question to road cyclists. So-called 'mountain bikers' also have a case to answer. I once saw a lad pay £160 for a helmet in a local bike shop. Very often you see them on terrain which is quicker to travel over on foot. Why spoil a nice walk by lugging a bike around with you?

Going back to an earlier time, if you asked your search engine (indeed pre-Google) to search for BCF - it inevitably came up with British Cycling Federation rather than British Chess Federation.

I see now that the BCF is no more - it's now British Cycling!

A footnote to this - a search of ECF puts the English Chess Federation above the European Cyclists' Federation!

Reg Clucas wrote: I take great pleasure in burning them off on my rusty old ex-commuting bike with its full size mudguards, dressed in t-shirt and old track suit bottoms.

Here is a challenge for you: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazin ... r-28056499

Neil Graham wrote: A footnote to this - a search of ECF puts the English Chess Federation above the European Cyclists' Federation!

You shouldn't read too much into this. Google is apt to customise the order of presented results based on what you have searched for previously on the same computer.

Roger de Coverly wrote:

Neil Graham wrote: A footnote to this - a search of ECF puts the English Chess Federation above the European Cyclists' Federation!

You shouldn't read too much into this. Google is apt to customise the order of presented results based on what you have searched for previously on the same computer.

I must have searched for the European Cyclists' Federation before then - it outstripped the E-Cigarette Forum, East Coast Fittings and the European Climate Foundation!