Check Mate!

I like to take note of what other people are reading. Usually it gives some sort of clue as to what’s popular. Like I’ve been seeing a lot of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” But sometimes it just fascinates me. Like the guy on the L train reading “Practical Chess Exercises.”

Of course the first thing that popped into my head was weight lifting with two rooks or maybe two pawns with more reps. Or maybe an aerobics class incorporating the king and queen pieces and the timer. It could just be a set of arm isolation exercises that consist of forward/backward movements when you move your knight to D5 or as you knock down your king for “checkmate.”

It was probably a book on much more intelligent, brain exercises than that but that made me wonder what “impractical chess exercises” would be. Would playing checkers be impractical? Surely a game of checkers would have some benefit. The board is very similar and the pieces more difficult to pick up. And any piece can become king; it’s very democratic.

Playing a chess game on the subway would definitely be an impractical exercise. Your king would be in jeopardy all the time. All those jolts and turns. Plus you’d most likely have to get on at the first stop and ride it to the last to finish your game.

By the time I finished contemplating all that, I had missed my stop. Impractical Subway Exercise I guess…