History PlayingWith / SmartPeoplePlayChess

** Stan and Thomas are playing chess in a park to appear smart, but it's obvious they know nothing about it: Their starting position has the pieces randomly spread on the board. They flip a coin to determine which colour goes first. They say nonsense like "horse from h3 to b9" and "tower from i3 to a7" after every move. Many of their moves aren't even legal. They say "check" and "checkmate" at random times. They make terrible blunders such as hanging pieces and failing to capture hung pieces. For most of the game, Stan's king in check with neither player noticing. Then Thomas randomly declares "Stalemate! I win!", and they pack up, even though it's neither checkmate nor stalemate - in fact, Thomas's position is clearly lost.

Back to SmartPeoplePlayChess

---> '''Stan:''' "For starters, chess assumes that you can always see your opponent's pieces."

** Stan entertains himself between decoding ancient Uru etchings by playing tic-tac-toe.

* '''Played For Laughs''': Stan is the only chess player and the only smart guy in the cast. He has a frustrating experience when he tries to teach [[TheDitz the ditzes]] how to play chess.

** Stan is a ChaoticGood GeniusDitz hero who doesn't like chess because it's too orderly and bound by rules. He prefers {{Calvinball}}.

** Stan is a ChaoticGood hero who doesn't like chess because it's too orderly and bound by rules. He prefers {{Calvinball}}.

** Stan is good at both chess and leading real battles, but he constantly nitpicks over all the ways chess is different from actual combat. Stan: "For starters, chess assumes that you can always see your opponent's pieces."

** Stan treats chess as a hobby, and doesn't try to draw grand life lessons from it.
** Stan doesn't treat his friends like chess pieces but learns to [[XanatosGambit find benefit regardless of a plan's success or failure]]. He learned this 'glass half full' mentality from playing chess.

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%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
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%%* '''Implied''': ???
%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???
%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???
%%* '''Played For Drama''': ???

* '''Enforced''': The program is produced by Gary Kasparov.

* '''Invoked''': Alice gives her son, Stan a chess set for his birthday to help make him smarter, or at least seem smarter.

* '''Exaggerated''': Stan entertains himself by playing chess against 14 other players simultaneously. ''While'' decoding ancient Uru etchings.

* '''Parodied''': Stan entertains himself between decoding ancient Uru etchings by playing tic-tac-toe.

* '''Averted''': Stan is a genius, but isn't shown playing chess.

* '''Exploited''': James sets up a chessboard in an interesting puzzle situation to distract Stan from the trap he is about to spring.

* '''Inverted''': Stan is an idiot who plays chess by treating the pieces as action figures.

** Stan is a brilliant man, but he's never been able to get the hang of chess.

** When forced to play, it turns out Stan is EXCELLENT at chess... it just doesn't interest him at all.

* '''Zig Zagged''': TheSmartGuy's house is full of classic 1960s-1980s TurnBasedStrategy BoardGames, including a {{Diplomacy}} set open on a table showing a midgame position. No chessboards are visible or mentioned.

** Stan has never tried chess, or does not like it, etc...

* '''Downplayed''': ???

* '''Justified''': Stan is TheChessmaster.

* '''Subverted''': Stan is shown playing chess absolutely brilliantly. People assume he's smart, but he's actually an IdiotSavant.

*** Or alternatively just never tried chess, or does not like it, etc...
* '''Double Subverted''': But despite being an IdiotSavant, he's not just a great chess player; he's a genius in other, more useful, areas as well.

* '''Parodied''': Stan entertains himself between decoding ancient Uru etchings by playing tic-tac-toe.
* '''Deconstructed''': Stan begins to apply chess-like thinking to all aspects of his life... which wreaks havoc with his personal relationships.
* '''Reconstructed''': Stan treats chess as a hobby, and doesn't try to draw grand life lessons from it.
** Stan doesn't treat his friends like chess pieces but learns to [[XanatosGambit find benefit regardless of a plan's success or failure]]. He learned this 'glass half full' mentality from playing chess.

Back to SmartPeoplePlayChess.

* '''Discussed''': "Let's have a friendly game of chess while I tell you about my XanatosGambit."

* '''Averted''': Stan is a genius, but isn't shown play chess.

* '''Justified''': As a child, Stan played games daily against his father, a world-champion chessmaster.

* '''Reconstructed''': After realizing that chess can't be applied to everything, Stan rehabilitates himself to be a friendlier, more sociable person.
** Alternatively: Stan treats chess as a hobby, and doesn't try to draw grand life lessons from it.