[simen]

Sounds like typical anti-politician bullshit. Most adults have at least a passing familiarity with the rules of chess, I don't see any reason why world leaders would be any different. Bill Clinton was on his university's chess team. Obama is said to play chess, although he never played competitively. I suppose you don't count them as Western, but the Russians, of course, take chess extremely seriously. So seriously, in fact, that the new president of FIDE, Arkady Dvorkovich, was deputy prime minister of Russia until May of this year.

[0xBABAD00C]

> Most adults have at least a passing familiarity with the rules of chess

If anyone ever needed proof that HN lives in a bubble :)

[V-2]

In fact even those adults who do play chess more often than not don't really know the rules beyond a passing familiarity ;)

There was this funny piece at chess.com quoting some of the complaints they receive from angry users about capturing en passant: https://www.chess.com/article/view/his-pawn-cheated-and-kill... :)

[simen]

I did say passing familiarity, which is not a very high bar to clear. It's been my experience, and I don't travel much in rarefied intellectual circles.

[V-2]

How strong a player is Mr. Dvorkovich though? While he did become the president of FIDE, he doesn't seem to even have a rating: https://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=34404449

[simen]

I don't know, but if the standard of comparison is Napoleon he doesn't need to be particularly good. There's even a bad opening named after him because he was known to be a mediocre player.

[V-2]

Right; although to be fair to Napoleon, back in his era chess was generally on a much lower level compared to nowadays.

[Theodores]

Not at all. Genuine observation.

My last game of chess was three weeks ago and I lost. This was after a 3-4 year break from the game as my chess buddy moved out of town. I know what it is to be rusty!

Due to an increase in world population it can be pedantically argued that chess is more popular now than it ever has been.

However, when The Turk existed people did not have video games to play. People had to make do with board games including chess. People also played card games such as Bridge, a game that is practically extinct in the current era.

A different level of concentration is required to play chess than that required for Fortnite, Candy Crush, Forza Horizon and other popular titles. Nowadays most people do not know how good their friends are at chess, in previous times people did know who was worth playing and who was not worth playing.

Everyone from the Baby Boomer generation should have some knowledge of chess as it was part of growing up, it is what people did at some stage of education if you were in the 'top sets'. However, playing chess at school or even university is a long time ago for Baby Boomer vintage politicians. Knowing how to play the game fifty years ago is not the same as being able to play today.

Bill Clinton is from a generation ago, he is not a current politician. As for Obama I am sure he can play chess but in his photo opportunities he spent his time playing golf, not chess. I am sure he knows the rules of the game and can play extremely competitively, however I doubt that he would be queuing up to take on The Turk or today's IBM chess monster equivalent.

So in today's crop of Western leaders there is The Donald. Casinos and golf, not chess. I am struggling to think of anyone in UK politics that is known for playing chess. It is not in their culture. David Cameron playing Candy Crush, that was a thing though.

As for Russia, the home of the game, Putin is not known for playing chess. He is known for judo, horse riding and many sports, not chess. I doubt you would have to go very far in his cabinet to find sharp players though.

You read in the Wikipedia page about how many powerful leaders sought out a game with the Turk. I am not politician bashing at all by my comment that the world has changed and that I can't imagine the current crop of Western leaders queuing up to take on The Turk.

[baud147258]

> Putin is not known for playing chess. He is known for judo, horse riding and many sports, not chess

I think it's the image Putin wants to project, as a man of action, not an intellectual.