Life Lessons from Washington Square Park By, Josh Keller

Make no mistake you will lose your money but it's a small price to pay for real knowledge.

Pimpwiz.com went to Washington Square to see what all the hype was about. While we obviously lost every game to the hustlers, there was life lessons learned that were priceless.
Last week, our chess hustler was a kind hearted and decided he would share some intimate chess lessons that also translate into some great life/business lessons.

Here are some of his thoughts about playing the "game":

"Never under estimate your opponents ability to be deceive you into moving your pieces in the exact positions he wants you to in order to accomplish his objective"

"Move your best piece into the most logical position and play the game straight up without leaving yourself vunerable"

"You always need to diversify your position and create space between like minded pieces. If you put everything you have closely together you are leaving yourself open for attack and you will be trapped by your own moves."

More to come as there are many more life lessons to learn down at the Washington Square Chess Corner.

"New York’s outdoor chess mecca is Washington Square Park, in the heart of Greenwich Village, where former world champion Bobby Fischer got his start in the 1950s. But a city plan to renovate the park may leave the fabled “chess circle” unrecognizable to the thousands of tourists who come to view the spot they’ve seen immortalized on television and in films.
Chess fans who want to play on the old stone tables should come to New York before June, when half the park will be closed for renovation. After that, game-seekers will still have other outdoor options around town.
Washington Square has long been home to the chess hustle, where a hustler, often a homeless man, invites bystanders to play speed chess, also known as “blitz chess,” for $5 a game. Each player starts with five minutes on his clock; after each move, he stops the countdown. Short of checkmate, whoever runs out of time first, loses.
On a recent spring evening, a burly hustler played a clean-cut young man who sat hunched over the table, studying his moves.
“It’s about time management,” the hustler said to onlookers, interrupting the conversation only to glance at the board for a quick move. He had used about 30 seconds of his five minutes; his challenger had less than three minutes to go.
As the seconds ticked off the digital clock, the young guy stopped the timer with one second remaining.
“I’m in trouble,” he moaned.
“Don’t worry about the time,” said the hustler. “I’ll be nice. You can make one more move.”
The guy moved a final piece and lost anyway, forking over the $5. The hustler suggested they play another game.
According to Mig Greengard, a colleague of Gary Kasparov’s who writes weekly e-newsletters at ChessNinja.com, the hustlers always win, but they make it look close—-seducing people into trying again." [Via jscms.jrn.columbia.edu]