They're loud and they hog seats!

I think that the mall owners have the right to kick those people out of the mall. A food court is not a public picnic, or park area. It is meant to be used to consume the food bought at the court.

I think that the chess players have a lot of nerve. They should be grateful that the mall will allow them to play during certain hours.

It's a well known fact that people who "play" chess are almost always psychopaths.

As are bridge addicts. They'd kill to garner that extra trick!

Checkmate 'em, Charley.

Loud chess players?

Well, you know, some of those chess pieces are made from some pretty heavy stuff. When a player makes a wrong move, and bangs his knight on the chess board, look out!

At least they are not overrun by those menacing Scrabble players.

Dominoes! That's where the mayhem is.

Mimes are too loud and rowdy as well...they ought to be banned from the parks and town squares.

Make mime a crime...Silence the silent.

Gets my vote.

Being a "quasi-retired" chess player myself, I find the behaviour of those in this story appalling and embarrassing.

It may be even been different if they all at least bought something every day that they played.

I would have kicked them out earlier.

Oh yeah.

One of my favourite cafes in Utrecht was a chess-players' hangout (now unfortunately bought up by some hot shot who revamped it as an ueberhip lounge-type abomination). Whenever two players play a game, or two times two play two games, four or five others sit or stand around them, giving advice or debating the next move with each other, with striking moves being accentuated with a slap on the table or a loud groan or some whooping. Loved it. Added exactly as needed to the rather random, colourful cast of characters at that cafe. Lot of "homeless" people in diaspora at nothing-quite-like-it places since that cafe changed owners (it was doing very well, too, by all appearances - I think the old man who ran it just wanted to stop).

In Holland, thats pretty exceptional. But in St Petersburg ten years ago I saw whole crowds of mostly older men, in a park or by the Nevsky, milling about the tables where chess games were going on, with clumps of meddlesome or sympathising old men surrounding each table, always again the concentrated silence of the game (observation) punctuated with exclamations or commiserations.

LOL, that was as good as Blatham's Squeeze-Us-Jesus

If you shoot a mime with a silenced pistol, is it still a crime?

in view of the upcoming federal election in canada, several malls have banned politicians from walking around the malls for political propaganda purposes . ie. trying to talk politics and get you to vote for them.
most people - except politicos - are quite pleased to be able to find sanctuary from political noise in the malls ... now if they'd ban muzak i'd be really happy . hbg

I think it is too bad that these elderly chess players have to find another place to play after they have been allowed to play in this location for so long. However, it is just wrong for non-paying customers to occupy seating when there are paying customers looking for a place to ba able to eat.

It would be nice if the town had a place for these people to go instead of the local mall. Our town has a pretty nice senior center. It is so well used that there are plans to build a new one.


I like the line about the mimes.