A Covid Isolation Activity Suggestion

Find an old chess friend who you haven’t played a game with in a while. Reconnect with a postal chess challenge and play a pair of games, one as White and one as Black. Play the games purely with post cards or first class mail. No server and no moves via email.

I just did that and now have two games going with Brian Mottershead. It’s fun to see the envelope in the mail and go to the board to set up the game to consider my move.

If you want to have more contact than just relaying moves then you could make a phone call to relate the moves, and if it doesn’t go to voice mail then you can discuss other things. Depending on your phone plan it may be cheaper than a stamp and also skips the (microscopically low) chance of transmission from the surface of the post card. All while being more environmentally friendly by not using the resources to make the postcard or stamp.

If you prefer ensuring the longer thinking time involved then postcards work fine. After all, if you are both isolating at home it’s not like you’ll need a vacation extension to accommodate one of you being on a trip.

It’s simply more fun to get the envelope in the mail. The risk is minimal. I open the letter with the cards wearing the nitril gloves I use to get the mail from the box and drop the cards out on the table before throwing the envelope out and discarding the gloves.

My, God! That seems excessive to me! I’m 71 and I nearly died last year from bacterial meningitis. I just live my life. I wash my hands a little more than I use to and I wear a mask when required to by work or when I am with other people who do.

Statistics suggest that I am unlikely to live forever.

If we’re doomed by the resources used to make a post card or a stamp, it’s all over.

a little common sense goes a long way. i’m in your camp, Mr Seki.

Cheers, …scot…

I’ll be 71 in October. I do hope to see 90 as a number of my grandparents did. I live alone with my two cats and only go out for essentials. Isolation is a real drag, but we will be needed after the international collapse of Capitalism. A least I hope that will be the case. :slight_smile:

Daily I drive pass multiple long lines of cars idling pollutants into our sweet air waiting for Starbucks coffee. In addition, coffee is not a locally sourced product and must be transported long distances in environmentally harmful ways.

Coffee is more likely to kill the planet than envelopes or stamps.

Live Long and Prosper, My Friend. Myself, I have no desire to see 90. Everyone I knew who was 90+ was not having what I would call a quality time.

The wonders of genetics project a lifespan of less than ten years for me based on family history. Should I be graced with living 24 years or more years into my 90’s, I want to be a holy terror in the senior tournaments.

The internet and Zoom-style media make stamp and post card correspondence chess too archaic and expensive. I have been receiving touristy postcards from friends on travels around the US. I see that my next job is to teach them cursive writing and spelling. Sigh.

I would be interested in friendly postcard games (One white, one black) with two provisions:

a. No use of any books at any time
b. No use of any computers at any time

In other words, friendly over the board chess by postcards. Scouts Honor!

Any one interested can PM me so we can exchange addresses.

Three of my four grandparents died between ages 90 and 92 in their sleep from heart failure. They were all mobile and mentally sharp. I hope for the same. The only caveat is that of global warming and/or more pestilence. Either or both of those might require a rethink on a cold night in mid-winter (if they still exist) from a nice mountain overlook with a good bottle of Scot’s single malt…

My friend and I have cut the cost of postal chess by playing two games at once and putting our moves in one first class envelope. We could cut it even more by just using one post card, but I have more faith for now in first class mail.

Good luck teaching cursive…have them print messages instead.

my great uncle was still golfing in his 90s.

…scot…