What did the writer mean?

All Things Chess
1

“Judging by some of the building jobs we’ve seen lately, the bricklayers
spend their off days watching chess matches.”

The above quote is from a small town Washington State newspaper in 1928. What did the person mean, probably a man. Maybe he thought the bricklayers were working slow. Maybe the patterns of the bricks looked like chess boards.
What are your thoughts.

Russell Miller, Camas WA

2

Given the hemlines that year, maybe chess was the only thing that cauaght their eye.

3

Were they the ones that built the Tacoma Narrows bridge?

Bill Smythe

4

Maybe after laying twenty bricks, the bricklayers agreed to call it a day.

5

At the time 1,000 bricks a day was standard. He may have been commenting on the smouth surface, like a chess board.

6

The builders were making forty or less moves in the first two hours.