Chess Between Strangers

Timothy Taylor, writing in the Globe & Mail, reminisces of a time when a game of chess was that conduit between strangers.

In this professionalized environment, the travel chess set is highly anachronistic. From the era of Atlantic crossings and six-week visits to Venice for the air, the travel chess set was intended to give strangers a way to bridge the long gaps that used to arise while travelling: gaps in time created by inevitable delays, and the social gap between strangers, which could be bridged politely and enjoyably over a game.

Read more in Make the time for a slow game with strangers.