Sunday, November 25, 2007

PayPal Founder on Chess

After a long flight I am again here in my second most beloved metropolis. Despite the usual delay at Heathrow's baggage claim, this cold and the grey skies - I'm feeling quite good.

Let's see: a gay flight attendant who apparently took a fancy to yours truly slipped in a nice bottle of '05 Turkey Flat shiraz in my luggage; at Bangkok, our pilot announced the ALP's win in the federal elections (yeah baby!); and finally - I've just checked in to the Victoria Park Plaza and scored a room upgrade thanks to a very friendly Spanish lass. Though I think she just took pity on my exhausted countenance.

A good trip so far.

Anyway, on the plane I read this interesting take on our game by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. Thiel who, according to Fortune magazine, "was once ranked among the top under-21 chess players" in the U.S. says:

Taken too far, chess can become an alternate reality in which one loses sight of the real world...My chess ability was roughly at the limit. Had I become any stronger, there would have been some massive tradeoffs with success in other domains in life.

The entire article can be read here.

2 comments:

Ryan said...

Great location. I just hope the hotel has good double glazing to keep the noise out!

ejh said...

Unusually for a story about chess, or for that matter a business story about somebody who's made a lot of money, this may actually be accurate.