# I can make you an ace chess player, archer, or both. Any takers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 14, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142 "2010-10-14T16:11:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/21 "2010-10-14T17:08:51Z")
We have to be wearing it? Is it some big ugly obvious thing? Can I carry it in my pocket or hide it under my shirt? I think I’d take the chess. Archery doesn’t interest me. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/22 "2010-10-14T17:09:36Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > I’ll take a two-fer. I play chess and I shoot, but neither one at an olympic or obsessive level. In fact, tonight is archery night. I was also distressed last night to realize that my computer can easily kick my ass at chess. I’d love to teach it a lesson. Maybe I’ll shoot it. > > By the way, I assume from your former replies that I won’t make any gains with the Kalashnikov due to this amulet. Not that I’m asking, I don’t like bees. Why would I give away the amulets that make you an ace shot with the Kalashnikov? Those are useful. Obvious applications both for money-making and basic evil. > [@davidm](#): > > We have to be wearing it? Is it some big ugly obvious thing? They fit on a necklace and are easily concealed by a t-shirt. Unless go around shirtless all the time no one will notice. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/23 "2010-10-14T17:13:21Z")
Both, please. One step closer to being The Most Interesting Man In The Room. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/24 "2010-10-14T17:26:44Z")
I’ll take archery. I enjoy chess, but I get frustrated with it. To me, Archery is simply a graceful and rather beautiful sport / art. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/25 "2010-10-14T17:27:34Z")
I think this leads to an interesting point. Wouldn’t being able to play at a grandmaster level, even if only while wearing the amulet, be a learning experience in itself? In other words, would I eventually be able to play at that level (or at least better than I do now) even without the amulet, or does it give me some sort of amnesia about what happened while I was wearing it? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/26 "2010-10-14T17:27:53Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > :: reads manual for useless devices :: > > Says “archery-related skills equal to that possessed by Legolas son of Thranduil.” I’d say maintenance & construction are implied, and the index to the manual agrees. Awesome! **Sunspace the Archer** it is! ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/27 "2010-10-14T17:30:55Z")
I’ll take archery, please. I’ve got my green costume and mask all picked out. Next step - convincing Mrs. Magill that she needs to start martial arts classes, and buy more fishnet stockings. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/28 "2010-10-14T17:32:51Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I think this leads to an interesting point. Wouldn’t being able to play at a grandmaster level, even if only while wearing the amulet, be a learning experience in itself? In other words, would I eventually be able to play at that level (or at least better than I do now) even without the amulet, or does it give me some sort of amnesia about what happened while I was wearing it? I gathered from the OP that you wouldn’t have any bad side effects, and I would rank temporary (especially focused) amnesia as “not good.” (Still waiting by my receiver, **StR.** ) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/29 "2010-10-14T17:39:00Z")
> [@Lare](#): > > > [@davidm](#): > > > > I think this leads to an interesting point. Wouldn’t being able to play at a grandmaster level, even if only while wearing the amulet, be a learning experience in itself? In other words, would I eventually be able to play at that level (or at least better than I do now) even without the amulet, or does it give me some sort of amnesia about what happened while I was wearing it? > > I gathered from the OP that you wouldn’t have any bad side effects, and I would rank temporary (especially focused) amnesia as “not good.” No amnesia. But the increased experience you have of winning strategies may not translate into the same level of play without the amulet, on account not having the increased pattern recognition and such sans amulet. Likewise the benefits of exercise you get if you use the archery amulet a lot will stay with you. > [@](#): > > (Still waiting by my receiver, **StR.** ) I answered you in the same post that I responded to **Bricker**. I’d quote myself but Rhymers refuse to scroll up for reasons that need not concern you. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/30 "2010-10-14T17:52:25Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > [@Lare](#): > > > > (Still waiting by my receiver, **StR.** ) > > I answered you in the same post that I responded to **Bricker**. I’d quote myself but Rhymers refuse to scroll up for reasons that need not concern you. I meant I was waiting by my receiver for my amulet, sir. Having saved you the scrolling might I expect that I will also receive a nice box in which to keep it when not needing to fire arrows at marginally better chess players? ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/31 "2010-10-14T17:55:16Z")
I’ll take a “does both” amulet please. As I am firmly on the side of accepting when good is enough 90th percentile in two skills is clearly a much better deal. Besides it’s not likely that 99.9% is going to get me anything since there are going to be 432 new masters at both skills running around the world. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/32 "2010-10-14T18:13:30Z")
Archery, please. I’ve never had much interest in chess, but there’s a hell of a lot I could do with archery. Hell, at the very least I could supplement my meals with venison from the forests nearby. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/33 "2010-10-14T18:33:09Z")
> [@Lare](#): > > > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > > I answered you in the same post that I responded to **Bricker**. I’d quote myself but Rhymers refuse to scroll up for reasons that need not concern you. > > I meant I was waiting by my receiver for my amulet, sir. Having saved you the scrolling might I expect that I will also receive a nice box in which to keep it when not needing to fire arrows at marginally better chess players? Get your own freaking box. This whole dealio’s happening at a loss as it is. I’m just clearing out space in the stockroom to make room for the anti-zombie weaponry. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/34 "2010-10-14T18:42:55Z")
[quote=“Skald\_the\_Rhymer, post:33, topic:557142”] > [@Lare](#): > > Get your own freaking box. This whole dealio’s happening at a loss as it is. I’m just clearing out space in the stockroom to make room for the anti-zombie weaponry. Zombies are your friends. Rather, zombies are **my** friends so I’ll take all the remaining archer amulets for my soon-to-be enlisted zombie army. (I just realized this is hijacking the thread. I’ll stop now.) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/35 "2010-10-14T18:45:42Z")
[quote=“Lare, post:34, topic:557142”] > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Zombies are your friends. Rather, zombies are **my** friends so I’ll take all the remaining archer amulets for my soon-to-be enlisted zombie army. > > (I just realized this is hijacking the thread. I’ll stop now.) Zombies are nobody’s friends. Zombies are idiots. And there’s no such thing as a zombie army, as they know no master but their hunger and no discipline but the flamethrower and/or rocket propelled grenade. That is what _zombie_ means. How can you hijack a thread in the forum for pointless things started by the guy on record as saying his threads are supposed to be ridiculous? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/36 "2010-10-14T18:46:57Z")
We want boxes! :stomps foot: ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/37 "2010-10-14T18:55:37Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Zombies are nobody’s friends. Zombies are idiots. And there’s no such thing as a zombie army, as they know no master but their hunger and no discipline but the flamethrower and/or rocket propelled grenade. That is what _zombie_ means. > > How can you hijack a thread in the forum for pointless things started by the guy on record as saying his threads are supposed to be ridiculous? Maybe I have a box full of amulets that allow me to order zombies around. Did you consider that? I didn’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/38 "2010-10-14T18:59:05Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s not so much that it’s chess-only abilities, but rather that you can only trigger the skills while playing chess. Of course you could probably multitask; tha tis, instead of playing 5 ordinary people in the park at once, just play two or three and use the unused extra brainpower for something else. Awesome, I’ll take a chess-only one, and then immediately enroll in a correspondence chess club. That way, I’m _always_ playing chess. And I know that the brainpower that leads to good chess play is not identical to that which leads to good physics, but there’s bound to be significant overlap, and it can’t hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/39 "2010-10-14T19:02:21Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > I’ll take a “does both” amulet please. As I am firmly on the side of accepting when good is enough 90th percentile in two skills is clearly a much better deal. Besides it’s not likely that 99.9% is going to get me anything since there are going to be 432 new masters at both skills running around the world. Less after the Legolases start slaying the chess champions. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142/40 "2010-10-14T19:04:10Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > It’s not so much that it’s chess-only abilities, but rather that you can only trigger the skills while playing chess. Of course you could probably multitask; tha tis, instead of playing 5 ordinary people in the park at once, just play two or three and use the unused extra brainpower for something else. > > Awesome, I’ll take a chess-only one, and then immediately enroll in a correspondence chess club. That way, I’m _always_ playing chess. > > And I know that the brainpower that leads to good chess play is not identical to that which leads to good physics, but there’s bound to be significant overlap, and it can’t hurt. I don’t do physics except as an oberver, but I play chess and regularly kick professional chemist-sister’s ass; this despite the fact that she is probably smarter than me in every other way. Admittedly I have a ten-year-head start on playing, but it’s not like she’s a kid anymore. Anyway – IS there any overlap? Not a rhetorical question, and anybody who wants to answer should feel free. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-make-you-an-ace-chess-player-archer-or-both-any-takers/557142.md?page=3)