Beer and Chess?

Does anyone else enjoy the combination?

when i get a chance its good to have a tinny in one hand and the mouse in the other lol.

but it leads to some unexpected discoveries the next time you make moves if you have a few more than planned....it can lead to resigning a slew of games in short order

Fat Tire (amber ale;)

  In the 50's and 60's there was no better place to drink beer and play chess than the Woodlawn Tap, University of Chicago.

amac7079 wrote:

but it leads to some unexpected discoveries the next time you make moves if I you have a few more than planned....it can lead to resigning a slew of games in short order

I try not to do anything online if I'm in my cups.. a few too many xgfs I might e-mail....  :)

I do enjoy a few quaffs during a chess game, though; I try to make it a social activity like poker.  I've found, through extensive "research", that people will make bolder, more exciting moves if they think you're, um, unfit to play to the fullest of your ability.  Many times, these kinds of moves will be far better than what they would normally have played..

Play a scotch game.

Classic Scotch opening with the pieces filled with scotch. Much better than beer.

  In Honduras the national beer is called Salva Vida (Lifesaver). 

Fat Tire!! Well done phishcake5!!!

My beer depends on the game. If I want to do a tactical brawl, I try to keep it light with Pilsner Urquell. If I want to grind it out slow, I hit the Guinness Extra Stout. And if I'm feeling like a gambiteer, I'll drink something different like Saporo. Funny story, I actually played one of my best chess games ever against Fritz when I was well into a sixer. I'll have to see if I can round that game up to annotate for everyone.

Just noticed that this threads instigators handle is beer....that's dedication.

Um, since I'm a little to buzzed to play chess right now I thought I'd share the Beer Me review in the latest issue of Dirt Rag that I just pulled out the mails this evening.

Summer Fruit Beers From The Dark Side

By Alastair Bland

The marketing folks who have swindled so many into believing that Corona with lime is the appropriate beverage for slow times on the beach have also perpetuated another lie--that fruit beers must be bright, cheerful and summery.

So we decided to take an exploratory expedition into the supermarket beer aisle, past so many thirst-quenching cliches of berry, cherry and apricot, seeking to uncover the darker, badder beasts of the fruit beer category.  What we found may redefine your impression of what fruit beers are, entice you away from boring industry standards, and land in a realm of summertime stouts, porters and brown beers through which the sun scarcely shines and in which darkness hangs as deep as the winter is long.

Chocolate, a derivative of six-inch pods that hang from branches in the tropical jungle, is a form of fruit, and Rogue's Chocolate Stout is a fruit beer.  Sold in 22oz. "bombers," this one is fit for two.  Poured into a glass, a thick head lies like dirty snow over the pitch black beer.  Woody fudge is present in the aroma, while the bittersweet taste tends further toward chocolate mousse.  Buried deep within the body is a faint raspberry essence.  Go figure.

Further into the heart of darkness we forged to find a beer made from that other fruit-in-disguise, coffee.  Fuel Cafe, a coffee stout from Milwaukee's Lakefront Brewery, wears a massive head for the first moments before settling to an eerie, black silence.  The beer is slightly sour, of chocolate, dark raisins and coffee notes.  Light-bodied and 5.9% ABV, this beer goes down without complaint on a hot day.

In the slightly lighter spectrum, we tried Avery Brewing's 2008 Anniversary Ale, a pink-hued oddity brewed to mark the company's 15th year of life.  Made with black Mission figs, the beer was also brewed with Brettanomyces yeast, a wild strain that can go airborne and which winemakers fear like the devil, for "Brett" yeast will turn booze sour.  In this ale, that's the point, and the beer is starkly pungent.  The fig flavor hides furtively, and more apparent are fresh scents of livestock, horse and hay.  A strong beer, it's one for the brave.

We also tasted Raison D'Etre from Dogfish Head, always up to something in its crafty niche of big-beer brewing.  An 8% alcohol mahogany Belgian made with green raisins and beet sugar, Raison smells and tastes of smoky grass, prunes and thick caramel, all followed by a soft creamy finish, all followed by a soft creamy finish.  It's perhaps the best Dogfish brew we've reviewed.

Schmaltz Brewing Company, whose motto runs "He'brew: The Chosen Beer," Takes a comical yet sacred approach to beer, and the Origin Pomegranate Ale is heavy as marble and dark as a church (or temple).  Its big, malty body carries an aroma of flowers, the deadly bitterness of an IPA and the tartness of pomegranate.

The best we have saved for last.  It comes from Maui Brewing Company, and in a 12oz. can: the stunning CoCoNut PorTeR (they spell it like that).  Available throughout California with distribution spreading fast, the beer is winning awards left, right and center.  Crack it open, drink it from a glass and savor each sip.  On your tongue, the foam softens and the layers unveil: satin chocolate, silky butterscotch and --here it comes--sweet creamy coconut.  While apricot wheat and Lambic cherry may have cornered the market on fruit beers, this summer let the light beers lie, and drink in the dark side.

polosportply wrote:

Play a scotch game.

Classic Scotch opening with the pieces filled with scotch. Much better than beer.

 Hate the scotch....not much for the drink either.

http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/030508/beer-before-chess.gif

They go well together, but definitely make me a worse player.

With all this beer's talk, is making me thirsty, now I am drinking one ! Drinking a Newcastle Brown Ale. Enjoy ! Cheers !

Oh yeah,

Anything and everything.

@kco, Newcastle Brown Ale, I cannot believe you are drinking that cr%p with all the great beers they have in Oz.  Surely to god Boags is far superior.

Yeah Boags is good , funny I don't really drink our own local beers, like the overseas beers, but if I want to be cheap and save money yes I go for the local beers. Love the Scotch Whisky.

Whiskey is better than beer, but I wouldn't compare them like that. beer is really drinking, whiskey more like tasting.

I like grolsch best. Also, does anyone know talisker?

bastiaan wrote:

Whiskey is better than beer, but I wouldn't compare them like that. beer is really drinking, whiskey more like tasting.

I like grolsch best. Also, does anyone know talisker?

 Hmm, interesting (to me whiskey is really drinking, beer more like tasting).

Haven't tried the brews you mentioned, what kind are they?

Grolsch is a lager and not bad.

Talisker is a scotch whiskey I think.

Evil_Homer wrote:

Grolsch is a lager and not bad.

Talisker is a scotch whiskey I think.

 For shame that an Irishman could call Talisker a whiskey.  I can forgive a Dutchman for doing so....

Talisker is a scotch and as such is a "whisky", not a "whiskey". 

I could give a few examples of my losses on this site and certainly in over the board that show that Arthur Guinness is not much of a chess player.....

I stand corrected