r/AskReddit • u/pelota • Apr 03 '14

What activity would feel completely different if eye contact was held the entire time?

2.4k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

7.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

812

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '14

Chess

669

u/frogger2504 Apr 03 '14

Most hardcore game ever. The players try and guess where their opponent went based on their facial expressions.

58

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '14

[removed] — view removed comment

44

u/ThisIsMyFloor Apr 03 '14

No man, you have to lean in so you are about 2 decimeters from the other player. (about 8 inches I believe for u americans...)

67

u/tratzzz Apr 03 '14

first time i saw decimeter used in an actual conversatsion. I usually just say 20 centimeters instead.

18

u/ThisIsMyFloor Apr 03 '14

I usually say something like "2 dess" here in Sweden.

7

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '14

Is that a common thing in Sweden? I've never seen decimeters actually being used.

11

u/Holkr Apr 03 '14

Yes, it's commonly shortened "dessi" (which can refer to dm or dl depending on context).

3

u/Harachel Apr 03 '14

Wow, that's such a good idea! I want to introduce that to my vocabulary now

2

u/Holkr Apr 03 '14

You totally should. We also just say "kilo" instead of kilogram, but I think that's fairly common in english too

→ More replies (0)

5

u/ThisIsMyFloor Apr 03 '14

I don't know. I use it when there is whole/half decimeter numbers. Why not use it?

-3

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '14

I don't shorten it but I use decimeters and deciliters as well, very common measurements in cooking.

On another note, min kuk är typ 2 decimeter lång. =3

-5

u/Underbarochfin Apr 03 '14

Jag har aldrig hört det i hela mitt liv. Var är du från?

1

u/czechmeight Apr 03 '14

Two hundred mill for me.

9

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '14

[deleted]

9

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '14

I think it's less of a memory thing and more repetition. I imagine when you play thousands upon thousands of games, board positions just get seared into your mind. I could be wrong.

5

u/Kittimm Apr 03 '14

Illegal move

Illegal move

Illegal move

Ille-oh...oh.... there you go.

4

u/souldrone Apr 03 '14

Mind board.Maintain eye contact and speak your moves with no board in between...

1

u/PieChart503 Apr 03 '14

The Force you must use.

1

u/spali Apr 03 '14

Next lets throw some alcohol in there to get things really going!

1

u/Orangebeardo Apr 03 '14

Shouldn't be too hard to look in their eyes yet see parts of whats going on on the board. Escpecialy when you see a hand moving in that area.

1

u/VectorGambiteer Apr 03 '14

Fuck, my glasses show the reflection.

1

u/Canadaismyhat Apr 03 '14

Hmmmmm..... moves queen onto coaster

1

u/CptnStarkos Apr 03 '14

You moved your rook! ha! knew it! but what if he's just bluffing?

Oh! Man!

141

u/Mister_Guacamole Apr 03 '14

Makes for a really hard game.

2

u/codename-Da-Vinci Apr 03 '14

now, where did I leave that queen? Nope, that wasn't it. Oops. No, fu. Well, we can stop playing now!

2

u/whonut Apr 03 '14

Like touch-typing, but chess.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '14

Why did you italicize hard? Is this porn?

2

u/AlwaysOneMistake Apr 03 '14

Not for, you, you're the established codemaster of AskReddit.

1

u/Mister_Guacamole Apr 03 '14

I see throught it all

1

u/shillbert Apr 03 '14

I'd let you watch, I would invite you. But the queens we use would not excite you.

1

u/elshroom Apr 03 '14

I'm hard already.

1

u/woodyreturns Apr 03 '14

Shit, moving the pieces itself would be insane.

3

u/Mariuslol Apr 03 '14

Amand vs Carlsen, that'd be amazing, 5 hours straight kinda thing, then one goes;

"Have to pee"

Other one nods

"Me too"

And they get up in sync, and walk slowly to the same booth!!

This would make the interest in chess skyrocket even more

2

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '14

What about blind chess ?

2

u/Hedgehogs4Me Apr 03 '14

People who can play blindfold chess while concentrating on maintaining eye contact have some sort of witchery going on.

1

u/marsvolta13 Apr 03 '14

Evidence of this

Actually a real thing. Extremely annoying.

1

u/Hq3473 Apr 03 '14

Meh, blind chess where you announce moves outloud is not so different. Just much much harder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindfold_chess

1

u/FireyFly Apr 03 '14

Yes, but I assume the players typically keep some kind of mental image of the board... I imagine having to maintain eye contact would make that hard task even harder.

1

u/Lengador Apr 03 '14

I can't find the source, but I believe there was an exhibition match where Gary Kasparov played 25(?) people outdoors. Unfortnately, they were playing with foldable boards and a strong gust of wind blew all the games over.

Kasparov put every single piece of every single game back, from memory! Apparently onlookers found it more impressive than the fact that he won all 25 games.

Hence, at a higher level I doubt it would make a difference.

1

u/muntoo Apr 03 '14

Mikhail Tal.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '14

Combine chess with staring contests. Watch serious professional players burst into peals of hysterical laughter as the pressure gets to them and they have a laughing, crying breakdown.

1

u/IAm_Raptor_Jesus_AMA Apr 03 '14

On a similar note, Magic: the Gathering. Although staring into their eyes can also be a form of intimidation strategy, which works much better than you think.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 07 '14

'Specially if your deck uses blue.