3/4/2023 0 Comments Vogla park![]() ![]() Paul is in his early 40s, younger than he appears, and is not actually Russian he’s from Ukraine. Instead, as he described it, he gives lessons for $45 an hour. Russian Paul said he usually did not play for money. Most said that on a good night, they might earn $150 to $200, but a slow night could produce as little as $30. Still, most were reluctant to give their full names, and were cagey when asked about their street earnings. Hustlers said they had almost never had trouble with the police. Even if what the hustlers are doing is illegal, he added, it would be hard to prove unless you watched them carefully and saw the money changing hands. Technically, playing chess for money is unlawful gambling, according to Jama Adams, a spokeswoman for the city’s parks department.īut a police officer at Union Square, who would not give his name because he was not authorized to speak for the department, said that he was not so sure, because the hustlers were not taking a cut of the stakes, which is how illegal gaming houses break the law. And sometimes you get lucky and you take these guys.” After losing $10, I pretty much shut it down. Neblett said, adding: “I like to think that I am smart. “Everybody here is adults they know what they are getting into,” Mr. On this particular night, Carl Neblett, a regular, was taking on Junior, who always wears a baseball cap and keeps up a running commentary as he chain-smokes his way through games.Ī group of players set up in Union Square Park this month. Little Daddy said that every hustler there are about a dozen in Union Square, although the number fluctuates during the day had at least a couple of regulars. Like bartenders, the chess hustlers have names for people who keep coming back and coughing up money: regulars, or customers. “If they get scared away, it is not my problem,” he said. Russian Paul, who displayed the opening knowledge, speed and tactical ability of a master (but not the much higher grandmaster), said he had been playing in the streets for about 15 years and always tried to win. You want to leave their ego intact, because you want to keep them coming back.” A crucial part of the game is not to win too quickly, he said. Little Daddy, who said he started playing street chess in 1976, said he won about 80 percent of the time. For example, he said, if someone moves quickly but fumbles the pieces, or uses one hand to move the pieces and the other to hit the clock, which is against the normal rules of speed chess, then the person is not experienced. Another hustler, whose first name is Kenny and whose street name is Little Daddy (he is 5 feet 3 inches tall), said he could always tell how good his opponent was in the first couple of moves. ![]()
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