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Date: 02 Jul 2007 10:06:52
From: Maple Tree
Subject: cloth chess pieces and board
Hello,

I have a relative in prison and they can only use a cloth chessboard and
cloth chess pieces. Nothing hard like plastic is allowed to avoid the
making of weapons in prison.

Does anyone know where I can buy a set of this nature ?

Maybe there is a jail-bird chess set available -:)

Thanks




 
Date: 02 Jul 2007 14:37:06
From: Guy Macon
Subject: Re: cloth chess pieces and board



Maple Tree wrote:
>
>I have a relative in prison and they can only use a cloth chessboard and
>cloth chess pieces. Nothing hard like plastic is allowed to avoid the
>making of weapons in prison.
>
>Does anyone know where I can buy a set of this nature ?

The Chessmate Ultima looks like it would be allowed.

http://www.amazon.com/ChessMate%C2%AE-Ultima-Travel-Chess-Handmade/dp/B000MC6L6I

http://www.chessmate.com/chessmate1.html

--
Guy Macon
<http://www.guymacon.com/ >



  
Date: 02 Jul 2007 16:42:30
From: David Richerby
Subject: Re: cloth chess pieces and board
Guy Macon <http://www.guymacon.com/ > wrote:
> Maple Tree wrote:
>> I have a relative in prison and they can only use a cloth
>> chessboard and cloth chess pieces. Nothing hard like plastic is
>> allowed to avoid the making of weapons in prison.
>
> The Chessmate Ultima looks like it would be allowed.
>
> http://www.amazon.com/ChessMate%C2%AE-Ultima-Travel-Chess-Handmade/dp/B000MC6L6I

There are plenty of magnetic sets in the world for less than the $60
these guys want. But I don't know if the magnetic insert would be
considered to be a potential weapon. I suppose you could remove it
(maybe replace it with cardboard for stiffness) and just use gravity
to hold the pieces on the board. The pieces themselves are discs
about the size of a coin and don't seem, to me at least, to be
weaponizable.

Perhaps a smallish demonstration board would do the trick? Something
like

http://www.ukgamesshop.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=cheqdem102&Category_Code=cheqdem


Dave.

--
David Richerby Laptop Boss (TM): it's like a middle
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ manager that you can put on your lap!


   
Date: 02 Jul 2007 17:02:46
From: Maple Tree
Subject: Re: cloth chess pieces and board
David Richerby wrote:
> Guy Macon <http://www.guymacon.com/> wrote:
>> Maple Tree wrote:
>>> I have a relative in prison and they can only use a cloth
>>> chessboard and cloth chess pieces. Nothing hard like plastic is
>>> allowed to avoid the making of weapons in prison.
>> The Chessmate Ultima looks like it would be allowed.
>>
>> http://www.amazon.com/ChessMate%C2%AE-Ultima-Travel-Chess-Handmade/dp/B000MC6L6I
>
> There are plenty of magnetic sets in the world for less than the $60
> these guys want. But I don't know if the magnetic insert would be
> considered to be a potential weapon. I suppose you could remove it
> (maybe replace it with cardboard for stiffness) and just use gravity
> to hold the pieces on the board. The pieces themselves are discs
> about the size of a coin and don't seem, to me at least, to be
> weaponizable.
>
> Perhaps a smallish demonstration board would do the trick? Something
> like
>
> http://www.ukgamesshop.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=cheqdem102&Category_Code=cheqdem
>
>
> Dave.
>
That last one is out of the question, has to be small and fit on a
table. Magnets are hard and cannot be brought into a prison, nothing
hard, not even hardcovered books are allowed in the prison. I hope
there are some others out there, I tried a search on google for prison
chess sets, but nothing pops up !


    
Date: 03 Jul 2007 10:15:14
From: David Richerby
Subject: Re: cloth chess pieces and board
Maple Tree <[email protected] > wrote:
> That last one is out of the question, has to be small and fit on a
> table.

The one I linked to isn't all that big -- 740x600mm is 2'5"x1'11".
So, not `small' but would certainly fit on a table.

> Magnets are hard and cannot be brought into a prison, nothing
> hard, not even hardcovered books are allowed in the prison.

The magnets in pocket chess sets aren't actually hard. I'm not sure
exactly what they're made of but they're slightly flexible discs (sort
of like stiff rubber) and, since they're only the size of a small
coin, it's hard to imagine them being dangerous. But you know the
regs better than I do.

Another option is to make something out of cardboard. You should be
able to find some piece graphics on the web, print them onto thin card
and cut them out.


Dave.

--
David Richerby Moistened Miniature Hi-Fi (TM): it's
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ like a music system but you can hold
in it your hand and it's moist!


     
Date: 04 Jul 2007 01:57:46
From: Guy Macon
Subject: Re: cloth chess pieces and board



David Richerby wrote:
>
>Maple Tree <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Magnets are hard

>The magnets in pocket chess sets aren't actually hard. I'm not sure
>exactly what they're made of but they're slightly flexible discs (sort
>of like stiff rubber) and, since they're only the size of a small
>coin, it's hard to imagine them being dangerous.

They cosist of rubber -- typically neoprene -- with iron
dust mixed in, then magnetized. Rubber is really good at
containing particles while remaining rubbery; car tires,
for example, are mostly carbon.

--
Guy Macon
<http://www.guymacon.com/ >



      
Date: 04 Jul 2007 05:29:24
From: Maple Tree
Subject: Re: cloth chess pieces and board
Guy Macon wrote:
> David Richerby wrote:
>> Maple Tree <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> Magnets are hard
>
>> The magnets in pocket chess sets aren't actually hard. I'm not sure
>> exactly what they're made of but they're slightly flexible discs (sort
>> of like stiff rubber) and, since they're only the size of a small
>> coin, it's hard to imagine them being dangerous.
>
> They cosist of rubber -- typically neoprene -- with iron
> dust mixed in, then magnetized. Rubber is really good at
> containing particles while remaining rubbery; car tires,
> for example, are mostly carbon.
>

For the magnet to stick to the chessboard, would it not have to have
steel in it ? Magnets do not attach to vinyl -:)


       
Date: 05 Jul 2007 18:12:51
From: Guy Macon
Subject: Re: cloth chess pieces and board



Maple Tree wrote:
>
>Guy Macon wrote:
>
>> David Richerby wrote:
>
>>> Maple Tree <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Magnets are hard
>>
>>> The magnets in pocket chess sets aren't actually hard. I'm not sure
>>> exactly what they're made of but they're slightly flexible discs (sort
>>> of like stiff rubber) and, since they're only the size of a small
>>> coin, it's hard to imagine them being dangerous.
>>
>> They consist of rubber -- typically neoprene -- with iron
>> dust mixed in, then magnetized. Rubber is really good at
>> containing particles while remaining rubbery; car tires,
>> for example, are mostly carbon.
>
>For the magnet to stick to the chessboard, would it not have to have
>steel in it ? Magnets do not attach to vinyl -:)

Pieces = thin round flat small graphics-of-chessmen-printed-
on-them neoprene-rubber-with-magnetized-iron/steel-particles-
mixed-in soft rubbery

Board = thin square flat big 64-squares-printed-on-it neoprene-
rubber-with-iron/steel-particles-mixed-in soft rubbery

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Meta Analysis of thread:

_Why Don't You, Yes But:_

A trivial but commonplace example of a "game" is lamenting that you
have some problem, and then every time someone offers you a reasonable
solution, you tell a reason why it won't work. "Why don't you try X?"
"Yes, but I can't do X, because of Y." And on it goes, for many rounds,
until everyone gives up.

At the social level, the person playing to lose is a reasonable adult,
soliciting advice about how to solve a tangible problem. At the
psychological level, he's a child trying to get other people to act
as parents so he won't have to take responsibility for himself.

A person who really wanted to solve the problem would use their
ingenuity to get it solved one way or another. A person playing
Why Don't You, Yes But is actually exploiting the problem, in a
perverse way. He's enlisting other people's help rationalizing
a position of "There's nothing I can do", for whatever social
benefits this brings.

Source: Eric Berne

-----------------------------------------------------------------





        
Date: 05 Jul 2007 18:16:16
From: Maple Tree
Subject: Re: cloth chess pieces and board
Guy Macon wrote:
> Maple Tree wrote:
>> Guy Macon wrote:
>>
>>> David Richerby wrote:
>>>> Maple Tree <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Magnets are hard
>>>> The magnets in pocket chess sets aren't actually hard. I'm not sure
>>>> exactly what they're made of but they're slightly flexible discs (sort
>>>> of like stiff rubber) and, since they're only the size of a small
>>>> coin, it's hard to imagine them being dangerous.
>>> They consist of rubber -- typically neoprene -- with iron
>>> dust mixed in, then magnetized. Rubber is really good at
>>> containing particles while remaining rubbery; car tires,
>>> for example, are mostly carbon.
>> For the magnet to stick to the chessboard, would it not have to have
>> steel in it ? Magnets do not attach to vinyl -:)
>
> Pieces = thin round flat small graphics-of-chessmen-printed-
> on-them neoprene-rubber-with-magnetized-iron/steel-particles-
> mixed-in soft rubbery
>
> Board = thin square flat big 64-squares-printed-on-it neoprene-
> rubber-with-iron/steel-particles-mixed-in soft rubbery

Thanks, soft rubber would be allowed, so that might be the trick !!
>
>


       
Date: 04 Jul 2007 11:45:52
From: David Richerby
Subject: Re: cloth chess pieces and board
Maple Tree <[email protected] > wrote:
> Guy Macon wrote:
>> They cosist of rubber -- typically neoprene -- with iron
>> dust mixed in, then magnetized. Rubber is really good at
>> containing particles while remaining rubbery; car tires,
>> for example, are mostly carbon.
>
> For the magnet to stick to the chessboard, would it not have to have
> steel in it ? Magnets do not attach to vinyl -:)

No -- the board has a pad of the same material as the pieces, wrapped
in vinyl. If that pad of material was a problem, you could remove it
and replace it with cardboard. The pieces wouldn't stick to the board
but they're heavy enough that they'd sit happily on it.


Dave.

--
David Richerby Salted Addictive.com (TM): it's like
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ an E-commerce portal but you can never
put it down and it's covered in salt!


        
Date: 04 Jul 2007 17:28:24
From: Maple Tree
Subject: Re: cloth chess pieces and board
David Richerby wrote:
> Maple Tree <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Guy Macon wrote:
>>> They cosist of rubber -- typically neoprene -- with iron
>>> dust mixed in, then magnetized. Rubber is really good at
>>> containing particles while remaining rubbery; car tires,
>>> for example, are mostly carbon.
>> For the magnet to stick to the chessboard, would it not have to have
>> steel in it ? Magnets do not attach to vinyl -:)
>
> No -- the board has a pad of the same material as the pieces, wrapped
> in vinyl. If that pad of material was a problem, you could remove it
> and replace it with cardboard. The pieces wouldn't stick to the board
> but they're heavy enough that they'd sit happily on it.
>
>
> Dave.
>
When you say "PAD" what is the pad made of ? is it steel ? when I think
of pad I think of a pillow type pad ie with feathers or foam. Thanks


         
Date: 09 Jul 2007 10:05:12
From: David Richerby
Subject: Re: cloth chess pieces and board
Maple Tree <[email protected] > wrote:
> David Richerby wrote:
>>> Guy Macon wrote:
>>>> They cosist of rubber -- typically neoprene -- with iron
>>>> dust mixed in, then magnetized. Rubber is really good at
>>>> containing particles while remaining rubbery; car tires,
>>>> for example, are mostly carbon.
>>
>> No -- the board has a pad of the same material as the pieces
>
> When you say "PAD" what is the pad made of ? is it steel ?

Um. Guy and I have already answered that in the quoted text above.


Dave.

--
David Richerby Moistened Tool (TM): it's like a handy
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ household tool but it's moist!


    
Date: 02 Jul 2007 21:42:48
From: Guy Macon
Subject: Re: cloth chess pieces and board



Maple Tree wrote:

>Magnets are hard

No they aren't. Only *some* magnets are hard. Others,
like the ones commonly used in wallet chess sets, are
made of soft rubber.

Also, size matters. A penny is hard but allowed in most
prisons. Shirt buttons and teeth on zippers are also hard,
but no prison forbids them.

The set I specified is suitable for bringing into a prison.
As others have pointed out, there are cheaper/lower quality
sets that are also acceptable. Please stop rejecting perfectly
acceptable solutions.