Yeah it sure isn't immediately obvious that this would be so, but without a doubt it is true because the same experience has occurred several times since.
So I have an escape charge in Florida (escape, not absconding) for not returning to a county work release center in Orlando many years ago. This was a really dumb thing to do because now, whenever I'm jailed I often get thrown in with the "high-security" inmates whom are also known as the murderers and anyone looking at over 20-years if convicted.
My last time through the system in Florida, I must have spent 4-5 hours a day playing chess with an alleged murderer whom was infatuated with the game and trying very hard to get better. I was in for some possession charges...bullshit really but because the old escape charge there I was.
This man had deep respect in the jail as his brother was at FSP/Raiford actually on death row for an execution-style murder committed about a decade earlier. The alleged murder this man committed was related to that very incident.
Anyway, I had played his brother for several months back "in the day" and was the only person in the jail who could beat him, and to be honest, I became somewhat a legend in C-block for my game. Remember, these people in this block often sit in county jail for 3-5 years waiting for trial and such, so the "institutional memory" actually lasts a long time in such a dismal place.
Long story somewhat short: By spending so many hours teaching this man to play much much better, he put the word out that no one was to fuck with me, and I was not only really safe, but was fed and taken care of by the group.
I'd guess that anything that makes you interesting or entertaining will make you friends, of a sort, and having friends makes you less vulnerable to any random guy who's bored and unhappy and looking for someone to feel stronger than.
If folks are sufficiently hard up for entertainment that they're willing to pay a dollar (more than you'd think, in prison) for a game of chess, they're gonna value that game and its provider.
Absolutely...you have kinda nailed it here with both comments.
My best "customers" were actually people who had a good deal of "income" (remember...there are many millionaires in prisons all over the world) who really didn't mind losing $1 a game 1. to get better and 2. for a safe social interaction with someone like myself who has a sparkling wit and overall interesting things to say (so I've heard :)
Prison isn't really that much different then life, but the sociopaths you meet there are far more likely to be violent then the ones running your company.
It's cultural. The ability to play chess well is generally taken as an indicator that someone can plan well, think up masterful schemes, and generally out-wit other people. The result is someone that you would either not want to get on the bad side of -- especially if you take into account the fact that they are in prison -- or someone that would be handy to have around if you have anyone with a budding escape plan.
I would assume that the type of planning done in chess is very different from the skills you would need to do well in a prison environment, even if being good chess often implies a good intelligence baseline. Since I don't know much at all about actual prison life, I can't confirm this hypothesis. In any case, I doubt that the Machiavellian planning that is a familiar sight on TV translates well to the real world of an inmate.
