Friday Night Journal of an Uber Driver

My Office

As a chess-playing Uber driver, my office consists of a 2023 Kia Niro. This is a a rather spacious vehicle, with plenty of leg room. I clean and vacuum the car daily, to keep it ridiculously clean. Just keeping the windows clean seems to brighten everybody’s mood. I have plenty of time in between trips, so the vehicle doubles as my chess playing laboratory. Give me a comfortable place to sit and my cell phone, and I have all the tools I need to work on my chess game.

Tonight I’m interested in the chess position that arises after: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg5 Ne4 6. Bh4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 dxc4 8. Qa4+ Nd7 9. e3 O-O 10. Qxc4 and what I should have played in my last tournament game with the black pieces:

I was uncomfortable in this position. The Taimanov bishop on h4 exerts pressure on e7, and white has a rock solid center. Black has castled early and has a relatively safe king. It is now mandatory for black to try to break down white's strong center, especially since white's development lags slightly. During the game I felt that ...c5 would not work, so I opted for another approach:

10..... c6 11. Bd3 Qe8 12. 0-0 e5 13. Nd2 exd4 14. cxd4 Nb6

My approach has failed to solve the problem. White retains an advantage. I need to figure out tonight how to do better.

An Uber Request comes in

My thoughts are interrupted by a money making opportunity. While I've been waiting and being absorbed with the the Gruenfeld Defense, my car has been positioned in a surge zone on the Hingham/Rockland line. As a result, if I accept my next fare, Uber will pay me $29 on top of whatever I make for the ride.

A request comes in, so it's necessary for me to put my thoughts on hold and take this ride. I take a married couple home from a restaurant in Rockland and take them their house in Hingham. For 9 minutes and 39 seconds of work, I make $37.48. That's what Uber drivers do, if they want to surive - they work the surge to their benefit. I also choose the waiting around time to work on my chess game.

As the couple gets out of the car, they point out that the previous passenger had left behind their take out meal in the back seat. I remember that her name was Molly and she and her friend had just left Chili's restaurant in Braintree. Everything had gone well with the ride, and they were full of thanks, but no tip, of course. Inspection reveals that tonight's dinner consists of crispy chicken with a side of fries. I pull into a nearby electric charging station, to charge my vehicle. Time to eat!

I was glad to get a third meal in that day, as for some reason I had neglected to eat one before going out. The way lost items work with Uber is this: it is the customer's responsibility to take all their stuff out of the car when they leave. If they don't they can get their item back if they report it lost to Uber and pay a $25 fee, which goes to the driver to compensate him for having to go out of his way to return the item. Molly has made no such request, so it is the right of the driver to dispose of the items any way he sees fit. In this case, I opted for my stomach.

But back to the more important business of the Gruenfeld defense.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em

My Dad is a carpenter, and he's told me to let the tools do the work. So I take advantage of a lichess feature, and set the position up after White's move 10, and ask the computer to play the black pieces. Here is what happens on the first such session:

10.... c5 11. dxc5 b5!

What a great move! 12. Qxb5 allows Bxc3+, and after 12. cxb6 Nxb6 13. Qb3 Be6 black's bishops exert great power, while White's extra pawn hardly compensates for his uncastled king. Clearly black is winning.

Maybe 11. dxc5 was a mistake? What happens if we play 11. Rc1, which at least gets the rook off the long diagonal? Play might continue with 11. Rc1 cxd4 12. cxd4 Qa5+ 13. Qc3 Qxc3+ 14. Rxc3 e5, with an equal position:

Note that "equal" is not the same thing as "dead drawn". Black has hopes of using his queenside pawns to advantage later.

More interruptions

My thoughts are interrupted by more money making opportunities involving surge. An entertaining ride involves picking up a drunk in Quincy and taking him him 5 minutes to his house. As we get halfway to his house, the drunk says in a panic that we need to go back to the restaurant, because he must have dropped his wallet on the sidewalk. So, I take him back. Then he realizes that his wallet is in his left pocket rather than his right pocket, so he agrees to go home. Still, the trip isn't bad - for 6 minutes, 17 seconds of work, I net $25.10, including $19.00 in surge. Then I take a ride including a $15.00 surge bonus. At this point, surge for the night is over, and I pull over to wait and evaluate what to do next.

While I wait, I notice that my Uber rating has dropped from 4.99 to 4.98. I conclude that Molly did not agree with my Crispy Chicken gambit, and awarded me 2 stars. You can't please everybody. For my part, I was disappointed that she forgot to pack the ketchup.

Wrapping up

With Uber's surge over, there is one last thing I can do, which is to take advantage of airport reservation offers. I agree to take a couple from Marshfield to Logan airport in Boston, and bag $63.27 for 46 minutes of work. Logan has 14 fast charging electric stations available for Uber drivers (for free!!), but even at 4 AM, every single one of them is in use. I don't mind, because I know some of those guys have been at it for 12 hours or more. They use that time to sleep, while the car is recharging.

So, I head for home. I go to twitch on my cell phone, and put on IM sladgie's stream from the previous day. His is one of the most entertaining chess related streams, and I use that time laugh and unwind from my 6 hours of work. Arriving home. I discover that including a cash tip, I've made $207 for my time.

But even more important, I've taught myself what I did wrong in my tournament game. I'm trying to learn the Gruenfeld defense. The car is such a great place to think, study and learn, even if you are interrupted occasionally by pesky Uber requests.