I learned to play pool from Donald Duck. He hosted a short reel called “Donald Duck’s Magical World of Mathematics”.  I learned that pool involves a lot of geometry.  But I don’t think Donald Duck explained the chalk.  Here is what Wiki says.

“Chalk is applied to the tip of the cue stick, ideally before every shot, to increase the tip’s friction coefficient so that when it impacts the cue ball on a non-center hit, no miscue (unintentional slippage between the cue tip and the struck ball) occurs.”

Here’s to chalk!