Chess--another time waster

[mahler10th]

Well.  I played two games (under bame 'Mahler10th') - I lost them both.   

[Opus106]

I am completely hopeless at chess, though I know all the moves.

But I do love chess, I even like spectating games to see what they're up to.

I'm not alone, then! Oh, and do you also have the urge to prompt possible moves while you're watching?

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

Well.  I played two games (under bame 'Mahler10th') - I lost them both.   

I'm also a rather bad chess player - a lot of blunders But hey, it's for having fun. I'm Wurstwasser there as well. Hey, Babaschess lets you easily analyse your games after you finished them. Just use a good UCI engine like Toga or Spike for analyzing your games...

My rating:

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          rating     RD      win    loss    draw   total   best
Standard   1252    149.8       4       9       0      13

BTW, there's no "mahler10th"...:

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finger Mahler10th
'mahler10th' is not a valid handle.

This is my Babaschess match screen:
http://www.minnit.de/bilder/f226a45c.20100116.png

Observe Screen:
http://www.minnit.de/bilder/3ea60340.20100116.png

Chat, Console etc. screen:
http://www.minnit.de/bilder/af57e74f.20100116.png

I assigned f5-f8 to the various views. The Pieces are the "Alpha" Vector graphics.

[MN Dave]

I assume you have to be good at strategy or (horror of horrors) math.

[Opus106]

I assume you have to be good at [math].

I doubt that.

[MN Dave]

I doubt that.

Well, I suck at strategy. Or maybe I'm just impatient. Instead of "math", I maybe should have said "memory".

[Opus106]

Instead of "math", I maybe should have said "memory".

Yes, memorisation and the ability to play (parts of) a game in your head quickly is definitely more important to be a master in chess.

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

I know a bit about strategy, but fail to see direct threats sometimes. A question of concentration failure... Like the famous Kramnik failure http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blunder_%28chess%29#Deep_Fritz_vs._Vladimir_Kramnik

[MN Dave]

I've been playing Monopoly on my iPhone lately. 

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

Rarely played, but even more interesting is "Shogi", japanese chess. The interesting point of it is, you can capture pieces of your opponent and they become part of your army. I.e. you can place them on the board, at any time you wish.

[MN Dave]

Rarely played, but even more interesting is "Shogi", japanese chess. The interesting point of it is, you can capture pieces of your opponent and they become part of your army. I.e. you can place them on the board, at any time you wish.

They should do that with chess. Battle chess! If you capture a piece, you put a little helmet on it and it becomes part of your army. Capture their queen! Two-queen rampage!!! ARrrarrararrarrarrr!!!

Sorry.

[Keemun]

I am completely hopeless at chess, though I know all the moves.  I can't even get past level 2 with the Windows game. 

Sounds like me.  I'm too lazy to learn all of the strategies or memorize the notation rules.  But I am undefeated (against my children, ages 11 and 12). 

[Carolus]

Yes, memorisation and the ability to play (parts of) a game in your head quickly is definitely more important to be a master in chess.

In Buenos Aires lived a poland guy named Najdorf, who for long time had the world record of blind games (thas it without seeing the board). I think he played against 40, with
one draw and all the rest win.

[Air]

Yes, I remember reading that both Oistrakh and Prokofiev were avid and serious chess players.  And, I believe Oistrakh defeated Sergei Sergeyevich in this tournament.

I think they tied.  But then, I don't know what 1/2-1/2 means. 

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1266497

It's a simulation of the Oistrakh vs. Prokofiev game.

[mahler10th]

I'm also a rather bad chess player - a lot of blunders But hey, it's for having fun.

I am so sorry Wurstwasser, my name is 'symphonicchess' - NOT mahler10th.

[Brahmsian]

I think they tied.  But then, I don't know what 1/2-1/2 means. 

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1266497

It's a simulation of the Oistrakh vs. Prokofiev game.

Yes, you are right, it was a tie.  Very evenly matched.  Thanks for posting that!

[Marc]

I assume you have to be good at strategy or (horror of horrors) math.

Viktor Korchnoi (former vice-world champion) once wrote (in the seventies) that he believed there is certainly a link between talent in science and talent in chess. Especially math people he had met were at least always interested in the game, and most of them showed some talent, too. They know the laws of logic and are therefore less vulnerable to make ghastly blunders. Famous champions he mentioned were: Lasker, Euwe, Botwinnik, Smyslov.
On the other hand he wrote: those who are good in humanities can add some creative and spectacular bonuses to the game. Best-known examples mentioned by Korchnoi: Aleckhine and Tal.

BTW: Korchnoi himself had a lot of talent for maths, chess .... AND creativity AND making ghastly blunders.
These blunders were mainly caused by his capability to think incredibly deep. So, his head was filled with loads of diagrams, and then he looked at his chess clock and discovered that he had grown older for about an hour, but never made an actual move on the chessboard.

Oh yes, I like chess, too, but I'm miserable at it.
I could only win in rapid games, by bluffing my pawns forward and so on, make my rival sweat and then .... he/she is out of time.

The last time I played a more or less serious game must have been at least 15 or 20 years ago. I guess I got sick of losing.

[Carolus]

Chess masters were also very good cryptographers. During WWII many of them worked on Station X helping to solve the Enigma machine. See Ronald Lewin,"Ultra goes to War" chapter 2.

[Brahmsian]

So what do you prefer - Knights or Bishops?

I tend to prefer my Knights, however I know the Bishops probably, overall, are a bit more powerful, especially late in games when most of the pawns are cleared off.

However, even in an open game, if you managed to keep both your Knights safe, used together they can be powerful.

Now Navneeth knows my preferences........or am I bluffing?! 

[Opus106]

Now Navneeth knows my preferences........or am I bluffing?! 

Dude, you're in the wrong game.