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My short answer: no, computers are not destroying chess. And now here comes a really long version ...
Your first question:
It is true the engines have level up the game, but can we also conclude that engines at a certain level are destroying the human cognitive process of figuring out moves by themselves over the board (mainly at opening phase)?
As ...
13
There can be no one-size-fits-all as to how to prepare for an opponent, as this will depend greatly on the playing strengths of both the one preparing and the opponent, and what works for one person won't necessarily work for another. So I'm somewhat hesitant to answer at all, but I'm hoping that the following three vignettes of chess preparation will shed a ...
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Bobby Fischer:
Radio Interview, June 27 1999
I love chess, and I didn't invent Fischerandom chess to destroy chess.
I invented Fischerandom chess to keep chess going. Because I consider
the old chess is dying, it really is dead. A lot of people come up
with other rules of chess-type games, with 10x8 boards, new pieces,
and all kinds of things....
11
In some ways, computers have been taking the "fun" out of chess, in the sense of creating an arms race of opening preparation in fashionable opening lines.
However, if you look at any current games in top-level play, you will still constantly see fresh new positions, and even opening play that would once have been considered completely bizarre just twenty ...
11
This is a pretty broad question.
But you can follow some simple steps.
1. "What kind of player am I?"
This is the first question you should ask yourself. Do you like complicated tactical combinations that can give you attacking chances? Or your playing style is more quiet and you prefer positional battles, where you build your advantage little by little? ...
10
The only difference would be that the players would be playing a mirror image of a normal game. In fact, if you think about it, the play would be exactly like allowing Black to go first on a normal board.
I don't think this would seriously phase any level of player, simply because good players are able to calculate well enough to cope with the slight ...
8
At my level (B player) I would not bother too much preparing for an opponent. Sure, if you know your opponent only plays the Colle, you can book up some on that opening, or book up on an anti-Colle opening.
Games at my level are won or lost on tactics; little else matters.
I'd agree with point #3 in Ed's post.
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So far, following seconds have been revealed (NRK, ChessBase):
GM Peter Heine Nielsen (no surprise as he was part of team Carlsen in WCC 2014)
GM Laurent Fressinet (also no surprise as he was part of team Carlsen in WCC 2013 and WCC 2014)
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (quite a surprise as he is the current world's nr. 4)
GM Nils Grandelius
GM Jan Gustafsson (...
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Professional chess is hard.
Yes. Professional elite players prepare as many opening lines as they can. They have seconds who are dedicated to opening preparation (generally on a computer). The most well paid players such as Magnus Carlsen has a team of seconds. Read more about chess seconds here.
The seconds are paid for improving the master's opening ...
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As Brian noted, theory can move on quickly, but that does not remotely mean that everything that was prepared is lost in a short period of time. I think that the biggest issue was just that prepping for the world championship was much more intense, and rigorous, so Ju is going to be that much more prepared, and thus, a much more dangerous opponent than usual ...
7
1.I am a chess enthusiast. I am unaware of my rating (FIDE/USCF). I play at about 1700 on FreeChess.org.
Enthusiasm and strong discipline are the only thing required-forget FIDE ELO.
2.I have three years at hand to play my first serious tournament. In other words, I can refrain from playing online/real tournament for three years.
Online play can be very ...
answered Jan 12 '14 at 14:59
AlwaysLearningNewStuff
10.1k2 gold badges20 silver badges47 bronze badges
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It really depends on what your end goal is. Themed games in a specific opening are good to get familiar with a specific opening, and get a "feel" for the positions arising in the resulting middlegames. So, if you want to learn a new opening, or are having trouble in a certain line, it could be a great way to learn an opening, coupled with studying some ...
7
Learning good chess principles and playing against clearly dubious openings like 1. a4 or 1. h4 are not mutually exclusive. In fact, following solid opening principles is the best way to counter weak openings like this.
The moves 1. a4 and 1. h4 are both poor because they do not follow any of the opening principles. Namely, they do not help control the ...
7
Are there any openings with rook pawns that are more effective than
others?
There are few recognized openings which start with a rook pawn move on move one, except in circumstances where the opponent starts with a double knight pawn move, because those are generally inferior moves on move one.
One example where it is good is if white plays the Sokolski ...
6
Yes, definitely. Try to feel 0 through 10 in the air, like you're doing grocery list calculations. For most people, across all cultures, we have a number line that starts small on the left and gets bigger to the right. Synaesthetes actually see numbers in this way.
I definitely have a kinesthetic sense for chess. I'd like to think I'm not very unique in ...
6
For club players with 1/2 - 1 hour:
Find out what colour you are likely to have and try to find out what your prospective opponent's favourite opening(s) is/are with that colour (ask friends, lookup online). If they play several, just have a guess.
Decide if you have an opportunity to avoid this opening with something you prefer - e.g. if he likes to play ...
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Mate, please... What do you want to learn in 10 minutes? Be serious... People spend years on learning openings. The French is complicated.
But well, to the question: if you have no idea about french and your opponent is familiar with it, you have 2 choices:
a) Play the exchange variation:
[FEN ""]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Bd3 Bd6 5. Qf3 Nf6 6. h3 ...
6
A great practice routine if you have a willing partner is to take a position from an opening you wish to study and play a series of blitz games from both sides. For example, when I was younger me and my chess buds would play a bunch of blitz games from B63, Sicilian Richter-Rauzer position:
e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2
...
6
This question is too broad, everyone is training differently. There is also much more motivation on the side of strong young IMs than on side of weak GMs. A lot of colleagues just play, rarely train something, teach children, write articles, books, makes videos and try not to go much under 2500. They made a lot of hard training to get there, but are not ...
6
Not a GM myself, but my understanding is that there is more than one way.
First of all any decent GM would have notes (nowadays on computer) with all the opening lines they play. These notes might include some new ideas, but would at least give an assessment of the known lines such as "drawish, unclear, big advantage..." Before a game they would consult ...
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Your kid did not lose the game because he did not know how to respond to that opening. He lost the game because he played worse! (by the way you're telling the story, probably because of a tactical blunder) I don't really think there is any human being on the planet who has prepared a line against 1.a4
I wouldn't really have a clear preference for any "rook ...
5
From the seventies to the nineties, there was a development in chess, that more and more, a chess professional was someone, who tried to outprepare his opponent or make a draw if this didn't work out. Or in many cases, try to outprepare weaker opponents and make a draw right away with his stronger opponents.
This is one of the reasons, why Karpov and ...
5
Computers (engines) have changed chess on the professional level. There is no doubt about that. In some ways, it was inevitable that chess engines would become unbeatable machines. Personally, I sometimes wish they didn't exist. But change is here and one has to adapt!
When it comes to professional play, everyone has an engine at home, ready to help during ...
5
Let's see what FIDE says, Team Captain’s Role in Team Tournaments:
(a) The role of a team captain is basically an administrative one
during play. Depending on the regulations of the specific competition,
the captain shall be required to deliver at a specific time a written
list naming the players in his team participating in each round, to
...
5
You pretty much described modern day preparation...
This is exactly what GMs are doing, except that they also try to add some of their own creativity into the process. Nevertheless, the majority of the heavy lifting is done by engines.
However, the process doesn't come close to guaranteeing a win due to the sheer number of possibilities. For example, ...
5
How can 1.a4 be bad, when some guy named Magnus played it against a grandmaster and won? :-) See Carlsen-Radjabov (2012), from the World Blitz Championship.
Now, I don't think it counts as much preparation, but my rule of thumb against kids who open with 1.a4 is ...e5 and against h4, ...d5. I think ...e5 and ...d5 are both legitimately good moves, but the ...
4
Yes, it should have some impact, especially on players who learn strategic patterns of typical middlegame positions via visualizing themes like "play on dark squares in King's Indian Defense". Even replaying opening variations you are familiar with - would take slightly more effort. Writing those opening moves down on a scoresheet would feel strange too ...
4
I would try to play other opponents with a similar style (positional, aggressive, etc.).
Failing that, I would try to "model" the opponent's game, and devise countermoves. Also learn some of his favorite openings.
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Doesn’t make sense to me. Stockfish even running on a super computer will not be able refute an established opening. Furthermore, the other side can do the same preparation.
It’s not as simple as that. You can’t just memorise by heart engine lines and hope to win. You don’t have memory to hold all the possible lines.
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I'm seeing a lot of great answers being met with, "This doesn't answer my question" - so I'm going to go ahead and answer your literal question (even though the answer won't help you out at all.)
a4 is the strongest opening rook-pawn move. In tournament games, it still leaves white with a slight edge to winning (28.9% to 25.8%) which is much smaller than ...
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