'Modeling' recent debates using chess

You can learn to play chess well, but unless you're a savant it will take time and you'll probably never be very good. Rent the movie Searching for Bobby Fisher (the actor who plays the father now stars in the current TV hit Joan of Arcadia) and you'll see that the best chess players exhibit a gift for the game at a very young age. There's probably a variety of opinions about this, but my own is that an intelligent adult learning the game for the first time and willing to work long and hard could achieve a USCF rating in the 1800-2000 range within five years. The "work long and hard" part translates as "is completely obsessed by chess and does almost nothing but all the time."You can see the advantages of being a savant.The hardest part of chess for most non-savants without eidetic memories is learning the openings. It is easiest for novices to play white because they can select the opening. A novice playing black can easily find himself in well known (but not to him) traps. When I first started I used the Caro-kahn defense as black because it often put my white opponent in unfamiliar territory, but I had a lot of trouble with d4 openings.--Percy

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Tell me - do you play online?

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Only rarely, and when I do, it's almost always just blitz. Blitz helps rule out people cheating by using computers because they have to waste time using it and they have so little to begin with (the waste-to-play ratio is pretty high for blitz and costs them).

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I never have but I am told it is becoming a farce because people will sit there and run a program like Fritz and pretend it is them playing.

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Yeah, that's one big problem. A couple smaller ones are (1) getting disconnected during a game and not being able to get back on in time, so you lose the game (I still have dial up access to the Net...this might not affect DSL or cable modem customers as much), and (2) people getting into a clearly losing position but instead of resigning, just leaving the board, which makes you have to sit there and wait a certain amount of time before you can claim the win (the service believes the person has been disconnected and allows them so long to come back...you have to twiddle your thumbs).

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A program like that for $60 plays at what - about 2400-2600?

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I have a dedicated chess computer and a chess program based on Fritz. The computer (Mephisto Milano Pro, from back around 1997) is rated about 2400 (US); the program (at least 5 years old) cost me about $25 and is even stronger (I've played them head to head a couple of times). I'd guess it's around 2450 - 2500 (US). I imagine newer programs are even better.

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The hardest part of chess for most non-savants without eidetic memories is learning the openings.

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Surely the part that demands the most time. I used to have tons of lines I expected to encounter memorized out 15 to 20 moves (not plies, but moves). But ever hear of the saying "If you don't use it you lose it"? Well, that's definitely true with opening variations. If you leave the game for a few years all those variations just diffuse out of your brain.For the middlegame (tactics in general), I think just one book is all anyone really needs: the Encyclopedia of Chess Middlegames (by FIDE, the Informant people).The endgame is actually a lot more difficult than many people believe (there's a slew of rook and pawn vs rook principles, for example). However, if one plays "attacking chess" then he/she hardly ever gets into an endgame.

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When I first started I used the Caro-kahn defense as black because it often put my white opponent in unfamiliar territory,...

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And to do the same back to them, I threw them a curve as follows:1. e4 c6
2. d4 d5
3. exd5 cxd5
4. c4This is more open than the typical Caro-Kann mainlines and requires a different set of skills on Black's part (handling an isolated d-pawn on White's part). It can transpose into a "reverse Tarrasch" if Black fianchetto's king side or into lines of the Nimzo Indian if he develops his king bishop classically.

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...but I had a lot of trouble with d4 openings.

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Against 1. d4 I played the Gruenfeld almost exclusively (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 d5). It's quite lively for Black (as opposed to classical defenses such as the Queen's gambit declined, and even more so that many lines of the King's indian) and leads to very active play.

You ever play the grob or spike to mess with people. It's good playing for money with people who don't know you because they think you are an idiot.By the way I hate blitz but I agree it removes the cheating with good chess software.

Ah, chess. The 'Contract Bridge' of board games!I used to play until I took up bridge. Never was very good at it. Although I'm not an expert, I do quite a bit better at bridge.

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You ever play the grob or spike to mess with people. It's good playing for money with people who don't know you because they think you are an idiot.

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Without looking them up, I think they are 1. b4 and 1. g4. Am I close? (They're rather obscure and not seen frequently in IGM tournaments so, as you indicate, most people don't study them).I never played those openings to throw someone off, but I did use several others at the chess clubs I frequented: 1. a3, 1. d3, and 1. e3. And in tournaments I often times opened with either 1. Nf3 of 1. g3. But in general, I played 1. e4: I gave up 1. d4 because of the Nimzo indian.So in general I opened with 1. e4, and as Black played the Sicilian Dragon against 1. e4 and the Gruenfeld against 1. d4.What were your pet openings?[This message has been edited by DNAunion, 03-31-2004]

You guys may be really good but I guarantee that I could lose to anybody on this board!I always play that opening where the king's pawn moves forward two. What's that called?

Crash, we should play. I like that king and rook switchy thingy. I believe that is the technical term, though I don't want to talk over your head if you're a novice.[This message has been edited by Asgara, 03-31-2004]

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Asgara
"Embrace the pain, spank your inner moppet, whatever....but get over it"

DU and EC not permitted to answer.List all the moves for the shortest possible mate.--Percy

"Hey, Crash, let's play chess!""Ok, I give up. You win."

Crash,That's probably why you always lose. Pawns can't move two spaces, you idiot.regards,
Esteban "Pawned Scum" Hambre

Except when they make their first move off their baseline. Twit. Q - "I Pawned my Jewels" - etzal

5 minutes in the penalty box for obliviousness to sarcasm.

I'm surprised there's been no takers for the shortest possible mate. Here's a pretty short one with black losing, but there are shorter:1. e4 e5
2. Bc4 Pd6
3. Qh5 Nf6
4. Qf7 mateThis provides a flavor for the type of solution requested. Yes, the loser has to be cooperating in his defeat. This is a puzzle, not an actual game situation. What is the shortest number of moves producing mate?Apologies if my notation is non-standard. The one I originally learned and the only one I really know is no longer used.DU and EC, if you know other examples that aren't the shortest, go ahead and post. Or if you know other easy puzzles...--Percy

Hid the solution. Problem wasn't for EC or DU. Or does this imply there's an even shorter one I don't know about? --Admin[This message has been edited by Admin, 04-01-2004]