Am I a genius?

[Mithrandir]

95. You: d5 - f7
94. Comp: g8 - h7
93. You: f3 - d5
92. Comp: c6 - d5
91. You: g2 - g3
90. Comp: e1 - d2
89. You: g1 - g2
88. Comp: e8 - e1
87. You: e4 - d5
86. Comp: f7 - g8
85. You: e3 - e4
84. Comp: e7 - c8
83. You: g3 - c7
82. Comp: g8 - e7
81. You: f1 - f3
80. Comp: c7 - b6
79. You: d7 - b6
78. Comp: f8 - e8
77. You: c5 - d7
76. Comp: b8 - f8
75. You: a1 - e1
74. Comp: h7 - h8
73. You: h4 - g3
72. Comp: g7 - g5
71. You: g3 - h4
70. Comp: b7 - b8
69. You: b3 - c5
68. Comp: b5 - b6
67. You: a3 - a4
66. Comp: a8 - b7
65. You: a5 - b3
64. Comp: b6 - b5
63. You: h4 - g3
62. Comp: g6 - f7
61. You: g4 - f5
60. Comp: e6 - f5
59. You: f4 - f5
58. Comp: b8 - b6
57. You: e1 - h4
56. Comp: f7 - g6
55. You: f2 - g1
54. Comp: e7 - f7
53. You: d2 - e1
52. Comp: f8 - e7
51. You: c1 - d2
50. Comp: d6 - d5
49. You: h3 - f1
48. Comp: b7 - a8
47. You: c4 - a5
46. Comp: b6 - b7
45. You: d2 - c4
44. Comp: e8 - f8
43. You: g6 - f8
42. Comp: a8 - b8
41. You: h4 - g6
40. Comp: h8 - h7
39. You: a2 - a3
38. Comp: b5 - b6
37. You: e2 - f2
36. Comp: b8 - b5
35. You: g3 - h3
34. Comp: b7 - c6
33. You: b5 - c6
32. Comp: a7 - a6
31. You: g1 - g3
30. Comp: c8 - b8
29. You: g3 - g4
28. Comp: d8 - c8
27. You: f3 - h4
26. Comp: g2 - h3
25. You: d1 - g1
24. Comp: h1 - g2
23. You: e1 - e2
22. Comp: h7 - h8
21. You: f1 - b5
20. Comp: f7 - f6
19. You: g1 - f3
18. Comp: d5 - h1
17. You: f3 - g1
16. Comp: e4 - d5
15. You: b1 - d2
14. Comp: h8 - h7
13. You: g1 - f3
12. Comp: f5 - e4
11. You: g2 - g3
10. Comp: e7 - e6
9. You: f2 - f4
8. Comp: h7 - h6
7. You: b2 - b4
6. Comp: b8 - c6
5. You: c2 - c3
4. Comp: c8 - f5
3. You: e2 - e3
2. Comp: d7 - d6
1. You: d2 - d4

[Whacker]

Did you finally beat the computer on super easy mode!? Congrats!!

[seireikhaan]

Did you finally beat the computer on super easy mode!? Congrats!!

There's a difficulty mode on the chess game I have on my cell phone called "Monkey".

[Mithrandir]

You just have to ruin it for me right?

Just bash my enthousiasm of finally winning a game of chess...

[Csargo]

95 moves? You are a supra-genius!

[Subotan]

Chess against Computers is hard.

[Beirut]

I alwasy thought Myth was a genius.

As for computer chess, I have Chessmaster 9 or 10, can't remember, and it destroys me at any setting above Dweeb.

[A Very Super Market]

Computers don't blunder, they just make choices that aren't as good as another. Whilst you can easily traipse your queen onto a protected square.

Although Fritz does have a function for blunders.... Fritz is amazing.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Chess would be much improved if they made it more like axis and allies, with dice rolling to determine if your queen can beat my rook.

[Mithrandir]

Chess would be much improved if they made it more like axis and allies, with dice rolling to determine if your queen can beat my rook.

You should check out the Total War series it's a strategy game for on the computer...

[Sasaki Kojiro]

You should check out the Total War series it's a strategy game for on the computer...

I've checked it out, but it's not enough like chess.

[Louis VI the Fat]

57. You: e1 - h4

Meh, should've done a5 - b3 here with that horse.

There's a difficulty mode on the chess game I have on my cell phone called "Monkey".

[GeneralHankerchief]

Chess would be much improved if they made it more like axis and allies, with dice rolling to determine if your queen can beat my rook.

You play A&A? I always knew there was something good about you.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

You play A&A? I always knew there was something good about you.

My first strategy game...I still remember my first game where I lost 7 planes wiping out all the infantry in russia, only to find out I couldn't capture it with just air power. Good times

[gollum]

Try the Fischer variation of chess Sasaki - its fun as it essentially makes opening theory redundant, and it rewards players for their understanding of the game rather than their preparation level.

To improve in chess Mithrandir try solving regularly tactical puzzles. There is a very handy site: http://chess.emrald.net/ that has thousands of problems and a rating system.

After a while at the same time need to work on strategy, there are not many books for intermediates that have positional puzzles; this one is one of them: http://www.amazon.com/Excelling-Posi.../dp/185744325X

[Kadagar_AV]

Chess is for children and the less gifted.

Go is the game for minds.

I LOVED chess when I was a child... My grandfather being a master helped a lot. However, he died when I was 11 (and by then I was already a champion in my age group +-3).

Buuut... Once I found Go I never looked back at chess.

[Azathoth]

I'm not very good at chess. If I went by tournament rankings or whatever, I would have a 700, give or take 50.

[Mithrandir]

Chess is for children and the less gifted.

Go is the game for minds.

I LOVED chess when I was a child... My grandfather being a master helped a lot. However, he died when I was 11 (and by then I was already a champion in my age group +-3).

Buuut... Once I found Go I never looked back at chess.

Wow, I feel so silly for being happy with my first chess victory now...

Now that you mention it, I have to agree though, I always thought Kasparov was less gifted as well.

[pevergreen]

Chess is for children and the less gifted.

Go is the game for minds.

I LOVED chess when I was a child... My grandfather being a master helped a lot. However, he died when I was 11 (and by then I was already a champion in my age group +-3).

Buuut... Once I found Go I never looked back at chess.

You know, I would actually be surprised if you took joy in anyones but your own.

[Beskar]

Strange thing with chess, when I usually play some one, it is always taking piece for piece in a game with professionals. You only wipe the board when you are playing some one who doesn't "get" the game.

[gollum]

Originally posted by Mithrandir
Now that you mention it, I have to agree though, I always thought Kasparov was less gifted as well.

This kind of talk (as well as the title of the thread), shows that you are one of these people that think that being good at chess is an ingrained ability.

Although such a thing like talent exists, this is not true. You can build up your skill step by step as surely as a house is built. The only prerequisites are:

1. Lots of work: it seems like a no-brainer, but the basic blocks of chess are learned incrementally through a long process of assimilation. Say for tactics: pins, forks, skewers, xrays, discovered attacks etc. you need to build "muscle memory" on them in the same way one does for walking, driving a car etc ie until they are second nature. A similar process applies for more higher level abstract concepts that one finds later on.

2. Honesty with one self: remember to challenge your self with good measure (not too much not too little) in order to face obstacles and through them improve; too many people stay in their confort zones after they've reached level x, and essentially remain static, regardless if that level is absolute beginner or strong club player. Conversely many people burn out because they constantly try to bite more than they can chew.

3. Play the game the inside out: too many people get bogged down by bad coaching that insists they play a style it doesnt resonate with them in order to learn it. Undoubtedly you need to learn other styles than your own and master elements that are not coming of their own accord to you but you need to do so through your own devices.

4. Genuinely love and be interested in the game: this i'm afraid is where it all rests at. People who get into chess to "prove" something or because it makes them "feel" a certain way but dont really like it, drop out quite quickly, because there is no resilient bond between them and the game that'll take them through the steep curves. This is the most important bit and nothing can substitute for it; when playing the game feels boring or painful beyond redemption one is better off to something else.

And by the way, avoid playing computers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&v=1DQcArPizkI

[Pannonian]

1. Lots of work: it seems like a no-brainer, but the basic blocks of chess are learned incrementally through a long process of assimilation. Say for tactics: pins, forks, skewers, xrays, discovered attacks etc. you need to build "muscle memory" on them in the same way one does for walking, driving a car etc ie until they are second nature. A similar process applies for more higher level abstract concepts that one finds later on.

Here's an example from one of my games. I set up a brilliancy where I would sacrifice my Queen to mate his King. Except that it wasn't a brilliancy, it was just a variant on a well-known mating pattern. And once I threatened it, my opponent recognised it too, and did whatever he could to avoid it. And the whole point of my plan was that I would win material, even if he recognised my plan, simply because saving material would allow the mate.

4r1k1
p3qpbp
1r4p1
1N1R1bN1
5Pn1
1Q4P1
PP4BP
3R2K1

27. Rd6? Rxb5!
28. Qxf7+ Qxf7
29. Nxf7 Kxf7
30. Bc6 Rxb2
31. Bxe8+ Kxe8
32. Re1+ Kf7

The threatened mate was a variant on the mating pattern known as Philidor's legacy.

27. Rd6? Rxb5!
28. Qxb5?? Qe3+
29. Kh1 Nf2+
30. Kg1 Nh3++
31. Kh1 (if 31. Kf1 Qf2#) Qg1+
32. Rxg1 Nf2#

27. Rd6? left the Knight unguarded except by the Queen, and if the Queen recaptured on b5 it would no longer guard the e3 square, thus allowing the mating pattern. So 27. Rd6 essentially gave me a free Knight, or as in the game where he desperately tried to get some counterplay, left me ahead after the exchanges. But that was only possible because I knew about the mating pattern, and had prepared for it as a contingency plan in case my opponent made it possible. If I hadn't known about it as a common pattern, I doubt I would have seen it in the game.

[Strike For The South]

Chess is for children and the less gifted.

Go is the game for minds.

I LOVED chess when I was a child... My grandfather being a master helped a lot. However, he died when I was 11 (and by then I was already a champion in my age group +-3).

Buuut... Once I found Go I never looked back at chess.

I am honored simply to be able to quote you

:worship:

[Mithrandir]

This kind of talk (as well as the title of the thread), shows that you are one of these people that think that being good at chess is an ingrained ability.

...

Not at all, it was a response to Kadagarava's post, seeing how he was a master at age 2.

I'm actually convinced that to excel at something you need at least 10.000 hours of practice.
There's a study which shows this to be true for many things (playing the violin for example).

Do you play the violin Kadaragva?

[The Stranger]

I alwasy thought Myth was a genius.

As for computer chess, I have Chessmaster 9 or 10, can't remember, and it destroys me at any setting above Dweeb.

omg beirut is still alive, i thought a giant tree ate you

[caravel]

You know, I feel right at home in this thread because as a 3 year old I used to like to play with my rattle? Any more under 7s rattle champions here?

[The Stranger]

Chess is for children and the less gifted.

Go is the game for minds.

I LOVED chess when I was a child... My grandfather being a master helped a lot. However, he died when I was 11 (and by then I was already a champion in my age group +-3).

Buuut... Once I found Go I never looked back at chess.

wth is go?

a real genius plays RISK

[The Stranger]

You know, I feel right at home in this thread because as a 3 year old I used to like to play with my rattle? Any more under 7s rattle champions here?

[Husar]

wth is go?

I think it's a chinese boardgame that is supposedly rather difficult, I never bothered with it though, not enough explosions, action and sex-scenes.

[Mithrandir]

You know, I feel right at home in this thread because as a 3 year old I used to like to play with my rattle? Any more under 7s rattle champions here?

Maybe someone here wrestled with rattlesnakes at the age of 4...
or had a rattlefactory set up at age 5?

Or maybe, he was a rattle-instructor for toddlers at age 1?