{"id":363,"date":"2009-03-09T14:42:19","date_gmt":"2009-03-09T09:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bhagwad.com\/blog\/?p=363"},"modified":"2010-10-09T02:15:10","modified_gmt":"2010-10-08T20:45:10","slug":"how-the-computer-ruined-chess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/2009\/technology\/how-the-computer-ruined-chess.html\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Computer ruined Chess"},"content":{"rendered":"

We live in a sad period. I never intend to have kids, but if I did, I would tell them the story of how one of the greatest games of all time was ruined by the advent of technology. I would tell them about how computers ruined chess<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This isn’t meant to be a post against computers. Not in the least. Neither is this a post against how computers have facilitated correspondence to such an extent that you can find opponents in all parts of the world at a moment’s notice. That is an unimaginable benefit, and not a curse.<\/p>\n

This is about how computers have analyzed the greatest game to death, and how they depress the spirit of those playing in the modern day world. Sure, they’re a great way to analyze your own games and thereby improve your play. But any reasonably decent player knows the feeling of being a hopeless blunderer against Fritz.<\/p>\n

Image Credit: erral<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/small><\/p>\n

<\/small><\/p>\n

\n

\"Grandmasters
Grandmasters are no good against the cold machine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Let’s take the example of correspondence chess. I have had opponents who have beaten me and upon analysis, have found that their plays match a computer’s recommendation move for move. And this is when I spend hours thinking over a game that I imagined was being played with a human. I might as well get humiliated by my own machine in the privacy of a room!<\/p>\n

The sad part is that it encourages doubt as well. Even if someone isn’t using a computer, if the moves match, that person is suspected of cheating and it can take all the fun away from the game. Even in the world championship match, Topalov accused Kramik of cheating with computerized help each time he went to the loo. Such a sad fate of a great game. Masters like Alekhine and Capablanca would turn in their graves.<\/p>\n

Computers are not really able to “dumb themselves” down properly, and so playing on a lower level with a computer never really works. Usually the computer will play superb tactics for a while and then suddenly throw away a piece with a blunder that even an amateur would not make. Playing against a computer is usually an exercise in futility.<\/p>\n

The saddest part is that computers don’t even appreciate chess. They’re just mindless machines who have no idea of the artistic value of the game – a game that has always been looked on as the preferred pastime of master strategists. Whenever a writer needs to show the greatness and strategic power of a man, they show him playing a game of chess for days, sometimes even against himself. One can imagine Caesar or Octavian engrossed in a chess position.<\/p>\n

Batman and Ras Al Ghul are often shown playing against each other in a symbolic representation of their great mental powers. Ras pores over a chess move for weeks before playing a move. I cringe when I imagine that a common program that I can run on my PC would probably be able to find a refutation in seconds. There’s just something grotesque about the whole thing.<\/p>\n

Opening databases with millions of variations and Nalimov Tablebases have reduced chess to an automation. That is what I call a demise of the grandest game in history.<\/p>\n

Taking Revenge on the Computer<\/h2>\n

Understanding the futility of studying a game whose truths lie bare and exposed by an entity with no thought or feeling, I decided to give up chess, and take up another game. But which game is proof against the invasion of the beast? It was then that I found “Go”.<\/p>\n

I don’t recall which book I read about Go’s computer defying capabilities in, but on further exploration, I found out that Go was an old game – older than Chess and had been played in China, Japan and Korea for at least 3000 years. It’s rules are simple (one may even say obvious), but it has a profound depth and strategic component that can only be grasped at without looking too closely. Meaning that sometimes even top level Go players are unable to tell why a particular move is the “right” one, other than that it seems correct. At last, a worthy match for a computer, an entity that relies on precise calculations and pinpoint judgments.<\/p>\n

In fact, sometimes the computer even has difficulty in deciding when a particular game is over – even if it’s obvious to all humans who observe it.<\/p>\n

Image Credit: Okinawa Soba<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/small><\/p>\n

\n

\"The
The Ancient game of Go - Will it hold out against computers?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rules of Go can be learned in 5 minutes – I’m not joking. But so far, it’s the only<\/em> skilled board game I know of that has resisted the entry of computers into it. Sure, there are computer programs that play go, but they fall short of even medium amateur capability. Even I <\/em>have beaten the computer in this noteworthy game – something that is difficult, to say the least in Chess.<\/p>\n

I know that computers are going to improve in their “Go” playing capability slowly but very surely. Ultimately, I have no doubt that this grand game too, will be ruined by the mindless machine. But I hope I’ll never live to see the day.<\/p>\n

So here’s to “Go” and it’s continued dominance over the computers :) !<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Explains how computers have spoiled Chess and how need to move onto another board game called “Go”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,33,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nr","category-sa","category-technology"],"yoast_head":"\nHow the Computer ruined Chess<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explains how chess has been ruined by computers and how "Go" is the salvation\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/2009\/technology\/how-the-computer-ruined-chess.html\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How the Computer ruined Chess\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explains how chess has been ruined by computers and how "Go" is the salvation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/2009\/technology\/how-the-computer-ruined-chess.html\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Expressions - 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