> He made most of the discoveries he’s famous for in a single year
That’s often repeated, but simply untrue. Firstly he developed those ideas over multiple years before publishing them, but more importantly there are a number of other important discoveries that came later, such as General Relativity, the prediction of lasers and Bose-Einstein condensates and the EPR paradox.
Sometimes we don’t know if our life’s work is a waste and we never will know because we may be long gone by then. Take Edgar Allen Poe for example, or even Van Gogh, both relatively unappreciated during their lifetimes. Chess can be beneficial to mainting mental strength and even being a preventative measure against Alzheimer’s, so regardless of whether one of us is the next Morphy, chess will have its benefits on our lives. Either way chess is art hands down, especially at higher levels where a sort of chess personality comes to life for each individual player.
I just ordered the book Poe-Land by J.W. Ocker. It's about Poe's legacy: why is this guy, who was a weird, obscure author in his own lifetime, so famous?
As a 50-year-old seriously studying chess for the first time, I'm not sure I agree with your conclusion about why your adult students are reticent to register for an over-the-board tournament. For me, it's two primary reasons:
1) That time is often better spent elsewhere. I am loving chess. I am loving the hours of homework I do. The two hours I block on my work schedule so I can take lessons. The many other hours I spent reading about chess. But those are hours I don't take away from my family (e.g. when at work because I can, or at night when the kid is asleep). Taking 4 hours on a Sunday afternoon for a chess tourney means o many other things my wife or my daughter or us as a family want to do with those 4 hours. It's not shame. It's selfish.
2) so many tournaments now are relative kids. Chess is very popular now, and its target audience is kids and young adults. I'm 50. Compared to them I'm ancient. It just feels awkward to me to consider showing up as an 800 and saying to a kid, "let's play!" That's not shame about the hobby. That's me not wanting to feel like the black sheep. Like the tourney isn't meant for me.
When I first saw the question about how many possible positions at move 4, I thought maybe a few thousand. Then thought, and upped it to maybe a million.
Chess is played on a board with only 64 squares, simple rules, and only 6 different types of pieces.
“How complex is chess? … After three moves, over 9 million, and after four, more than 288 billion different possible positions can arise. - Maurice Ashley, Chess Grandmaster
At 66, it is unlikely I will be a GM, so fame is not what I should focus on. I make sure to love solving puzzles with millions of possible combinations. Add time pressure, and it is really an art form.
I read in an interview that Nakamura tried an academic career and stopped playing chess for 6 months. The grass is always greener on the other side as he fortunately (?) realized and returned back to chess. Change is sometimes needed but as often people just change while disaster is almost guaranteed. My advise is therefore try to speak with experts and don't make such decisions on your own.
Being a political opponent to Vladimir Putin strikes me as a very brave and worthwhile goal. He didn't entirely succeed, but then again the deck was stacked against him.
This post sold me on subscribing. Thank you.
+1
Another good example:
Ken Rogoff.
Rogoff may have regretted leaving chess. He is now famous for the wrong reason - check out the 'Reinhart-Rogoff' error.
Really enjoyed reading this post. Thank you for the energy that went into writing it.
> He made most of the discoveries he’s famous for in a single year
That’s often repeated, but simply untrue. Firstly he developed those ideas over multiple years before publishing them, but more importantly there are a number of other important discoveries that came later, such as General Relativity, the prediction of lasers and Bose-Einstein condensates and the EPR paradox.
Really great post.
Thanks.
Sometimes we don’t know if our life’s work is a waste and we never will know because we may be long gone by then. Take Edgar Allen Poe for example, or even Van Gogh, both relatively unappreciated during their lifetimes. Chess can be beneficial to mainting mental strength and even being a preventative measure against Alzheimer’s, so regardless of whether one of us is the next Morphy, chess will have its benefits on our lives. Either way chess is art hands down, especially at higher levels where a sort of chess personality comes to life for each individual player.
I just ordered the book Poe-Land by J.W. Ocker. It's about Poe's legacy: why is this guy, who was a weird, obscure author in his own lifetime, so famous?
I will definitely have to check out that book, thank you, and again great post!
As a 50-year-old seriously studying chess for the first time, I'm not sure I agree with your conclusion about why your adult students are reticent to register for an over-the-board tournament. For me, it's two primary reasons:
1) That time is often better spent elsewhere. I am loving chess. I am loving the hours of homework I do. The two hours I block on my work schedule so I can take lessons. The many other hours I spent reading about chess. But those are hours I don't take away from my family (e.g. when at work because I can, or at night when the kid is asleep). Taking 4 hours on a Sunday afternoon for a chess tourney means o many other things my wife or my daughter or us as a family want to do with those 4 hours. It's not shame. It's selfish.
2) so many tournaments now are relative kids. Chess is very popular now, and its target audience is kids and young adults. I'm 50. Compared to them I'm ancient. It just feels awkward to me to consider showing up as an 800 and saying to a kid, "let's play!" That's not shame about the hobby. That's me not wanting to feel like the black sheep. Like the tourney isn't meant for me.
This always amazes me.
When I first saw the question about how many possible positions at move 4, I thought maybe a few thousand. Then thought, and upped it to maybe a million.
Chess is played on a board with only 64 squares, simple rules, and only 6 different types of pieces.
“How complex is chess? … After three moves, over 9 million, and after four, more than 288 billion different possible positions can arise. - Maurice Ashley, Chess Grandmaster
At 66, it is unlikely I will be a GM, so fame is not what I should focus on. I make sure to love solving puzzles with millions of possible combinations. Add time pressure, and it is really an art form.
I read in an interview that Nakamura tried an academic career and stopped playing chess for 6 months. The grass is always greener on the other side as he fortunately (?) realized and returned back to chess. Change is sometimes needed but as often people just change while disaster is almost guaranteed. My advise is therefore try to speak with experts and don't make such decisions on your own.
What is your opinion about Garry Kasparov? He quit chess in 2005 but what did he accomplish afterwards?
Being a political opponent to Vladimir Putin strikes me as a very brave and worthwhile goal. He didn't entirely succeed, but then again the deck was stacked against him.