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Do grandmasters play chess against beginners? I think most people want to be challenged, and playing with others of similar skill seems to be the norm in most g

Do grandmasters play chess against beginners? I think most people want to be challenged, and playing with others of similar skill seems to be the norm in most games.

thaumasiotes 7y ago
> Do grandmasters play chess against beginners? All the time. They teach people to play; they do stunts like playing against 5 people at once; they sit in the park and take all comers. If you want to prove you're good, go and fight someone who's known to be good. But that generates information for other people, not for you. If you want to determine how good you are, you need to fight a lot of different people.
- rebuilder 7y ago
  Very good, I chose a poor example. You can see the point I'm making, though?
  - thaumasiotes 7y ago
    No, I can't. All three examples I gave correspond to arguments advanced in this thread as to why you might want to smurf. They teach people to play -- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21393157 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21393157 > If you play with a friend who has a low rank, it is much easier to create a free now account (that will start in a low skill group) than it is to obtain one for them which is already in a higher skill group. They do stunts like playing against 5 people at once -- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21394927 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21394927 > you can essentially carry your entire team to victory because your skill level is so much higher than the enemy. You get to fuck up a bunch of newbs and win the game, while your team mates are drooling at spawn. They sit in the park and take all comers -- I've been pushing this angle myself: > If you want to determine how good you are, you need to fight a lot of different people. I'm arguing that the idea of matchmaking according to assessed skill level is inherently flawed, and smurfing is a natural workaround to this self-inflicted problem.

Do grandmasters play chess against beginners? I think most people want to be challenged, and playing with others of similar skill seems to be the norm in most games.

thaumasiotes 7y ago

> Do grandmasters play chess against beginners? All the time. They teach people to play; they do stunts like playing against 5 people at once; they sit in the park and take all comers. If you want to prove you're good, go and fight someone who's known to be good. But that generates information for other people, not for you. If you want to determine how good you are, you need to fight a lot of different people.

rebuilder 7y ago
Very good, I chose a poor example. You can see the point I'm making, though?
- thaumasiotes 7y ago
  No, I can't. All three examples I gave correspond to arguments advanced in this thread as to why you might want to smurf. They teach people to play -- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21393157 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21393157 > If you play with a friend who has a low rank, it is much easier to create a free now account (that will start in a low skill group) than it is to obtain one for them which is already in a higher skill group. They do stunts like playing against 5 people at once -- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21394927 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21394927 > you can essentially carry your entire team to victory because your skill level is so much higher than the enemy. You get to fuck up a bunch of newbs and win the game, while your team mates are drooling at spawn. They sit in the park and take all comers -- I've been pushing this angle myself: > If you want to determine how good you are, you need to fight a lot of different people. I'm arguing that the idea of matchmaking according to assessed skill level is inherently flawed, and smurfing is a natural workaround to this self-inflicted problem.