8 ms·

Is there some skill that links chess to this? Seems to improbable for a coincidence

by k2xl 7y ago

wayoutthere 7y ago
I would imagine it's that both are game theory on Markov Chains.
umanwizard 7y ago
General intelligence?
- cambalache 7y ago
  Yes General IQ, concentration, analysis and synthesis of information, a prediction-oriented mind, and plain capacity to do the work.
mellosouls 7y ago
Whatever the skill, I'd say it's clear its no coincidence and is down to Magnus' incredible mind and brilliance in whatever skills are needed. Having said that, you might expect to see good showings in the league by other top-level grandmasters with a similar passion for football. Perhaps his interest in it is unusually keen within the chess world though, I've no idea.
kick 7y ago
Memory and intuitive reasoning definitely helps in both, though another part is luck: Carlsen's skilled, but he also has made some incredibly lucky guesses.
- jon-v 7y ago
  What do you think luck is?
  - kick 7y ago
    Dendoncker scoring his only goal of the season so far right as that became beneficial for Carlsen was something no one could have predicted, for example, but it benefit Carlsen marvelously. Unlike chess, games with humans aren't fixed: there's luck inherent to them.
maestrokuro 7y ago
Carlsen isn't a chess genius. He's a genius who plays chess. The guy can recall chess positions from games he played as a teenager. (I played a few games of chess today morning and I can barely remember the openings I played!)
- thom 7y ago
  To be honest, that's a really common ability for most elite chess players, who by the time they are teenagers are already grandmasters and have been playing for the best part of 10 years. Not to deny Magnus is a genius, though.
  - yesenadam 7y ago
    It seems fairly pointless and meaningless to argue whether someone "is a genius" or not. Check out this recent short video of Magnus being shown and recognizing positions from Vishy Anand games. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acVvkz4MsKc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acVvkz4MsKc Common might be recognizing the opponent and next move (I, patzer, got half right, also that the move against Lautier was h6!), but Magnus also remembers the year, tournament, most of the game etc. He has a remarkable memory, and studies a lot of games, past and present – because he loves doing it. Bobby Fischer was similar, from what I hear. I've read quite a few stories of people from around the world meeting him and he'd say "I liked your game against X 10 years ago but you should have played move Y" and they were amazed he'd even heard of them, let alone studied their obscure games. (This was pre-internet and pre-computer-analysis)
    - thom 7y ago
      Do you have a video of other 2700+ players failing to do this? I've watched plenty of live tournament coverage, and it doesn't seem a rare skill. Not claiming they do it as well as the best player in the world, and arguably of all time, but this honestly just seems like table stakes at this level of the game. It's literally their job, every day, to study games and understand and recall new theory.
thom 7y ago
I dunno if there's any direct link, but certainly some common advantages from a combination of hard work, lots of reps, pattern recognition, large amounts of self-directed free time, a smart group of people around him, a world class IT infrastructure.

Is there some skill that links chess to this? Seems to improbable for a coincidence

by k2xl 7y ago

Is there some skill that links chess to this? Seems to improbable for a coincidence

wayoutthere 7y ago

I would imagine it's that both are game theory on Markov Chains.

umanwizard 7y ago

General intelligence?

cambalache 7y ago
Yes General IQ, concentration, analysis and synthesis of information, a prediction-oriented mind, and plain capacity to do the work.

mellosouls 7y ago

Whatever the skill, I'd say it's clear its no coincidence and is down to Magnus' incredible mind and brilliance in whatever skills are needed. Having said that, you might expect to see good showings in the league by other top-level grandmasters with a similar passion for football. Perhaps his interest in it is unusually keen within the chess world though, I've no idea.

kick 7y ago

Memory and intuitive reasoning definitely helps in both, though another part is luck: Carlsen's skilled, but he also has made some incredibly lucky guesses.

jon-v 7y ago
What do you think luck is?
- kick 7y ago
  Dendoncker scoring his only goal of the season so far right as that became beneficial for Carlsen was something no one could have predicted, for example, but it benefit Carlsen marvelously. Unlike chess, games with humans aren't fixed: there's luck inherent to them.

maestrokuro 7y ago

Carlsen isn't a chess genius. He's a genius who plays chess. The guy can recall chess positions from games he played as a teenager. (I played a few games of chess today morning and I can barely remember the openings I played!)

thom 7y ago
To be honest, that's a really common ability for most elite chess players, who by the time they are teenagers are already grandmasters and have been playing for the best part of 10 years. Not to deny Magnus is a genius, though.
- yesenadam 7y ago
  It seems fairly pointless and meaningless to argue whether someone "is a genius" or not. Check out this recent short video of Magnus being shown and recognizing positions from Vishy Anand games. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acVvkz4MsKc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acVvkz4MsKc Common might be recognizing the opponent and next move (I, patzer, got half right, also that the move against Lautier was h6!), but Magnus also remembers the year, tournament, most of the game etc. He has a remarkable memory, and studies a lot of games, past and present – because he loves doing it. Bobby Fischer was similar, from what I hear. I've read quite a few stories of people from around the world meeting him and he'd say "I liked your game against X 10 years ago but you should have played move Y" and they were amazed he'd even heard of them, let alone studied their obscure games. (This was pre-internet and pre-computer-analysis)
  - thom 7y ago
    Do you have a video of other 2700+ players failing to do this? I've watched plenty of live tournament coverage, and it doesn't seem a rare skill. Not claiming they do it as well as the best player in the world, and arguably of all time, but this honestly just seems like table stakes at this level of the game. It's literally their job, every day, to study games and understand and recall new theory.

thom 7y ago

I dunno if there's any direct link, but certainly some common advantages from a combination of hard work, lots of reps, pattern recognition, large amounts of self-directed free time, a smart group of people around him, a world class IT infrastructure.