4 ms·
It is a cool series but nowhere near real description of chess. Of course it’s ok, but it’s worth to remember, that in order to get to the international level y
by tikej 6y ago
It is a cool series but nowhere near real description of chess. Of course it’s ok, but it’s worth to remember, that in order to get to the international level you need excellent coaches and years of brutal many hour practice. Talent is somewhat important but nowhere as important as training.
To have more objective outlook at “chess prodigy” story it’s interesting to look story of Joshua Waitzkin. He is a great and talented chess player but not at the level of grandmasters. He explained that he didn’t really wanted to “sacrifice” other things in his life to become a grandmaster.
- francisofascii 6y agoFor those who might be unaware, the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer" is about Josh Waitzkin.
- nebulous1 6y ago> Talent is somewhat important but nowhere as important as training. Generally agreed on your post but I don't think I agree with this. You aren't making it to GM without an extreme amount of talent. Training is likely to be required too, but I'd say it's much more likely that an extremely talented but untrained person could make GM vs an not-so-talented person with rigorous training. Basically I'm saying that the vast majority of people would never be able to become a GM regardless of training.
- newen 6y agoIt's a good argument but also consider the alternative that Waitzkin might not have enough talent and he is saying that to protect his ego.
- drexlspivey 6y agoMikhail Botvinik who was the world champion between 1948-1963 (with two brief 1-year disruptions) also had a career as an electrical engineer during his peak chess years
- akoshodi 6y agoThe NatGeo documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wzs33wvr9E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wzs33wvr9E , "My brilliant Brain" featuring Susan Polgar touches on some points you have made. Most people will not be able to pay the necessary price to be an elite player. I found some similarities between Susan Polgar and the fictional character in Queen's Gambit.