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Reimagining Chess with AlphaZero

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Re: Reimagining Chess with AlphaZero

#61

I think what this analysis really shows is that less time lead to less draws. Maybe we could rethink time controls. Classic could maybe be something like 1h+20sec increment for both sides. This would also make it more interesting to watch such an event live.

The perennially controversial opinion is that rapid chess (the time control) should replace classical chess. But I don't play chess tournaments so it's not my place to decide.

Re: Reimagining Chess with AlphaZero

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is one problem: there are too many draws at top human level.

I'm in top 1% of rapid chess players on lichess, and I hardly ever see a draw. If top 100 or 500 players on the whole planet have this problem, well, they can try some other game, probably, I don't mind.

You can't reach top 1% without being very good at taking advantage of time pressure, though, or am I wrong? The term rapid chess includes many time controls - both with and without increment, so I'm not sure how to understand you.

Re: Reimagining Chess with AlphaZero

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is not for these 100 players specifically. It's for all the fans watching them.

They can watch blitz of bullet games, it is by far more entertaining.

Rapid is better (for the audience). Slow enough to be able to catch more of the game going on, while a lot of decisive results happen.

Re: Reimagining Chess with AlphaZero

#64
I'm surprised that so many comments talk about "too many draws in classical chess problem" as just yesterday we just finished Tata Steel that was a terrific tournament with plenty of decisive games (84 out of 182) and even most of the draws were thrilling games. During commentary, GM Naroditsky mentioned that he asked past World Champions Anand and Topalov about influence of Magnus Carlsen on the game and both responded with "people have stoped offering draws in many different types of positions where 10-15 year ago they would shake hands and go home" [1]. Additionally modern computer analyses show that even dead drawn positions can be won if opponent makes slightest inaccuracy and players do try to capitalise on that often.

Maybe World Championship matches format needs some tweaking. Draws are much more common there as losing one game can easily mean losing whole match and players are extra cautious.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK2IWnOfFuY

Re: Reimagining Chess with AlphaZero

#65
post #41
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Software rendering of these rules might lag a bit—but if you have dedicated hardware, it should be possible to make this work.

This is such an intriguing comment. What question are you answering?

I think it's just a subtle way of saying "Implementing these rules in software might take a while, but you can use a physical chess board to try these variants"

Re: Reimagining Chess with AlphaZero

#66
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not chess, that is a completely different game. The only similarity is that they are both board games.

This (v13) variant was arrived from altering normal chess step-by-step, evolving from this(v1->v13) variant https://github.com/FrozenVoid/Game-Design-DB/blob/main/Board... which is fairly mundane variant with extra pieces and slightly larger board. It would be interesting to know at which point FrozenChess variants become not-chess(or where chess variants become board games).

> New Egg Fusion ability: fused eggs(any allied egg can be fused to another on the board) grow as N eggs would grow in single turn(similar to quickening:60 turns become 20 with 3x egg) and produce 1 dragon.

That doesn't look mundane to me.

Re: Reimagining Chess with AlphaZero

#69

I'm surprised that so many comments talk about "too many draws in classical chess problem" as just yesterday we just finished Tata Steel that was a terrific tournament with plenty of decisive games (84 out of 182) and even most of the draws were thrilling games. During commentary, GM Naroditsky mentioned that he asked past World Champions Anand and Topalov about influence of Magnus Carlsen on the game and both respon…

Too many draws is not a new criticism. Capablanca believed in the risk of "draw death", in that the majority of grandmaster games would eventually end in draws. He proposed a change to chess boards introducing two new pieces, the archbishop and the chancellor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capablanca_chess

He wasn't the first to propose these sorts of changes (see the Wikipedia article).

In 1925, his comments on why he proposed these things is as follows:

"I spoke with Dr Tartakower, a great master and also a friend of mine, and he published, in very condensed form, my ideas on certain reforms that I believed it would be appropriate to make in chess. I told him that previously in various newspapers and magazines things had been attributed to me which I had never said, and this seemed to me a good opportunity to clarify the facts and to expound the only modifications that I really considered appropriate, while at the same time clarifying that it was untrue that I had ever declared that chess had reached its limit and that to draw was easy. It is of course easy to understand how much has been written and said on this matter. In reality, what I have heard and read on it demonstrates that I have not been understood."

"...In reality, today there exists, as it were, a separate form of chess, which is understood only by the most select of the great masters, and which very often relies on a highly-developed technique which already today threatens to make talent equal to genius; that would make chess rather similar to what the game of draughts is today. Thus despite the old history of chess and the thousands of books written on chess played on a 64-square board, it is necessary to avoid what would undoubtedly be a disaster. In order to prevent, for a few centuries at least, technique from again becoming such a dominant factor, I have suggested increasing the field of operations."

https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/2xxl2p/what_do_you_t...

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