Bill Gates loses to Magnus Carlsen in 9 moves • Hacker News Board

Re: Bill Gates loses to Magnus Carlsen in 9 moves

#121

Post by pgopalan » Sat, Jan 25, 2014, 3:55 AM UTC

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #93

There is a Derren Brown (UK Illusionist) piece where he plays seven opponents at once, walking round in a big circle, and amazingly wins 4 out of 7. Afterwards the explanation is simple - he played 6 masters or grandmasters, and one guy off the street. And simply (!) memorised the moves of player A and made them against player C, B to D etc. All he had to do was play a decent game against the guy off the street and h…

This works only if the colors are reversed in subsequent boards. To avoid this trick, all traditional simuls (short for simultaneous play - where one chess master plays many people) have two simple rules: 1)The chess master has the same color in all the boards 2) The color of the chess master's pieces are usually white

Since white always makes the first move in a chess game, it is not possible to copy the game from board A and play it in board B with reverse colors.

Re: Bill Gates loses to Magnus Carlsen in 9 moves

#122

Post by wamatt » Sat, Jan 25, 2014, 3:59 AM UTC

jrs99 wrote: post #116

mmanfrin wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is not knowing your opponent part of the strategy? Carlsen played the 'tricks' way he did because he knew, or felt reasonably certain that Gates would fall for them. Critiquing his play based on what you would do in Gates' position is simply wrong, because I'm assuming the #1 chess player in the world would play differently had he been playing against an international master such as yourself.

I don't think Carlsen was at all certain Gates would fall for those tricks. I just don't think Carlsen would care if he lost. People are assuming a lot of things. They're assuming that Carlsen wants to win at all costs. The same with Gates. Carlsen did what he wanted because the outcome didn't really matter to him. Kind of like Gates beating Shaq in a basketball game and then analyzing the strategy of each player to…

> People are assuming a lot of things

> "Carlsen did what he wanted because the outcome didn't really matter to him."

Hmm.. didn't you just make an assumption too regarding Carlsen's state of mind and motives?

Honestly both you and the OP seem to be engaging in pure speculation.

Re: Bill Gates loses to Magnus Carlsen in 9 moves

#123

Post by oldstrangers » Sat, Jan 25, 2014, 4:42 AM UTC

tedsanders wrote: post #103

oldstrangers wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my other comment: If I was Bill I would've played a very passive game, shutting down the middle of the board as quickly as possible. Create as complex a middle game as possible, and let Carslen go all in on sacrifices or whatever he'd need to do to break the board open. Deny as many exchanges as possible, win on time. Carlsen quickly realized Bill was a push over and started parking all his pieces on white's kin…

But to execute this strategy well, Bill would have to be much better than he is. Carlsen will crush Bill every time, even if Bill knows ahead of time to play a passive, closed position.

Yes, basically Bill is very bad at chess.

Re: Bill Gates loses to Magnus Carlsen in 9 moves

#124

Post by MrBra » Sat, Jan 25, 2014, 4:50 AM UTC

RivieraKid wrote: post #75

samolang wrote: post #2

If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.

Well, fish are pretty much stupid.

Are they or is it.. ?

Re: Bill Gates loses to Magnus Carlsen in 9 moves

#125

Post by vecter » Sat, Jan 25, 2014, 5:26 AM UTC

jvagner wrote: post #119

solutionyogi wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That video you linked is insane. I couldn't even see what moves they are making. It reminded me of chess between Joey and Phoebe. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n_zq_M9OGk Thank you for sharing.

in the speed chess video above, why did both players advance all their pieces off the back rows for the midpoint of the game?

I think the rationale in bullet chess is that playing strategically isn't going to help and you're in less danger of getting checkmated. From that point of view, you might as well prepare for the endgame, so the best way to do that is to keep the king in the center of the board while connecting your rooks.

Re: Bill Gates loses to Magnus Carlsen in 9 moves

#126

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jan 25, 2014, 6:47 AM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Bill Gates loses to Magnus Carlsen in 9 moves

#127

Post by stiff » Sat, Jan 25, 2014, 8:10 AM UTC

stiff wrote: post #18

Surprisingly this has brought some memories, I remember my father beating me in a chess game exactly the same way in just a few moves, back when I was a kid, my chess knowledge to this day sums up to knowing how the pieces move, and my father I think knew some more chess theory regarding strategy, but wasn't even a competitive player, so my laymen impression is that this was a really unremarkable game. Would someone…

I will answer my own question:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-rank_checkmate

Re: Bill Gates loses to Magnus Carlsen in 9 moves

#128

Post by jrs99 » Sat, Jan 25, 2014, 8:16 AM UTC

wamatt wrote: post #122

jrs99 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Carlsen was at all certain Gates would fall for those tricks. I just don't think Carlsen would care if he lost. People are assuming a lot of things. They're assuming that Carlsen wants to win at all costs. The same with Gates. Carlsen did what he wanted because the outcome didn't really matter to him. Kind of like Gates beating Shaq in a basketball game and then analyzing the strategy of each player to…

> People are assuming a lot of things > "Carlsen did what he wanted because the outcome didn't really matter to him." Hmm.. didn't you just make an assumption too regarding Carlsen's state of mind and motives? Honestly both you and the OP seem to be engaging in pure speculation.

no, i didn't assume anything. I reason that if you play a TRICK from the beginning, you don't really care to win. You're playing for a good time. To amuse non chess players.

Re: Bill Gates loses to Magnus Carlsen in 9 moves

#129

Post by venomsnake » Sat, Jan 25, 2014, 8:34 AM UTC

haberman wrote: post #104

It's funny because you know that in there somewhere Bill Gates must still have his former extremely competitive self, and getting beat so badly has got to be humbling. He's a great sport about it though.

A loss is painful only when you have reasonable chance to win.

Re: Bill Gates loses to Magnus Carlsen in 9 moves

#130

Post by visarga » Sat, Jan 25, 2014, 10:20 AM UTC

haberman wrote: post #104

It's funny because you know that in there somewhere Bill Gates must still have his former extremely competitive self, and getting beat so badly has got to be humbling. He's a great sport about it though.

Letting yourself get beat at chess, made fun of by talk shows or using self deprecating humor are strategies for making people to like you more. He got what he wanted, if he was just doing this to gain geek admiration.