What does it even mean to learn chess? I suppose any adult can learn the rule in a few hours and start to have fun from there. Then is there a specific rating after which you can claim that you have learned chess? or will you get more fun once you reach a given level? it seems to be a very elusive target.
How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
201–210 of 320 posts
Re: How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
#202Is there a well known strategy game where AI doesn't have better chances to win than a human? Is there possibly, math wise, that such games exist? I kind of dislike not having a chance when playing against bots.
A handful of games have been invented with the purpose of giving humans an edge over AI. They may have had a chance when the best AI was alpha-beta search, but against modern reinforcement methods, I don't believe they have a chance.
The games invented were Octi [1] and Arimaa [2].
[1]. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/450/octi
[2]. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4616/arimaa
A casual search shows some discussion of AI-resistant board games here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/eaept6/tell_me_...
Re: How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
#203Great article. I got into chess recently, and I can only recommend the "Learn chess with Dr. Wolf" app. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/learn-chess-with-dr-wolf/id135... It's got a beautiful UI, and it's a conversational chess tutor that goes over the basics, tactics, advanced strategy and with whom you can play and will point out mistakes and blunders for later review. Perhaps it is too basic for anybody that has a fe…
Can anyone recommend a similar app/site for learning go? That one feels so hard to learn, but it is so fun. the games really feel like a conversation
Go is so wonderful as a social game. I took its philosophy on "teaching-games" (ie, every game is approached as an opportunity to learn/teach more than as a competition, and handicap structures are built-in to skill difference), and have applied them to chess as I start playing with my 7 yo son.
We both really enjoy playing the game at our absolute best when I start the game less one rook, knight, bishop, and two pawns. I'm not a great chess player though.
Anyway, more to your question, finding a way to play Go in person is such a game-changer, literally.
Re: How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
#204Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can say this about any human endeavour - to learn language, you need to learn idioms. To write, you need tropes, to program you need patterns, etc. Every sport has its plays. I think learning games of past masters in chess is akin to learning culture when studying language. Standing on the shoulders of the giants and all that jazz. Especially since learning openings is not pure memorization of moves - its about l…
In that last "very concrete" line, the 'fish seems to think 8 ... Qc7 is a mistake, and after e.g. 8 ... Be7 instead it puts W at just +0.2, which is perfectly respectable but not obviously better for W than after 7 ... Be7. If you try the same g4; fg g5 idea, then it thinks B is actually slightly better after either ... Nfd7, or even better ... f3; Bxf3 Nfd7. I'm a patzer so don't claim to know what the key differen…
There is another finesse: the point of f4 is that White is threatening f5, attacking the bishop. Black then has a choice between retreating (which losses time) or Bxb3 (which gives White bishop pair).
The point of Qc7 is that black can answer f5 with Bc4 - offering trade of bishops instead, which is a bit disappointing for White. This is why this resource with g4 is important.
So if Black plays Qc7 White needs to know about this g4 temporary pawn sac. If Black plays exf4 then White recaptures with Bxf4, gaining a nice advantage in development. Finally if Black plays anything else (like Be7) White gains comfortable advantage with f5.
Re: How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
#205Good article. A lot of the comments here give bad advice though, which isn’t surprising because they show a lot of common misperceptions about chess. Jeremy Silman has written a couple of books about what is actually important. Quickly, what worked for me when I started playing on chess.com at age 40 after not playing for over twenty years. My rating at age 17 was 1450. Restarted at 1200, and barely progressed at fir…
The question is, is it worth it getting into chess as an adult? What is the appeal? And what additional value does it bring compared to other "productive"/mentally stimulating hobbies?
Re: How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
#206What does it even mean to learn chess? I suppose any adult can learn the rule in a few hours and start to have fun from there. Then is there a specific rating after which you can claim that you have learned chess? or will you get more fun once you reach a given level? it seems to be a very elusive target.
What does it mean to learn piano? A foreign language? Programming? Tennis?
As you get better, you make fewer mistakes and it is (usually) less of a struggle to perform well. You’re right in the sense that you’re never (as a human) going to master it like you can tic-tac-toe or rubik’s cube. But that sort of mastery isn’t fun either.
Re: How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some people just want to have fun and that's what blitz is for. Why are people so preoccupied with improving when it comes to chess? If any other game is mentioned the discussion will not be so centered on improvement as it is with chess. Maybe it is because chess has this air of a "thinking man's game" which does not really deserve. It's just a game like any other.
Because learning and improving is part of the pleasure of chess. It's a game you can enjoy to play, but also enjoy to study. As you improve, there's a tangible sense of progression which is rewarding. And the scope for progression goes very very deep. Not all other games have this feature. If I play Catan with my friends, it's fun, but then the game is over. I'm not going to analyse my game and discover new tactics o…
> Because learning and improving is part of the pleasure of chess.
Important to remember this is not a universal truth for all people.
> If I play Catan with my friends, it’s fun…
Interestingly, you and I seem to be opposites here. I only play chess for fun and never care if I improve, but spent thousands of hours in my college years analyzing and improving at Catan. I wonder if this is simply a matter of whether one prefers deterministic or stochastic games for optimization.
Re: How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
#208Good article. A lot of the comments here give bad advice though, which isn’t surprising because they show a lot of common misperceptions about chess. Jeremy Silman has written a couple of books about what is actually important. Quickly, what worked for me when I started playing on chess.com at age 40 after not playing for over twenty years. My rating at age 17 was 1450. Restarted at 1200, and barely progressed at fir…
The question is, is it worth it getting into chess as an adult? What is the appeal? And what additional value does it bring compared to other "productive"/mentally stimulating hobbies?
For me, chess requires a level of focus and time management unlike anything else (Go is the same, but I learned chess). There are no motor skills required, unlike most video games or a musical instrument. As an adult learning the first time, it is frustrating because it is so much harder than for a kid. But then so is music and foreign language.
From another angle, there is a huge amount of research on chess as a model of cognition. Because chess rating is quite objective, you can measure things like speed of learning, increase in skill with age, followed by decline of skill with age, the effects of alcohol and other drugs, diet, sleep. And, of course, it is a completely classic and ongoing topic of ai research and decision theory. If you are interested in those topics, having some insight into the game is also useful.
Re: How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
#209Good article. A lot of the comments here give bad advice though, which isn’t surprising because they show a lot of common misperceptions about chess. Jeremy Silman has written a couple of books about what is actually important. Quickly, what worked for me when I started playing on chess.com at age 40 after not playing for over twenty years. My rating at age 17 was 1450. Restarted at 1200, and barely progressed at fir…
The question is, is it worth it getting into chess as an adult? What is the appeal? And what additional value does it bring compared to other "productive"/mentally stimulating hobbies?
One person's take.
I use chess to relax after hours of taxing mental work, think programming, meetings or even any stress. While I learned as a child, I didn't really play, as there wasn't anyone to do so, now with chess.com, or any other online service it's super accessible.
Re: How to learn chess as an adult (2021)
#210Good article. A lot of the comments here give bad advice though, which isn’t surprising because they show a lot of common misperceptions about chess. Jeremy Silman has written a couple of books about what is actually important. Quickly, what worked for me when I started playing on chess.com at age 40 after not playing for over twenty years. My rating at age 17 was 1450. Restarted at 1200, and barely progressed at fir…
The question is, is it worth it getting into chess as an adult? What is the appeal? And what additional value does it bring compared to other "productive"/mentally stimulating hobbies?
No. Unless you enjoy it.