Over the last two years, I have become addicted to chess. I’ve spent hours upon hours watching analyses of famous games between the strongest grandmasters that have ever lived. Each game is a story. Some are long, others are short. Some are super complicated, others are relatively simple. Some are wild, others are calm. The variety keeps the game interesting, just as different books and genres keep reading interesting. The style of a game depends on the player, the time format, the mood, the environment, and more.
Chess is a game of strategy, understanding, tactics, and emotion. Players at the highest level have to out-calculate or out-wit their opponents over the course of hours, minutes, or seconds. There are three formats; classical, the longest format where players are given hours of time. Rapid, the medium format where players are given time in the range of 10-20 minutes. And blitz, the shortest format where players are given anywhere between 3-5 minutes. Each time format has a completely different strategy. Less time means less time to think. Players avoid complications because they do not have time to calculate enough variations. More time means more time to think. Instead of playing instant moves, the top players may spend tens of minutes in a classical game versus a few seconds. There’s actually a last set of formats since the dawn of the internet. Bullet. Players are given a minute or less, where insane positions arise on the board given the limited amount of time. Players try to destroy their opponents as soon as possible by attacking their opponent ferociously or entering highly tactical positions. If one finds themselves losing, they may enter a time scramble where they try to make their opponent lose on time. This is called flagging your opponent.
Strategy, understanding, and tactics seem reasonable. After all, it seems like the player with the better chess fundamentals and skills should win the game. Although this is probably true for the most part, it is easy to forget that chess players are human. Humans have emotions. They are influenced by their opponent, the environment, and their own minds. Playing a tough opponent can cause players to panic and doubt their abilities. High stake games can cause players to lose composure. Losing many games in a row can cause underconfidence and anger. Winning many games in a row can cause overconfidence or self-assurance. You can play mind games in chess. Depending on your opponent, it can give you a massive edge.
It’s incredible how a simple board game invented over a thousand years ago has stood the test of time. There are more people today than ever invested in the game. Chess is now popularized on media, YouTube, Twitch, and more. Chess is an incredibly balanced game, where the player with the white pieces only has an ever-so-slight advantage. It’s incredible how humans invented such a game back then. After all, how do we know an 8x8 board is ideal, with 16 pieces on each side and a unique distribution of pieces with different abilities? It’s quite marvelous, in my opinion.
Every day, more beautiful games are played by players of all levels. Whether it be online or in a real tournament, anyone can play. Isn’t it fascinating how we can look at an arrangement of pieces on a wooden board and call it beautiful? Instead of drawings or paint with meanings, it’s the complexity of the position. In an arrangement with thousands, millions, or more possible continuations, there are a select few or one unique continuations that leads to the termination of the game. Usually, that continuation is not obvious at all.
Another unique introduction to chess is the chess engine. Computers with powerful processing capabilities can find the “best” move in any position. What took the top grandmasters hours if not weeks to agree on (if even at all), we can today find the top moves in an instant. It’s like having an answer key to every test. It seems like engines take all the fun out of chess, but it is mostly the contrary. While players have begun to memorize engine lines (it’s still very difficult to understand why the best moves are the best), most top players can use engines to improve their play, find new strategies, and understand the intricacies of complicated positions like they never could before. It’s really interesting how the human mind was able to create an engine that can play better than all the humans in the world combined.
What makes chess so fun to play? It’s like any puzzle. You have to think over an endless sea of options and figure out which one is best. You have to be able to convince yourself of your choice. You can focus on the opening, middlegame, and endgame, each part having its own intricacies and complications, bringing variety to the game. Lastly, chess is a game of dominance. You defeating a player are you displaying your superior (most of the time) chess capabilities? It’s truly a battle of intellect, and a win is very rewarding, mostly when you feel that you played many good moves to defeat your opponent. On the other hand, it can truly be frustrating when you lose complicated games or get obliterated by your opponent. I have never been as angry in any other game as I have been in chess. It’s a double-edged sword.
Although I am still quite a novice, I want to continue to explore chess. I haven’t really put the most effort into chess fundamentals. I’ve only played games. But, when I find the time, I will focus on actually learning the positional skills that are required to be considered a well-rounded player. And the best thing is, there is no end. There’s no way that I will “conquer” the game. No matter how long I focus and study chess, there is always room to improve. If Magnus Carlsen is still improving every day, then how could I ever get bored of it?