Daily Speculations
 |
The Grandmaster
Photos © Larry Fletcher
2004 |
Write to us at:
(address is not clickable)
3/27/2005
The Chess Player's Nightmare, by
Nigel Davies
Chess is a descendant of ancient fortunetelling rituals in which bones were cast on the ground to predict the future. As mankind gained more control over his environment he learned that he could move the bones and control the outcome. At least to some extent.
The evolution of chess strategy can be seen in the same context, with players such as Steinitz attempting to gain greater control over the game through a scientific analysis of different strategies. Yet there is also a darker side to chess, one which we try to ignore even as it stalks us. That side is chaos.
No matter how skillfully we play it is impossible to predict everything and control the game to the extent to which we'd like. There is always the danger of a position arising which does not behave the same way as apparently similar positions have in the past. It appears to defy 'logical' analysis.
What can be done? Sometimes you just lose. At other times you get an inkling that something 'isn't quite right' and manage to change the way you look at things in time to stop the damage.
There have been players who have specialized in chaotic positions, for example Steinitz's arch-rival, Mikhail Chigorin. But when someone is searching hard for the unusual, they can go off track in positions which are rational.
Nigel Davies is a trader and an International Chess Grandmaster residing in the United Kingdom. Visit his Web site at www.tigerchess.com.