How many rating points is a photographic memory worth?

Ozzie is not looking for an advantage against players who know nothing, nor is he the 1700 player whom Heisman mentions. At his level of play, those who know nothing have already lost. Errors, too, are few and minor. However, Heisman's point concerning diminishing return remains relevant. Moreover, with photographic memory, it would be necessary to read the best opening books, and wholly avoid game scores from weak players. The problem with remembering everything is that it interferes with distinguishing between the relevant and the irrelevant. Those who wish to dismiss this view (that I have stated several times before in this thread) as a concern for semantics are free to wallow in their ignorance. A photographic memory in chess is more likely a deficit than an advantage. If one had it, however, and carefully cultivated exposure only to useful materials, it might lead to a rating gain of 10-20 ELO for someone at Ozzie's level. For the 1700 player, it would be less useful.

lol

I am very visual and can remember most of my games.

Eternal_Patzer >> Some good thoughts. However this thought experiment only deals with using a strong memory for memorizing opening moves. A superior memory is very useful because it is able to recall a lot of chess patterns and its themes.

I once read a review of a study that measured the brain activity in strong chess players vs. poor chess players. Even after the opening the result was that the strong chess players were using the part of their brain associated with memorizing stuff, while the poor chess players were using the part of their brain associated with calculation.

Indeed! Such patterns proved the basis of chess strength when Alfred Binet investigated photographic memory and found it wanting.

 

Wow...Steinitz was still champ (at least for a few months).

I have no one, entire, in my memory. :/

There is some way to improve that kind of memory?

I'm pretty happy if I can recall my own games a day or two after I've played them :)

The more thought I put into a game, the more likely I am to recall those thoughts, if not the game itself. Like the opponent plays Nf2-h1, and I'll think for a minute about the imminent reposition to g3....

Then a couple of years later I'll still remember "oh right the Nh1 game"

"Of my 57 years, I’ve applied at least 30 to forgetting most of what I learned or read, and since I succeeded in this I have acquired a certain ease and cheer which I should never again like to be without. ... I have stored little in my memory, but I can apply that little, and it is of good use in many and varied emergencies. I keep it in order, but resist every attempt to increase its dead weight." - Emanuel Lasker

A photographic memory is of great use in the opening.  It may be, however, a hinderance in the middle game.  I am not sure about its usefulness in the end game. 

A friend of mine, with  a photographic memory, came to me with some test he had just taken.  He wanted to know the answer.  I said I don't know the subject.  He explained, I answered. 

"So," I asked, "why did you have to ask me?"  He replied, "My photographic memory gets in the way of my thinking.  If I hold the image of the text book page, I cannot look at another page at the same time, I cannot compare things from various pages."  Presumably, if you can recall the photographic memory at will, you can then put it aside to think and to compare.

I doubt being able to memorize photographs would help much.

Suggestion: Next time, take off the tie before you try to be gangsta. Also, you might want to try a different hand gesture.

Dammit monstah!

no way

Im getting one on ebay