Chess and substance, hand in hand.

To be perfectly honest, this is coming from a non background and non playing chess person, till recently.

I think chess is extremely popular, I'd say it would easily beat any game out there when it comes to amount of people who play (popularity) and when people play chess it turns into a (game of life), lifetime game. What other game has such continued support?

Chess has stood the test of time, chess is not just a fad, no other game could ensure it's mass popularity throughout the test of time, and if 1500 years doesn't prove this as fact, then you Sir/Madam will never be one to see the forest for the trees.

Chess is and always will be the #1 game people play!

Where's the substance?

You serious? Go look up the meaning if you are.

I too thought "substance" and thought wacky crack? brown sugar? mary jane?

Not that I am recommending any of this of course. If you take this stuff Chuck Norris will no longer sell you a total gym.

Play on words to gain attention to what I believe to be true.

By the way, Chuck Norris gave me his gym after I kicked his hairy ass!

Appears to me that he took the shirt off your back.

Hmm. George1st looks like that spymaster in Morrowind that you meet in Balmora - the guy who has all of the "skooma" pipes.

That is a good thought George...some people lack substance, so when you expect them to relate to the idea, it escapes them...George didn't mean to confuse you guys...

...they aren't meaning it in a personal way George, it is just a natural reaction from the heart...

Next time George, if you follow the principle of the Apologetic writing style, you cut the head off of the snake...then you don't have to put up with it squirming in your thread...there are some good articles on the web about using Apologetic writing techniques...

Cheers mate...

WinerKleiner has a 2 for 1 deal on anti troll spray...I can give you a demonstration if you feel up to it...it works for me so far

OK. A serious reply.

Chess is the most complex mind game that I have come across.

But I have to also say that chess has its faults. A game like othello [reversi] has no draws agreed, every game comes to a full conclusion, and the game is meaningful for any differences of ability because you try to win by as many disks as possible. Chess suffers a lot in those aspects.

On the contrary, I enjoy that in chess you aren't punished simply because of whether you go first or not. In Othello with perfect play a particular person wins... that to me is flawed...on the contrary, the quirks of chess give it it's character and substance...perfect play by both sides deserves a draw...

If a total beginner [ say, learnt the moves a week ago] played Anand then the game would be meaningless for Anand and the beginner wouldn't learn a lot either; Anand's technique, even in a crush, would go over the beginners head.

However in 2012 I played in an Othello [reversi] tournament OTB for a national championship title. I was a total beginner. Yet my game against a very experienced player was still interesting for both of us. In that vein in international events at othello the world champion Takanashi plays against ALL comers to get a world title. Takanashi likes to make it a personal challenge to win 64-0 in such games!

You make my point for me...I have a chess and checkers program made by the same company for my android...on level 10 I can pretty much win lose or draw a close match...and I don't even play checkers except once in a blue moon...but the chess prgram set on 10 kicks Anand's butt...that is completely because of the amount of substance in one game and the lack of it in the other...checkers and othello are kids games...chess is the game of kings....

Actually Othello computer programs even set a low level kick the behind of every player as well, including the human world champion.

The most popular free othello program is called WZebra.

I will agree to the extent that othello will be solved mathematically in terms of every position. Chess will wait far longer for that if in chess it's possible at all.

I have played othello...it is no where near as complex as chess...just like checkers, it is far easier to match a computer programs level of play, as opposed to chess...

...this is completely due to the substance of the respective games and the substance of the players involved...I am not going to waste my time arguing this...the comparisons are absurd to even try to dispute...

Not as complex as chess? In a tactical sense, maybe. But have you ever read the free strategy book on othello by US champion Brian Rose?

You will be reading it for a long time! There's a lot to digest!

Or did you see one of the games in a world championship [2010?] where Nicki Van De Biggelar won by breaking all of the strategy rules. He gave the opponent all 4 corners [ the most important squares for strategy] and still  won.

There is no comparison in the complexity of chess and othello...if you want to compare Go and Chess...I'll shut and listen...otherwise, you are wasting electricity and your time

Try golf.

Can I pay for it with my points?

I agree that golf is much more of a mentally-intensive sport than most realize. It has parallels to many chess concepts, like recovering from a bad set of moves/shot and attacking the king/ being aggressive towards the pin. While chess may be against an opponent, one is limited in their chess skills by their board vision, much like a golfer has to look forward to see where they want to put the ball on the green to have an easy putt.