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Playing against Computers

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duskrevival

Playing against computers... what are some pros and cons of it? Many people I have heard said playing against computers may actually hurt your game. Is this true? Just curious about the effects of it. 

seanki

I think it would improve your games unless you takeback all your moves and play easy (like me) Laughing

Shivsky

Normal game play vs. the machine is not efficient in helping you prepare vs. humans.  The only benefit I can see is to see how far you can go before you make a tactical mistake which the beast will punish you for instantly. I see more value when you are working on practicing your technique.

Two useful ways to practice technique vs. computers at MAX difficulty levels:

 1. Take any Master-level game (modern, older etc.) and set yourself for blitz time controls against the engine and try to "close out the game" from the point at which one of the players resigned.  Of course, some master games ended a few moves before mate in one, but others ended with a piece up and may be more valuable to practice with.

2. All basic endgame positions for your rating class and the next one should be practiced Silman's endgame book lists them by rating class and becomes a convenient way to practice a good "gotta know this by now" collection of endgames vs. an engine. Start small (KP vs P) and work your way up in terms of complexity.

Both of these can reveal an unsettling truth about your chess skill (no matter what rating level you are) ... is that under pressure / blitz time controls, you're not as "clean" with your technique as you thought you were.  Worse yet, you are quite clueless about maintaining a "won position" advantage against a really strong player.

fabelhaft

Carlsen said that playing computers is like playing someone who is extremely stupid but who beats you anyway

PUMAPRIDE
fabelhaft wrote:

Carlsen said that playing computers is like playing someone who is extremely stupid but who beats you anyway

didnt nimzowich say the same about lasker?