Computer bots: Pros and Cons
Chess.com Computer bots- One of the biggest, and one of the most essential parts of the website. But there are some ups and downs. Today I will be going over some of the ups and downs for every skill level.
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ADAPTIVE BOTS:
Adaptive bots have a certain skill level but play harder if you are doing well and easier if you are in a tough spot. If you want a little more of a real-life chess experience but don't want to play with real people, this is probably a good level for you.
PROS:
1. If you are struggling on other bot levels with the bots playing the same level every time and you want a break, this is a good difficulty level, as it will play similar strength depending on which bot you pick and what moves you play.
2. You can take advantage of them if you purposely play worse so they play worse, you can have them in a bad position and you can take advantage of them.
CONS:
1. There are only 5 bots in the adaptive level so you only have one bot for each normal difficulty.
2. They play the same openings and moves as other bots do so if you want to practice against a certain opening, adaptive is not the best choice.
My rating for this: 7.6/10
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BEGINNER BOTS:
Beginner bots are what the name says. They are for when you are new to chess and need to practice on something other than people. They play weak moves and trash openings so they are not too hard to beat.
PROS:
1. For new players to chess, when they can't beat the real players, they can go against the Beginner bots to practice.
2. There are many bots so you can progressively go to higher and higher rated bots.
CONS:
1: They do not play like actual players. They seem to mainly just move around random pieces just for the sake of it.
2: They play worse than the actual ratings they have. For example, Martin plays like a flipping 100-rated player (the lowest rating you can have!)
My rating: 5.5/10
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INTERMEDIATE BOTS:
Intermediate bots are the ones that are rated 1000-1400. They are for the players that can beat the beginner bots easily but struggle with the advanced bots.
PROS:
1. They are harder than beginner bots. This may seem obvious but it is helpful for the players that just finished beating the beginner bots, but still, need a slight challenge after the easy bots.
2. They play "real" moves. By that I mean, the beginner bots sometimes play just random, no-nonsense moves that only put you in a worse position. Rarely do the intermediate bots do this.
CONS:
1. Similar to beginner bots, the ratings for these bots don't seem completely accurate. One of the bots, Azeez, for example, seems to be around 800-900 rating level instead of 1100 like his rating says.
2. The bots have a lower than regular rating range. Many of the bots in the other skill levels have 500-600 rating ranges throughout the bots. However, the Intermediate bots only have a 400 rating difference between the best bot, and the worst bot at that level.
My rating: 7/10
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ADVANCED BOTS:
Ahh, the Advanced bots. The separator between not very good, and decent chess players (I fall around the middle of that category). The advanced section is the most populated of all the sections with 20 bots to play.
PROS:
1. As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of advanced chess bots. Starting from Antonio, all the way to Oscar, the advanced section has a wide variety of playing strengths and different ways of playing.
2. They have a wide range of ratings. The Advanced section has a rating difference of 600 points from the worst, to the best-rated players in that section.
CONS:
1. I feel like the lower-rated bots in this section would have been better in the intermediate range.
My rating: 8.9/10
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MASTER BOTS:
Last but not least of the regular categories are the Master bots. They are the bots that once you have defeated all the other categories, you land here.
PROS:
1. The bots have a good playing strength, enough to give most players a challenge.
2. They rarely make silly mistakes, so you can have the experience of playing tough opponents.
CONS:
1. There are a only few of these bots. There are only 10 so if you are skilled enough, it won't be as hard to beat all of them.
2. The range of rating is only 250- the lowest range of all the bot categories.
My rating: 7.5/10
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TOP PLAYERS BOTS:
The Top Players Bots are all based off of real chess players, including Daniel Naroditsky, Hikaru Nakamura, Levon Aronian, and many more.
PROS:
1. There is a variety of these bots, so you have many to play
2. It gives you an experience of playing the real player in real life
CONS:
1. There may be a good amount of these bots, but it is still is missing many elites, such as Magnus Carlsen, Ding Liren, Ect.
My Rating: 8/10
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That is it for the Pros and Cons of the bot categories. Tell me in the comments what you agreed with or disagreed with. Seeya!
