Signs you're a bad chess player

another good forum http://www.chess.com/forum/view/fun-with-chess/1000-signs-that-you-play-chess-too-much?page=1

A muy frio chess player takes a vacation:

Aw shuddup.  This is like that other Chess.commie who claimed that Morphy was a C player...lol.  Seriously, armchair geniuses, speak not of that which you know not of... 

Not much.

But after I see the moves played they seem so obvious that even I could find them!

It's easy to follow a path once someone has marked the trail.  Climbing Mt. Everest is a vacation hot spot.  That doesn't negate Sir Edmund Hillary's accomplishment.  

I know. I was making a pointed joke.

Ahhh, there's the problem.  The only point I can see is the one on top of my head.

Yeah, that happens to all of us.

What was the point of all of this again?...oh yeah

Mount Evereest is a vacation hot spot but also a very cold vacation spot..

His games are based upon 19th century tactics. That wouldn't pass in the 21st century.

He was the best for his day, but he wouldn't have a chance in the modern era.

His tactics were sound and brilliant. Tactics are timeless, they either work or they don't. Forcing checkmate or a win of material are the same since they last changed the rules of chess. His positional knowledge was way ahead of his time which is amazing since he came up with it all by himself.

Good post. I agree that he and Bird shouldn't penalized for their inferior competition. If they found a way to out do the best of their day, I am sure they would have continued to find the best moves and improve their knowledge of theory just the same if they played today. Imagine if they had opening book theory, a chess school, a world class former player to teach them, chess engines, etc. I bet they might even scare you with how well they could play.

Morphy was completely up to date with the latest theory of his time so his memorization skills were probably up to the task of modern theory. His tactics were top notch. He understood chess enough to be very advanced in positional ideas so he likely would be able to learn modern positional ideas.

Of course it is impossible to say for sure but him being world elite today if he lived today could not be far fetched. Although if he was simply dropped in the chess world today knowing only what he knew back then he would not sweep the world like he did back then.

@ mrguy.

Morphy is said to have Memorized the ENTIRE Luisiana Code of Law in order to be admited to the Bar in his home state. Thats something like 10K pages. no kidding his memorization was up to the task of memorizing the Sicilians and Ruy Lopezes and Italian Games.

needless to say he would loose a few games if dropped in right now. but he would quickly learn modern theory. and then light up the board

I appreciate you posting that. That is great evidence to back up, what I already suspected.

Maybe. He would be missing those important early years and would have to pretty much completely relearn the game. It is a lot easier to learn something the right way than to learn something the right way after the wrong way is so ingrained into you. It is not so clear cut as you take it.

Anyway, I have nothing more to say about the subject I think.

my thinking is he learned the right way. you can quickly tell that by looking at games with his father. Dissapointed that I cant find his wins v General Winfield Scott when he was 9. but hey. I feel that he could demolish most 2000's based on his tactical knowledge if you want to know how good think winning a double muzio Gambit with odds of the queens knight. essentially this is how morphy could start as white.