Was Albert Einstein a very good Chess player?

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Avatar of Buzzinsky

the 1933 game was very instructive

Avatar of ROUNAK-SARKAR

he was the greatest physicist of all time...but as a chess player he was good but not the best!!! but i wonder if he studied & played it seriously then some of his games would have been immortal!!

Avatar of tondeaf

Geocities closed!!?!?!?

Avatar of j-rules
Syrtis wrote:

 It seems he thought you could be a serious chess player or something else, but not both. There is probably a great deal of truth in this.

I think Simen Agdestein would disagree

Avatar of wickiwacky

He was relatively weak - see what I did there.

Avatar of dunkydunkaroo

Typical moves that even I have made in games before, and look at my current rating... For instance how he took the pawn with his knight because he had the defending pawn pinned, this is a classic move. If anyone goes up against an opponent at this strength (obviously his opponent was not very skilled to say the least) they are going to make good moves.. I used to play my sisters boyfriend everyday and I'd destroy him just like this. 

Skill level is relative. Einstein is still a genius and one of my idols, along with James Clerk Maxwell, Sir Isaac Newton, Nikola Tesla, and Galileo and I would still love to have a sit down with any of these people and have a good stimulating game.  

Avatar of adumbrate

He could of been a good chessplayer, but chose to focus on other things, and did not come up as a very good chess player. In modern chess, he would not be very strong, and I would hardly see anything above 1800-1900.

Avatar of paretobox
You rarely have persons who were successful in two fields, especially intellectual ones. Taimanov was both concert pianist and first tier GM. And Milan Vidmar was an amateur player who was in the worlds top group in the early 20th century, but was full time Dean of Engineering at the University. Capablanca said that if Vidmar weren't an amateur, his crown would be threatened. John Nunn was a math prodigy at Oxford but gave it up to be a GM. When he was asked many years later if he could get back into math he said No chance.
Avatar of Useless_Eustace

probly good ad ever thing he ever dun        thunk all the time

Avatar of harvestarr

Einstein played with only 2 pieces, space and time, on a board that is still expanding ! 

Avatar of wickiwacky

Heisenberg would always beat Einstein, as he always had a super-position.

Avatar of wickiwacky

Thing was though - Heisenberg considered the game to be won and lost at the same time.

Avatar of wickiwacky

Oh yes that's right - keep getting those two mixed up

Avatar of Elroch

Schroedinger used to get a bit catty when he lost.

Avatar of wickiwacky

And Edison would probably steal Tesla's opening idea and call it his own.

Avatar of Senior-Lazarus_Long

Avatar of Snookslayer

Hitler vs Einstein would have been interesting.

Avatar of skullyvick

Hitler would have lost his ass and all the fixtures. Dumber than a bucket of shrimp he was! Just like all politicians! If poiliticians had brains they'd be arrested for smuggling poop. -U. Herditt Fromme'

Avatar of Nicolas_V

Einstein had a bit of a problem following the move order of a game, while Heisenberg was quite unsure about the position of the pieces. Schroedinger did and didn't resign before every move so nobody ever played with him.

Avatar of kevinluwx

Einstein was definitely more than 1500. Although those tactics aren't the hardest to find, his consistency in finding them definitely suggests that he is a strong player. I'm a 1500 player, I'll beat Oppenheimer, but I probably won't execute it as accurately as Einstein. If I had to take a wild guess at Einstein's level, it will be 1900