"I wonder if Boris ( a mere youngster at 43) played a nuber of novelties over and over again (well before the Kazan tournament), thus recruiting visuo-spatial areas of the brain which are heavily invoved in chess processing! Something to ponder on, I guess"
Chess is a visual-spatial game. Gelfand played a few novelties. Gelfand is 43yrs old. His mind has not deteriorated. Knowing this, what am I supposed to be pondering?
My observation of the Gelfand win, was a few moves which Grischuk misplayed in the final classical game, based upon computer evaluation of the position.
Alas- the 'old' boy (GM Gelfand) has triumphed over the 'young' lion (GM) Griscuk) at Kazan! Many experts had predicted that GM Grishcuk's youth would be a factor in the outcome. I would like to add a possible factor as a contribution to the outcome. Leaving aside genetic factors, we now know that as we age, there is no reason for deterioation in our fields of endeavour. It has been established that the brain does not naturally lose it abilities baed on loss of neurones and synaptic connectivity- quite the contrary; neuroscientific experiments have shown that stagnant areas of the brain can be re-activated by appropriate challenge and vigorous repetition- a process called neuroplasticity. There is now very good
evidence that this process can contribute to some of the amazing feats performed by elders in chess and other cognitively-based activities. I wonder if Boris ( a mere youngster at 43) played a nuber of novelties over and over again (well before the Kazan tournament), thus recruiting visuo-spatial areas of the brain which are heavily invoved in chess processing! Something to ponder on, I guess. As a new member to Chess.com- I am 56, married, and live in Sydney, Australia; I mainly play CC chess via the ICCF (Elo= 2040) and am interested in opening theory. I enjoy the Ruy Lopez with both colours. Due to health problems, I had to retire prematurely as a neuroscientist/clinician. For those who may be interested in 'neuroplasticity', I can highly reccomend two books; 1. ''The Brain that Changes Itself', by Norman Doidge, Scribe Press (a more general look at neuroplasticity) and the highly contentious 2. 'Rapid Chess Improvement: a study plan for adult players', by Micheal de la Maza, Everymen Chess', which is closely tied to the educational CD-ROM programs CT-ART 3.0 & CT-ART 4.0 (this book is chess-oriented and has received both praise and criticism (especially from IM's and GM's). I like the de Maza book since it fits in nicely with the neuropasticity principle. My other interests include soccer- a tragedy in England with the recent relegation of my favourite team from the EPL, West Ham United!
Cheers,
Amici Sumus,
Dr. Max Willow