Chess for nerds? The stereotype

To me, a 'nerd' is just a derogatory word. It seems that someone who uses their intelligence, whether it be

for chess or almost anything which requires analysis, knowledge, or imagination, is labelled a nerd.

A nerd is an animal invented by Dr. Seuss

Yep. Gotta love anti-intellectualism. They stopped burning the libraries but they've turned to deriding individuals

I was wondering what the concensus was on the epitome of a nerd ?

The dude who TA'd my discrete mathematics class a couple years ago.  

You took a discrete mathematics course ? Have you found any interesting applications for it, chessically speaking ?

A nerd lives only on the isle of Ka-Troo. It eats Nerkels, but is the chief prey of the elusive Seersucker.

One real NERD I encountered in high school chess was a guy who propped his head up directly over the board and chewed gum loudly . . . when it was MY move!!!

Yeah, the class was interesting to say the least...I took it back when I was a physics major and I needed an elective.  I didn't enjoy it at all(and I like some math), and I didn't really see any applications for any of it unless you write algorithms.  

Can't go wrong with algorithms...

I find it interesting and useful in a few areas, in association with my move difficulty metrics research. One is rather straight forward and it is for plotting vectors in histograms, for my move difficulty metrics research. It comes into play where you can have an odd ball assortment of move difficulties ( Ex. 0.5, 0.83, 1.1, 1.667, 2.0, 3.01, 5.006, etc. ), in a finite set of course, but that don't necessarily divide up into quaint catergories like traditional mathematics would teach you to deal with.

Also when dealing with engine analysis output, you are given two different sets of integers that express the value and state of each position it analyzes, that are relative to one another and what is best according to the engine.

The first set you are confronted by, you know it's starting point, but not it's exact ending point and is expressed strictly numerically, generally increasing in value, with some fluctuation. ( 0.00 --> ? )

The second set of integer values we know the ending point for but, not the exact starting point and is expressed like M-16 and generally works backward to a value of, Mate in 1.

 If all I had to do was use one set of integers to calculate the difficulty of a position, it would be simple and I could use ordinary mathematics. Since I not only have to use those two sets of integers that have no true neutral point, as zero would be to negative and positive numbers, and the position of the game may have an analysis that is expressed by either set of those integers and could even be switching back and forth, as the ply depth of the analysis is increased, I have to have the steps of an algorithm in place to make sure the calculation has a uniform continuity and is accurate.

What I find even more interesting than how I was able to make use of that type of math, I never had specifically heard of it by name until I saw you post, yet I was able to figure out how to do what I have been working on. I only have taken a Business Mathematics class in high school and a Technical Mathematics course at a local community college that teaches Algebra, Geometry,Trigonometry (Pythagorean Theorum) and focused on the use of fractions, decimals, and conversions between the two, as it applies to their use in those specific areas of study, strictly for use in the electrical trade.

I am an electrician, btw. If someone would have asked me right out of high school, if I had any interest in being a statistician and or a computer programmer, I would have laughed. Now, I would love to do either and both. I would happily spend my time giving chess players the stats that baseball players and fans have and are still getting that are new, to help them enjoy and understand the game, as well as, use those stats to hunt chess cheaters to the ends of Earth.

The amount of whining on here about "people being mean in chat" or the even more humorous use of words like "assault" or "harassment" really instilled a certain stwreo-type for me.

Never thought it but free spending some time on the forums here it's proven true.

"Ban him!' He called me [blank]" is so silly

Thick skin is a virtue when it comes to schoolyard style name calling and there are miles between yourself and the aggressor. And trash talk has a lot of history in sports. Not that chess is a sport...

Хорош сраться, дебилы! Будьте вежливы!

Hi.

In my experience, chess players aren't paid much attention to in either way (good or bad).  Although in my experience there were many chess players.  We were kind of an underground movement. :-)