Chess is dead, thanks computers

Chess is absolutely dead, there is no fun or creativity left, even at the measly low rated players, it is all memorised lines, either from computer analysis or from some youtube video, many players dont even try to be creative, it is always same e4 computer lines or passive "you attack and I shall punish your mistakes" kind of chess, either that or "lets trade everything and enter rook pawn endgame" games, no fights no out of the book anything, pretty sad state the chess is in

I cant even remember anyone tried anything else than e4 or d4 some london type opening

There's still plenty of game after the opening and at most levels players are out theory within 6-8 moves. There's plenty of life left in Chess.

that is somewhat not correct as well, since after you watch a video or get to know an opening you get sort of idea(s) what you're suppose to do or achieve or what you're aiming for, theres a lot of forced lines, which is sort of not cool and since you can consult an engine you can see those forced lines instantly and it is sort of memorisation from that point on still

see thats exactly what i mean, did you come with na5 yourself ? no ones learing chess by playing it, you just learn an idea, test it, win a bunch of games and then learn next idea, in a sense you are not playing chess but implementing ideas someone else has thought out for you

If you don't like to learn, don't. Nobody insists you to do so. Play always the same down lines and never let you learn something from anyone else, especially not the lines you would not come up with on your own. Good luck with that!

tranca palanca dude, most people play on chess.com for entertainment.

Chess is changing, isn t diyng

It was mysterious and exciting exploring the woods, then drones came out and ruined all the fun, alright. now you see everything ahead as clear as daylight, no mysteries no myths no fun.

everything was fun as it was, before, right? thing is; this is called nostalgia. the problem with nostalgia is to remember always 'good' things about the past, and forget about the 'bad' things. this is why it feels sweet and nice.

chess had more uncharted territories before, but players were too old, they were getting old exploring the ways of chess, and most of them had bad health, analyzing a game used to take hours, days maybe weeks.. still some approaches used to stay uncertain, they didnt know if that was the best play. until some other one proves it wrong. chess was a old mans game, they used smoke at clubs and play in poorly ventilated conditions. I call it medieval age (or dark ages) of chess.

we now learn faster with the help of computers, at least ones, who use computers in the right way, do. we reach information quicker, younger players arise and populate the chess like it never was before, computers and internet made the game more popular (and the QG show) now the fun shifted in different parts of the game.

everything has to change, it's your job to adapt and continue the journey.

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be...

Everything is just memorized book lines with no creativity or excitement, you say?

None of those games followed book lines, but they seemed pretty exciting to me.

This is what a game looks like when it follows book lines:

... but you find that sort of stuff boring, right?

... right?

In practice, my statement is true. Very few people have perfect memories and even if they know the line perfectly, their opponents will give them a move/line they don't know and haven't studied. In sub expert level, the vast majority of the time it's going to be in 6-8 moves, and in some cases a few more

Even GMs sometimes forget their preparation but they can fall back on experience

Not really even if lines are forced most people don't know the line if you play a different move besides experience is more important then preparation (both are helpful tho ) if you can't win in a forced line it doesn't matter how much you memorized chess is just as much about how you think it's not just a memory game

In classical sure but in blitz chess they all pretty much play whatever they want

I worry about what my opponents are doing besides playing our game of chess. Am I playing against a computer? Am I playing against more than one person? I get that I'm not very good at this but the fact of long winning streaks followed by long losing streaks against players with similar ratings makes me wonder.

I disagree with the idea that Chess is dying/dead because of computers. Certainly, there have been major changes. Websites like chess.com and Lichess etc make it possible for people all over the world to play pretty much unlimited games with a multitude of opponents, not to mention the very wide range of tutorials, drills, coaching etc, much of which is available free to anyone with a phone and wifi. By some estimates, there are now 600 million chess players around the world, playing and watching more than ever.

Regarding the point about memorisation of openings, I also disagree that this is killing chess, and I really respect the players who study the myriad of different lines and use what they have learned in games. We see similar patterns of training in other sports, set pieces, formation switches and routines which have been worked on and perfected on the trading ground, so why not in Chess?

Having said all that, I really enjoy watching and playing Fisher Random chess, which has a different set-up of pieces from standard chess, and effectively makes prepared openings and defences almost meaningless. Some tournaments now include a few rounds of Fisher Random chess, and I hope to see more of it, as it's a great test of a player's skills.

Streaks are normal

Running is dead, thanks cars

Drawing is dead thanks cameras

....