Is there such thing as "luck" in chess?

The only thing in this thread that "cheapens" the game is a weak player alleging that his failures are due to alt accounts. If there was actually some evidence that his opponents are playing far above their rating levels, there might be cause for complaint. But, in fact, this person is playing against 400s who play like 300s and resigning to them when there is still play in the game.

NEVER resign to a player rated below 1000. Half of them cannot checkmate with a rook and king vs. lone king.

Yes... you get random cards so your moves aren't based on skill. So in the above example, if you win based on that random card selection, your success in the chess game was brought upon by chance rather than your own actions. Almost like the definition of luck.

That's a mirror, not a window.

Wow! This was the last post on the first page. Ten years ago.

I'm still saying the same thing, reminding me of Emerson's quip about consistency being the hobgoblin of small minds. Emerson did note, "a foolish consistency". In this case, I am now bringing evidence to bear, including evidence from a troll's terrible decisions that inevitably improve the luck his opponents enjoy.

It doesn't matter. If one player makes his or her moves based on selections from a random deck of cards and wins, that win is either luck or skill based. If you think it is skill based then you don't believe luck is the driving factor behind random shuffling. If you think it is luck based then you agree that luck is a component in chess. 

When I was younger than I am now, there was a football (non USA type of football) game and myself, a few friends of mine and another 30 000 souls were on the stadium singing. My friend was rushing with the song.

After a few minutes we asked him: "Why are you rushing the whole time?"

He said: "I am not rushing, the entire stadium is just singing too slow."

So perhaps it is not the community. Since the day you started playing you are just being confrontational with people around here. Every discussion involving you becomes toxic.

Nobody said there is a random deck of cards, it is used to illustrate the fact--with emphasis on fact, since it is a statistical truth--that randomness plays a role in any human activity.

As has been shown to you many times before, an activity becomes skill based when one can reliably improve upon the randomness inherent (emphasis on inherent) in any activity pursued by humans. You earlier said that "chess is neither based on luck or has elements of luck in it". I just showed you a very simple example that there is of course elements of luck in it--one can make decisions not based on their skill but on chance selection and still win. 

I will leave this thread with one final thought as it is clear you do not want to learn: what you are arguing against is a statistical fact. Randomness plays a role in any human activity. To say so does not to cheapen the activity, it acknowledges objective reality.

Thanks  very much so, for that game played post #543, I found that very constructive, must remember!!! Shows if you do your home-work it pays off!   Also thank all those great chess players that took the time to respond to Cool-aid, you made very interesting points, food for thought! And thank mr cool for bringing out the best from these real chess players, I always felt, most chess players also seem to be well educated and intellectual beings, really!!  And I always said to my wife, if you drive like an expert chess player, always thinking ahead, you are very unlikely to get in a accident or be in the wrong lane when you need to make a left turn, and at my level, I seem to be in the wrong lane too often, but never in a accident, thanks chess! God bless all you people even if you do not believe !? 

Not kidding, but chess has given me a reason to go on living in my empty life I am living today, I look forward to my next move the next day, be it luck, ingenious or just plain dumb, In the military chess helped me get through some hard times as well!!! Kept my mind off the bad happenings, and thoughts. 

When my wife died of cancer, chess was my therapy.

That was a long time ago and I'm married again. We've been together 23 years.

That is really uplifting to hear, it does not only work for me, and just maybe that is another reason chess has hung on so long and will continue, and I usually get bored tired of many activities through out my life, and move on to something else, but never chess, I wonder exactly why?? In the military, my high light of the week was at the service club early on Sunday morning for coffee, donut, and chess. Those tankers were really good chess players!  I was a medic btw.

Smoke and mirrors. It is how I play blitz.

It makes sense to me. I have a friend who used to be a state trooper. He said almost the same thing. He said he didn't have to pull over 1,000 people a day for speeding. He only had to pull over one. 

The point was to make the other 999 believe it could be them too.