Is there such thing as "luck" in chess?

I'm not the emotional one.  I'm not the one who keeps engaging, either.  

Oh, writing sentences. Yes, I admit that's a bad thing. And another thing .... it happens when I think of something to add, you know. Of course, you never write sentences, do you?!?!

The point is, it's a sign of addled thinking when you do it constantly.

I just made another point. And another thing ... I was sad when poor tickler wouldn't argue about psychic phenomena. A Heaven-sent opportunity to show that I'm a naive fool. I would say that there is a similarity between inductive techniques that cause people to believe in psychic stuff and the sort of luck which we're discussing here, in relation to the possible difference between random events such as those occurring in games of luck and the mixture of skill and unpredictability in chess. The best definition of "random" is "unpredictable".

I would like to set out here, in simple format, exactly why I believe in psychic stuff. Perhaps in the next couple of days.

Absolutely not,  because a random generator does not have any intuition,  no exercised skills, nothing that comes from practice, knowledge and experience.   You have absolutely no sports sense at all.  This is why the presence of the human factor always negates luck.  There is no way to argue around it.  We are not random devices and we are not computers.   I'm amazed how so many people seem to claim otherwise depending on what suits their narratives,  without first acknowledging what should be a common sense fact.

First of all its also about your opponents moves,  because this is a competitive sport my friend.   If you believe there is some other force determining the moves,  then point to that force and state when it does.  Otherwise you are conceding my points and simply look stubborn in denial. 

But even if some other force existed in chess,  Human ability increasing your chances of success or failure,  is all that matters in the end regardless.   Because that means skill is the role and factor in the competition,  and every move in chess,  nothing else.

Again,  make an attempt to explain your claim or its just another flamboyant concession.  What is the force of luck?  Complicating things does not make them true.   You are pointing to human ability again and calling it skill or luck at your own convenience.  You are being dishonest with yourself because there is no force of luck to point to.

You never  move a piece randomly because you are not a randomizing device.  Everything you do is based on knowledge, practice, experience as part of your intuition  whether you are conscious of that fact or not.  Your mind is part of your human ability.   Thats why when your action exists it is automatically a level of skill and not luck.    I might say I am lucky,  but I would not mean that technically nor literally for the reasons I have explained.  Its simply a humble expression of sportsmanship to save me or my opponent from embarrassment, or an expression of a poor sport.   Which is an important distinction one must make to judge fairness and sportiveness in a game.

Sadly, it's defined in a great many dictionaries as a force. Try explaining to these people that dictionaries do not define words but give their meanings and very often, if it's a meaning in common use, it doesn't make any sense..

If you go back maybe 1000 posts, you may see that there are dictionary literalists about!

What about if your opponent mouseslips and hangs their queen, or fails to defend a mate threat? Isn't that lucky for you? (and unlucky for them). Or touches the wrong piece playing OTB and is therefore forced to move it.

What about if your opponent mouseslips and hangs their queen, or fails to defend a mate threat? Isn't that lucky for you? (and unlucky for them). Or touches the wrong piece playing OTB and is therefore forced to move it.

Now I'm boasting about rugby, according to you. The fact is that I spent 1000s of hours kicking balls of all shapes and sizes. The more you say, on any possible subject, the stupider you make yourself appear, btickler. Your vanity, ignorance, childishness and general aggression form an unbeatable combination.

[and another thing...]

(By the way, if you weren't just an empty-headed, big-mouthed person, you would have been able to see that what I wrote about kicking is correct. The fact is that you don't know the first thing about it and so are incapable of agreeing or disagreeing with it from a knowledge perspective. So you just make your generalised, childish ad hominem attack, which is why you're a troll.)

Hypocrisy bolded re: " So you just make your generalised, childish ad hominem attack, which is why you're a troll."

I think argument can be made either way. I would say this is lucky for the one who benefits from the mouseslip. But it could be also argued that mouse use is part of the skill of playing chess, therefore a mouse slip is just lack of skill insteaf of luck.

Yes, but what happens when it's ONLY that lack of skill that leads to a good outcome. I gave the example earlier of a tricky putt. Hitting it right a million times will never allow the putt to drop. Only a bad putt that takes advantage of an unseen break or unseen flaw in the conditions allows it to drop. 

So for chess what happens if there was never any plan, intent, or motive to even consider moving the rook. The foolproof plan was to move the knight, thereby trapping a piece and gaining an advantage. But instead the rook was touched, because of lack of skill. Now, moving the rook which was never intended now results in a mate in 4. I would call that luck. 

Its funny this thread was started over  a decade ago but we still cant answer  the question that was asked originally.

Also the topic of this thread is luck IN the game,  any forces of luck that can affect the game that are unintended and incidental are irrelevant and not part of the discussion on the important distinction between chess or sports compared to other games.  Luck is a force that increases ones chances of success or failure, without ones OWN actions, ability or efforts.  PERIOD.