IAMBBW wrote:
What about the Russian balder ?
the norse baldur does look like conor mcgregor
and he seems to be buddies with artem
The EIGHT Types of Online Chess Players - Which one are you?
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(Preface: An absolutely serious, non-troll thread. I hope you find enlightenment within.)
In my online chess experience, I have discovered that there are (EDIT) EIGHT main types of SERIOUS chess players. I'm only including players who are serious about chess, and invest at least a reasonable amount of time in it - they are not playing "just for fun" but on a more serious level. Every serious chess player falls into at least one of these categories (if only somewhat), and most are a combination of them. Many casual players also fall into these categories. Some of these may all manifest in us at one point or another in our chess careers.
Without further ado:
1. The Engine Lover
I'm not talking about just cheaters or engine users, although there is a strong correlation. I'm talking about people who base everything in Chess around the engine. Although generally they are terrible at chess, when the engine turns on, the few brain cells they have to begin with turn off altogether, and they are enslaved by the engine. "The engine says Nf3 is +0.26, while 0-0 is +0.21, so Nf3 must be better." No mention of imbalances, or strategy, just + or - some number. These players believe that if they try hard enough, they'll be able to replicate an engine's thought process, because they believe an engine is magic, and not using a powerful CPU to evaluate billions of positions per second. Some grow out of that phase, and some remain in it forever - the latter tend to be repeat engine cheaters.
2. The Perfectionist
Have you ever seen brand new online accounts that pop up, and win some games, and then, after they start losing some, suddenly close? These guys are very passionate about playing "perfect" chess, that they can't stand the thought of making a losing blunder, and losing to who they think is a much weaker player as a result, even though everyone blunders, and your rating will eventually settle on your true strength. These players also tend to be pretty weak, although some are of decent strength. If you trash talk them after beating them, they will instantly block you, chances are, after they resign immediately after blundering a piece (even though in speed chess you can easily come back down a piece or more).
3. The Rating Hoarder
This type of player likes to reach a certain rating (typically online, but possibly in OTB) and, if they feel it's high enough, sit at that rating for a while, and generally stop playing. You can see this a lot in player profiles online - some players have a rating xx0x - they have *just* crossed a certain threshold, and they haven't played any games since. They do this for many reasons - they might sit on their rating to have an air of authority, or they may be afraid that if they start playing again, their rating will never reach that high peak again, or they may simply not like the stress of having a fluctuating rating, and feeling the need to "climb". Or, they might just think of that rating as an achievement, and that's it. There's no real pattern of strength in these players - you can see masters do this, all the way down to some pretty low-rated players.
4. The Know-it-all
This kind of player is the worst to interact with in forums - even worse than the trolls, in my opinion. These players, many of which are quite mediocre players, think they have the best solution to every chess-related issue. They will argue page after page about why their move is somehow "better" than the one you suggested. They will secretly consult the engine (even when the question specified not to), and recommend the top engine line, along with some made-up "thought process" of why the move is good (when in reality it's probably good because of some obscure tactical tricks), and so they appear smart and knowledgeable. These guys love to post their "chess guides" up, and do so repeatedly, and do not accept criticism of any kind, or will not acknowledge any of it. These guys may also post their "amazing games" online, and ask everyone to essentially praise them for it, in the guise of asking for help or analysis. In reality, they just want you to see what they consider to be a "masterpiece" by them. Telling them "Good job, you'll be a master soon, with the way you play", is a sure way of getting them to love you.
5. The Terse Professional
These players are often very strong, titled, accomplished players. However, when they give advice, it is usually in the form of some very short one-liners, or a move with a very short explanation. You see these all the time - some titled player, a GM, IM, or FM generally, will pop in with a quick one-liner. Surely they know what they're talking about, if it's a chess suggestion, but they don't bother explaining for us lesser players, often leaving us trying to piece together the details. When one of these players does give some detailed advice, you can be sure it's going to be a weaker titled player (NM, CM, FM) rather than an IM or GM, although there are some exceptions (I can think of two, personally).
6. The Speed Demon
Have you ever seen these profiles of people who claim to be around, say, 1600 FIDE, but they have like a 2300 blitz rating, or 2200 FIDE with a 2800 blitz rating? These people, for some reason, are extremely good at online speed chess, and they can play competitively with players rated much much higher than them (in classical). Many of these speed demons are not hopeless players either when it comes to classical - but for some reason they are just extremely good at blitz and bullet. Famous examples include Andrew Tang - although he is a normal 2500 GM, he competes with the world's finest classical players in online speed chess.
7. The Dedicated Learner
This player is very serious about chess improvement. Rarely visits the forums, and although may play some blitz/bullet, will never go without plenty of classical and rapid training games. This player does not care if his opponent is an engine or not - his only goal is to play the best possible chess, to test out his openings/thought process, and improve off his mistakes, whether they be off humans or engines. This player likes to listen instead of talk, and is always asking "How can incorporate this knowledge to improve my game?" This kind of player often sees rating gains of hundreds of points in months (if they are lower rated), and consistent improvement if they are at a higher level. This type of player goes to tournaments often, and makes a true commitment to chess.
8. The Old Veteran
Can't play speed chess at the level that he used to, in his prime. Rating is constantly hitting his floor. He's old now, and with old age, chess deteriorates. This deterioration hits some players a lot harder than others. You can see some NMs, for example, hardly able to get ~1800 blitz on this site, because their speed has dropped so much since their prime, and their ratings are 2200 OTB, because they are playing at a much lower level, but the floor keeps them up. Nothing against these guys, but they are major contributors to rating inflation in the USCF.
If you can think of any more categories I may have missed, please do tell.