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What's the relation between chess and math?

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JaneBellamy

I heard a lot of people saying that chess is math, that people that like chess also like math... But how exactly do they relate to each other?

Argonaut13

Idk but maybe "calculating" move and doing notation. idk

apawndown

The "child prodigy" phenomenon occurs in three fields of endeavor:  math,  music,  and chess.  Of course this doesn't show any inherent relationship between chess and math (or music),  but it's interesting.  I think the answer may lie in the strong probability that in "doing"  chess,  math,  or music,  both sides of the brain are fully engaged.  Einstein,  for example,  (whose physics was almost purely mathematical) said that his imagination was his most important faculty. 

luizpaulofigueiredo

Of course it is an extremely old thread, but perhaps we might still interested on it. So, when you do or at least try to do the calculations regarding your possible moves, you're thinking about powers. Not only multiplications of possibilities, but powers itself due to the wide range of legal moves and its responses too. If you're good at Maths, logical thinking, and if you also understand very clearly the powers and some basics principles about probability as well, sooner or later you're going to perform pretty decent games. Since you asked almost 7 years ago, I'm pretty sure you know that better than me! Best regards.

luizpaulofigueiredo

Also, a simple explanation about the powers on the board is doing these powers multiplications throughout the 64 squares. You're going to be scared on the possibilities, Google about the chess' history including that rice and prize story.

anushkastar09
Argonaut13 is probably right
WSama

(Ahem) Yes, it's a new branch of maths - Chessique Mathematics. Of course, all branches of math lend to each other to some degree, after all math is simply a language.

Chessique mathematics is your answer. It's a little more than your additions and subtraction (mathematical cores), but it's still maths.

😆

WSama

The fun part; chess is mathematically akin to observing a completely new organism. Because it exists within this realm, we can determine certain things about it, but aside from that, each game is a new life. 

WSama

For example the sun - it might hold innumerable mysteries but we know certain things about it. For the time being we know that we revolve around it, and we know what temperatures it emits from the perspective of an earthling. And so it is with chess - the variables are virtually innumerable, but there are laws we can hold accountable...for the time being anyway.

 

joseph1000000

Chess and math: lines,  parallel lines(ranks, files,  diagonals),  numbers(move options),  squares(center),  octagons(knights in center),  permutations(combinations).....

These sound familiar ofcourse. 

BoboTheFlyingSheep67

I'm pretty good at math, I think, but I am a patzer when it comes to chess. I dont think there is a relationship

zembrianator

they are second cousins

WSama

1.e4 c5 {W×f1-b5/d1-d5/rank3/d5/f5|&|B×d8-a5/rank6/b4/d4}(depth=1)

The Sicilian Equation in Beginner Chessique Mathematic Notation.

 

Of course, we cannot forget that chess is still a game, and the maths is typically based on an objective, the opposing king. Thus most Chessique equations consist of a king safety variable, and each square on the board bears a weight variable. These two variables are closely linked.

mgx9600
JaneBellamy wrote:

I heard a lot of people saying that chess is math, that people that like chess also like math... But how exactly do they relate to each other?

 

I think it is mainly just an excuse for kids to feel less guilty spending time on chess.  Kind of like some people say learning music helps with math.  Math is everywhere; so the same can even be said about video games where you must add up points quickly to make decisions.

 

blastforme
I think that there is similarity between performing mathematical operations and calculating chess moves. It’s the process of problem solving to arrive at an outcome where multiple ‘steps’ are involved.. Think about the process of using trig identities to solve laplace transformations as an example. You have to see multiple steps ahead in order to know what to do in each step, and keep track.. And in seeing the solution even just of an algebraic problem using multiple equations to solve for multiple unknowns. The thought processes are very similar to the process of calculating variants of possible moves on a chess board.
joseph1000000
blastforme wrote:
I think that there is similarity between performing mathematical operations and calculating chess moves. It’s the process of problem solving to arrive at an outcome where multiple ‘steps’ are involved.. Think about the process of using trig identities to solve laplace transformations as an example. You have to see multiple steps ahead in order to know what to do in each step, and keep track.. And in seeing the solution even just of an algebraic problem using multiple equations to solve for multiple unknowns. The thought processes are very similar to the process of calculating variants of possible moves on a chess board.

 

You should be able to put the relationship between chess and math more clearly than this. You can do it. 

joseph1000000
BoboTheFlyingSheep67 wrote:

I'm pretty good at math, I think, but I am a patzer when it comes to chess. I dont think there is a relationship

 

Just look at post #10. Do you agree or disagree? It is very simple. 

joseph1000000
WSama wrote:

The fun part; chess is mathematically akin to observing a completely new organism. Because it exists within this realm, we can determine certain things about it, but aside from that, each game is a new life. 

 

There are simpler similarity and applications. Look at post #10. Can you add to it?

joseph1000000
Argonaut13 wrote:

Idk but maybe "calculating" move and doing notation. idk

 

What does IDK stand for?

ChessinBlackandWhite
joseph1000000 wrote:
Argonaut13 wrote:

Idk but maybe "calculating" move and doing notation. idk

 

What does IDK stand for?

"I don't know" = IDK