This dude is just mad because he sucks. Blah blah blah. I suck too, but you don't see me ranting.
Why Chess is a Waste of Time and Intelligence – Yes
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Chess is not a waste of time
Feb 1, 2019
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#25
what has chess got to do with any of the things that happened outside of chess
Feb 1, 2019
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#26
Come on do you seriously have nothing better to do than come to a place full of chess lovers and complain
Feb 2, 2019
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#27
Okay, then billiard players (or Federer or Oskar Schmidt) are also genius, so what? I guess we will find a couple of billiard players who also didn’t live a healthy life. I just don’t see the point. But as other people mentioned above, perhaps the OP isn’t a very strong player, or perhaps he is better in billiard than chess.
However, I admire strong chess player for their cognitive skills. They have something that most of us definitively do not have.
Interesting that the OP didn’t mention other of Bobby’s amazing skills, like his memory or ability to learn new languages (he didn’t explore the last ability that much, afaik).
However, I admire strong chess player for their cognitive skills. They have something that most of us definitively do not have.
Interesting that the OP didn’t mention other of Bobby’s amazing skills, like his memory or ability to learn new languages (he didn’t explore the last ability that much, afaik).
Maybe he is right, but I think chess does somehow involve mathematical skills and thinking.
The complaint about chess is based on the common utilitarian mistake of assuming that everything has to be good for some other purpose if it is to have any value at all, rather than realizing that even utilitarianism requires that at least some things have a value in themselves which is important, just to get the system of values started, regardless of whether that value supports or promotes anything else.
Feb 2, 2019
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#30
Yet another thread...
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/einstein-called-chess-a-waste-of-time-what-do-you-think
If you live about 70 years, you'll have more than enough time to spend doing nonsense. It may as well be spent on chess.
DrSpudnik escribió:
Yet another thread...
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/einstein-called-chess-a-waste-of-time-what-do-you-think
If you live about 70 years, you'll have more than enough time to spend doing nonsense. It may as well be spent on chess.
And no doubt you'll do!
Raman33307 wrote:
It is a very common misconception that chess is somehow connected to intelligence. Society paints chess players as intellectual giants, towering high above the rest of us mere mortals when it comes to brilliance. The reality is that mastery of the game of chess makes you no more of a mental giant than the mastery of any other game.
Chess is a game of calculations and mathematics; a sport which requires the use of a very specific portion of the brain. The same can also be said for billiards, which is also a game that relies on similar mental processes. Billiards, after all, is nothing more than mastery of angles and geometry. So why do we consider people like Bobby Fischer or Garry Kasparov to be geniuses, but think of guys like Willie Mosconi or Efren Reyes as nothing more than pool sharks or hustlers?
Those who are exceptionally gifted at chess are not dissimilar to the idiot savants who are unusually adept at utilizing one particular area of the brain, resulting in people who can play the violin or piano by ear, yet who cannot tie their own shoes or prepare their own meals. In fact, some might even say that since savantism is a developmental disorder, many so-called chess geniuses may be, in one way or another, mentally handicapped.
This point can be proven by the inability of many chess “grand masters” to conform to conventional society. Take Mr. Fischer, for instance, many times arrested and an outspoken Anti-Semite and alleged pedophile, he spent the last years of his life evading the American legal system. “The Greatest Chess Player of All Time” apparently wasn’t bright enough to have a valid US passport.
Let’s not forget about other Grand Masters who couldn’t get their own lives in order. There’s Mikhail Tal, a World Champion, who died at the ripe old age of 55, his health ruined by alcoholism and drug addiction. There’s Wilhelm Steinitz, another World Champion who died in a mental asylum and battled syphilis in his final years, along with several mental breakdowns. The legendary Emanuel Lasker died as a pauper.
Even those Grand Masters who did manage to stave off lunacy, sexual deviancy, and chemical dependency rarely made it to old age. Capablanca died at age 53, as did Alekhine. Petrosian died at age 55. Zukertort was only 45 when he died. Paul Morphy was 47. Sarratt was also 47.
Is chess a waste of time and intelligence? The evidence, I’m afraid, speaks for itself.
So why're you here?
Feb 2, 2019
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#33
Chess is pure gold at certain Time ! stunning !!!
The Trapped Knight - Numberphile https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGQe8waGJ4w
One can say the same thing about any human endeavour- sports, athletics, art, literature, entertainment If anything is not essential to our existence, one can argue it is just a waste. All we really need to exist is food, water, shelter and reproduction so you could argue that any human activity not directly related to these pursuits is pointless, but life would be pretty dull if that is all we did.
I think one of the biggest contributions games like chess and go have made to humanity is in the advancements of computing. Deep Blue, computing engines, complex algorithms and rule sets, artificial intelligence and now neural networks like alpha zero have all been furthered and advanced by chess. Maybe games were crucial inspirations and stepping stones in the pursuit of AI. This technology like AlphaZero can now be leveraged into other areas like more energy efficient shipping and logistics for example, or targeted drug delivery for diseases for example. Maybe chess is a key component in the next revolution for humanity?
In the perfect world where all the necessities have been accomplished we need a leisure activity to spent our time. It is the same with art , music , and sport.
Raman33307 wrote:
It is a very common misconception that chess is somehow connected to intelligence. .
I wouldnt say that... i think its commonly agreed being a GOOD chess player generally requires good intelligence. I suck at chess so i cant say im intelligent cuz i play chess. But id say magnus is very intelligent.
And i dont know much about pool, but im pretty sure chess is much more complex than angling shots
Well, I once used chess as a way to explain to a Fascist bird of the Redneck Pecker Wood why a chess player on the international level can't effectively believe in racism regardless of any creepy exceptions that include New Yorkers that become world champions. I always believed that only a complete fool would say, "that guy that beat me in that game of chess is stupid or inferior." Because the speaker must be more so than the subject. I would tend to lose any association of inferiority with someone of any description that won a game of chess against me. For this reason it can't be that chess is a waste of time, with the right attitude one can come to appreciate ideas from other throughout the world.
OP is rated under 1200.