Microsoftie Talks Reducing Chess Draws

Via MR, a fantastically in-depth Chessbase.com piece on how to think about reducing the number of draws in pro-level chess (there are a lot, for all kinds reason). As he notes, most proposals to reduce the number have been off-the-board rule changes, which is obvious, since changing the rules of the game aren't really feasible. It's chess after all.

There are variants to chess, which may have some efficacy in reducing draws, but usually they're too different from the beautiful game to be taken seriously. Anyway Gene Milener proposes Chess-3, a variant that remains true to the game, but with enough changes to reduce the level of draws:

Chess-like games can avoid high draw rates by having more piece power than chess has. The chess-3 answer to the challenge is to add power to a few pieces directly. This produces a nice corollary dividend in that the casual exchange rate is reduced, thus indirectly adding power by retaining it on the board. Yet another indirect anti-draw dividend is more imbalances, which Jeremy Silman emphasized are needed for decisive outcomes.

Comments

[TheUnrepentantGunner]

those seem like on board changes.

It still seems like the time crunch is the best solution. While part of the beauty of chess is thinking several moves ahead, with the development of computers alot of the play is much more automatic anyway.

One thing not mentioned that I would be in favor of, is the removal of
"x seconds/minutes per move"

That alone might encourage a top player in a time bind to be forced to take some outrageous risks knowing they will lose on time anyway if they can't open up their opponent within the next 15 or so moves.

I also really like the idea that if a draw is agreed to, to switch the colors and go again with the same clock until a decisive winner is found, but again remove the additional seconds/minutes per move if you are going to play that way. Most decent players, much less masters can blow through their first handful of moves with little more than 5-6 seconds per move.

[Joe]

Yeah, they are on-the-board changes, which basically makes it a theoretical exercise, rather than a practical one. I also like the idea of a time change.

Especially considering how much study of "theory" there is, there's less of a reason to have games so long.

[GeneM]

Hi, I am the guy who wrote that ChessBase.com article.

At the very end of the article I did mention the time-crunch draw-reduction strategies (see item 7) that other commenters here at TheStalwart have mentioned. They certainly do reduce the draw rate of something, but not of the main long time-control game that is of primary interest to the chess public.

In one important sense, chess is by far the most popular spectator sport ever invented. Every day thousands of players around the globe replay routine tournament games that were played years or decades or even centuries ago. In stark contrast, not even professional baseball World Series games from a few years ago are rewatched by anyone in America on any given day. Nor does anybody care to rewatch the 1992 NBA basketball conference finals games.

To do justice to chess spectators, we must not crunch time to the point where blunders or series of weak moves occur enough to give the game a decisive outcome. As sports fans we crave a decisive narrative, but not at the cost of reducing the quality of play from Elo 2700 down to 2200 plus mistakes.

Thanks, GeneM

[Shop taobao]

Um...like the style of your writing.*_*

[Viagra Canada]

ell a checkmate is when the opponent has no where to move. as in where ever the opponent moves his king will be attacked. you must have the king to win. you probably went into a stale mate or a draw. a stale mate is when you both can't attack because you guys keep moving and there is no way for you to attack each other. or the person that is taking his turn can't move his king anywhere because the king is surrounded. since it is that person's turn and he can't move then nobody wins and it is considered a stale mate. so you probably went into a stale mate and you didn't go into a check mate.

[dr dre beats headphones]

di cui questo individuo cresciuto, lui o lei è diventata anche questa persona preparati su HIS / la sua terra. Parlare della circostanza inquietante, e mai così è stato Halloween. E 'stato prima il tipo di paesaggio orwelliano si può