General
09 Mar 05
09 Mar 05
Originally posted by ChessNutIf the GM made a mistake they were not unlucky.
So if the GM made a mistake (unlucky) and you missed the mistake (unlucky)... was the GM lucky?
If I missed the mistake I was probably playing to my ability still - neither unlucky or lucky. If it was really obvious, then I was just plain stupid - again not unlucky.
In this case was the GM lucky? - quite possibly.
09 Mar 05
1 edit
Originally posted by SirLoseALotAll chess players make mistakes for a variety of reasons too numerous to mention. Now you can call that 'luck' if you like but I think it was Tartakower who first said, 'A game is lost by the player who makes the last mistake'.
No Harri,this is not about you 😉
The other day,in the pub,we were debating the following.
Sometimes,when reading chess books or talking to chessplayers,you come across the phrase 'he was lucky to draw' or when you beat someone ' ...[text shortened]... re and simple.Nothing to do with luck.
What do you think?
🙂
I don't think luck comes into it.
One of my favourite quotes comes from Siebert Tarrasch,
'Chess is a form of intellectual productiveness; therein lies its peculiar charm. Intellectual productiveness is one of the greatest joys - if not the greatest one - of human existence. It is not everyone who can write a play, or build a bridge, or even make a good joke. But in chess everyone can, everyone must, be intellectually productive, and so can share in this select delight. I have always a slight feeling of pity for the man who has no knowledge of chess, just as I would pity the man who has remained ignorant of love. Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make men happy.'
What Tarrasch omitted of course is that it also has the power to make men very sad!
🙂
10 Mar 05
Originally posted by ivangriceI think I tend to play my best chess towards the end of my first glass of wine (maybe thats when I can forget the gas bill).
Well, no. If his moves were in some way determined by a random element (the bounce of the ball, the rub of the green etc.) then that is luck. If your opponent cannot maintain concentration then he is simply not playing well. He has made a mistake. There's no random element outside his control.
If I play you whilst I am drunk, and lose, are you lucky to have won?
However I feel unlucky when I've pushed an opponenet closer than I normally would but still lose.