4/6/2020 – Chess enjoys a good reputation and the creators of the popular online game "Auto Chess" probably wanted to use this reputation when naming their product. However, chess players might wonder how much chess really is in "Auto Chess"? A bit but not that much. | Photo: Courtesy of Drodo Studio
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Why memorising endless theory might not be the best path - and how an idea-based repertoire can change your game.
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A game with a chess theme
Almost 20 years ago the online strategy game Warcraft 3 (which now comes in a remastered though controversial edition) hit the stores to become a big success. Soon players added modes and modifications to the original and DOTA, the "Defense of the Ancients", turned out to be the most popular of these modifications.
Therefore, the Valve Corporation, the creator of games like Half-Life and Counter Strike, decided to go ahead with a follow-up of DOTA, namely DOTA 2. But DOTA 2 was a game itself and not just a modification of a game. And just as its predecessor DOTA2 turned out to be tremendously successful and indeed became one of the most popular online games. Even some grandmasters of chess were playing the game.
Whoever came up with dota 2 pairing system, that includes behavior score as a major factor should be ashamed. Unplayable game. Congrats.
Of course, it did not take fans long to create modifications for DOTA 2. One of them was "DOTA – Auto Chess".
What is Auto Chess?
In the game Auto Chess which Drodo Studios developed as a stand-alone version, eight players fight against each other on eight different chess boards with up to 50 different "chess pieces". The pieces have various strengths and abilities and can merge into stronger pieces.
However, in contrast to over-the-board chess the players can buy certain pieces but cannot control them – once a piece is bought and set up the program takes over and the players can only watch as the pieces battle it out. Players can influence the game by deciding which pieces to buy and how to set them up but luck still plays a considerable part in this game.
How popular is Auto Chess?
This concept proved popular and experts estimate that 20 to 30 million people play Auto Chess or a clone of it. And these numbers are rising quickly. The majority of these players are from Asia where Auto Chess tournaments are shown on TV Channels, Twitch and YouTube.
How much chess is in Auto Chess?
Well, though the name suggests differently, Auto Chess does not have much in common with chess. Sure, the battlefield is a chess board of sorts but the Auto Chess pieces behave not at all like pawns, knights, bishops, rooks, queen and king in regular chess. And it is not mate that ends the game.
Probably, the word "Chess" in "Auto Chess" was chosen to attract people who are interested in games with tactical and strategic elements. Which is how I got interested.
Is it worth trying out Auto Chess?
Well, as Auto Chess really has nothing much in common with chess you might enjoy the game whether your are chess player or not. But don't get fooled by the name.
Arne KaehlerArne Kaehler, a creative mind who is passionate about board games in general, was born in Hamburg and learned to play chess at a young age. By teaching chess to youth teams and creating chess-related videos on YouTube, Arne was able to expand this passion and has even created an online course for anyone who wants to learn how to play chess. Arne writes for the English and German news sites, but focuses mainly on content for the ChessBase media channels.
London System Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.
The London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.
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The Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.
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