The Guardian: Are computers killing the mystery of chess?

The renaissance of chess

Thanks to the massive popularity of Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit”, many people around the world have been attracted to the royal game. The mini-series was widely praised on mainstream media, and it naturally prompted media outlets to delve into the real world of chess. In an excellently-produced 6-minute video, The Guardian presented the general public with the issue of computers getting stronger and stronger at chess.

The video description by The Guardian:

Chess is enjoying something of a renaissance, thanks to the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit – along with it being a game well-suited to Covid lockdowns.

Yet many chess-lovers contend its lure is simultaneously being killed off by computers, which take the romance and mystery from the game in ever more accurate analysis. But this is an adaptable game of paradoxes, and technology has proven to both give and take. Will chess ever be ‘solved’? And could it survive if it was?

Of course, this is well-trodden territory for those immersed in the chess world, with the emergence of AlphaZero a massive step forward in the search for ‘the truth’ hidden behind the mystery — and this is only the last step after many years of experimentation!

Nonetheless, the video is definitely worth a look.

English grandmaster Daniel Gormally, who has written excellent articles for us, quipped on his Twitter account:

Interesting video on whether computers are killing chess. Not often that I get equal screen time with Maurice Ashley and [Alexandra] Botez.

Mating Patterns

On this DVD, Grandmaster and worldrenowned commentator Maurice Ashley reviews some of the most interesting patterns with examples meant to educate and entertain.

Links

• The video on The Guardian’s webpage
• The adventure of chess programming by Frederic Friedel: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3