andrew_gelman_stats andrew_gelman_stats-2011 andrew_gelman_stats-2011-615 knowledge-graph by maker-knowledge-mining
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Introduction: Mark Palko writes : Chess derives most of its complexity through differentiated pieces; with checkers the complexity comes from the interaction between pieces. The result is a series of elegant graph problems where the viable paths change with each move of your opponent. To draw an analogy with chess, imagine if moving your knight could allow your opponent’s bishop to move like a rook. Add to that the potential for traps and manipulation that come with forced capture and you have one of the most remarkable games of all time. . . . It’s not unusual to hear masters of both chess and checkers (draughts) to admit that they prefer the latter. So why does chess get all the respect? Why do you never see a criminal mastermind or a Bond villain playing in a checkers tournament? Part of the problem is that we learn the game as children so we tend to think of it as a children’s game. We focus on how simple the rules are and miss how much complexity and subtlety you can get out of those ru
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1 Mark Palko writes : Chess derives most of its complexity through differentiated pieces; with checkers the complexity comes from the interaction between pieces. [sent-1, score-0.946]
2 The result is a series of elegant graph problems where the viable paths change with each move of your opponent. [sent-2, score-0.333]
3 To draw an analogy with chess, imagine if moving your knight could allow your opponent’s bishop to move like a rook. [sent-3, score-0.238]
4 Add to that the potential for traps and manipulation that come with forced capture and you have one of the most remarkable games of all time. [sent-4, score-0.282]
5 It’s not unusual to hear masters of both chess and checkers (draughts) to admit that they prefer the latter. [sent-8, score-1.232]
6 Why do you never see a criminal mastermind or a Bond villain playing in a checkers tournament? [sent-10, score-0.75]
7 Part of the problem is that we learn the game as children so we tend to think of it as a children’s game. [sent-11, score-0.26]
8 We focus on how simple the rules are and miss how much complexity and subtlety you can get out of those rules. [sent-12, score-0.323]
9 As a person who prefers chess to checkers, I have a slightly different story. [sent-13, score-0.661]
10 To me, checkers is much more boring to play than chess. [sent-14, score-0.739]
11 All checkers games look the same, but each chess game it its own story. [sent-15, score-1.454]
12 I expect this is true at the top levels too, but the distinction is definitely there for casual players. [sent-16, score-0.163]
13 I can play chess (at my low level) without having to think too hard most of the time and still enjoy participating, making plans, attacking and defending. [sent-17, score-0.785]
14 In contrast, when I play a casual game of checkers, it just seems to me that the pieces are moving by themselves and the whole game seems pretty random. [sent-19, score-0.778]
15 I’m not saying this is true of everyone–I’m sure Palko is right that checkers can have a lot going for it if you come at it with the right attitude–but I doubt my experiences are unique, either. [sent-20, score-0.613]
16 Overall, I think Palko’s argument about elegant simplicity applies much better to Go than to checkers. [sent-22, score-0.201]
17 ) chess is fully solved, so that we know (for example) that with optimal play the game will end in a draw. [sent-25, score-0.968]
18 Or, if they ever make that rules change so that a stalemate is a loss, maybe they’ll prove that White can force a win. [sent-26, score-0.171]
19 In a way this shouldn’t change the feel of a casual game of chess, but I wonder. [sent-27, score-0.426]
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Introduction: Mark Palko writes : Chess derives most of its complexity through differentiated pieces; with checkers the complexity comes from the interaction between pieces. The result is a series of elegant graph problems where the viable paths change with each move of your opponent. To draw an analogy with chess, imagine if moving your knight could allow your opponent’s bishop to move like a rook. Add to that the potential for traps and manipulation that come with forced capture and you have one of the most remarkable games of all time. . . . It’s not unusual to hear masters of both chess and checkers (draughts) to admit that they prefer the latter. So why does chess get all the respect? Why do you never see a criminal mastermind or a Bond villain playing in a checkers tournament? Part of the problem is that we learn the game as children so we tend to think of it as a children’s game. We focus on how simple the rules are and miss how much complexity and subtlety you can get out of those ru
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Introduction: Gary Marcus writes , An algorithm that is good at chess won’t help parsing sentences, and one that parses sentences likely won’t be much help playing chess. That is soooo true. I’m excellent at parsing sentences but I’m not so great at chess. And, worse than that, my chess ability seems to be declining from year to year. Which reminds me: I recently read Frank Brady’s much lauded Endgame , a biography of Bobby Fischer. The first few chapters were great, not just the Cinderella story of his steps to the world championship, but also the background on his childhood and the stories of the games and tournaments that he lost along the way. But after Fischer beats Spassky in 1972, the book just dies. Brady has chapter after chapter on Fisher’s life, his paranoia, his girlfriends, his travels. But, really, after the chess is over, it’s just sad and kind of boring. I’d much rather have had twice as much detail on the first part of the life and then had the post-1972 era compr
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