Chess at this point isn't about the pieces. It's a mind game between the two players.
You can't make the "best" move any more because computers know them all and the grandmasters prepare ahead of time with canned responses. If you make the best moves available, you'll lose or draw. Magnus' great talent is making suboptimal moves that go out of the other man's preparation and force him to actually play chess instead of rattle off a list of moves. Once he's forced out of his line, Magnus wins.
Thus knowing what the other player's prep is is decisive, as all you have to do is force him out of his prepared lines and into unfamiliar territory, where you have prepared your own lines.
chess has been used as a cultural symbol of intelligence for so long that people will continue to play it in an attempt to look smart regardless of how boring or un-challenging the game itself becomes.
Chess at this point isn't about the pieces. It's a mind game between the two players.
You can't make the "best" move any more because computers know them all and the grandmasters prepare ahead of time with canned responses. If you make the best moves available, you'll lose or draw. Magnus' great talent is making suboptimal moves that go out of the other man's preparation and force him to actually play chess instead of rattle off a list of moves. Once he's forced out of his line, Magnus wins.
Thus knowing what the other player's prep is is decisive, as all you have to do is force him out of his prepared lines and into unfamiliar territory, where you have prepared your own lines.
maybe they should play a better game
chess has been used as a cultural symbol of intelligence for so long that people will continue to play it in an attempt to look smart regardless of how boring or un-challenging the game itself becomes.