Thursday, August 04, 2005
Taking notes during chess games
In chess tournaments, players are required to record each move that is made, but forbidden from taking notes to assist them in remembering their analysis. Outside of tournaments, the rules of the game are often relaxed somewhat--for example, players may choose not to enforce touch play, clocks may not be used, etc. So, how about note taking during online games?
Any rule that the players agree on is obviously acceptable. But who wants to be bothered with negotiations about rules before each game? Sometimes, the situation calls for the application of common sense. When playing real-time online games, especially with time controls, ethics may require not taking notes. But what about non-real-time games? In my opinion, taking notes during slow games where you often wait for days (or weeks or months in some cases!) for your opponent to make a move is reasonable. Here's my reasoning:
1) Since you have all the time you need to make your move, you could spend enough time that you'd eventually make come to the same conclusions you would have if you had notes to remind you of your prior analysis.
2) If you find a great move or sequence, but you opponent takes a few weeks to make their move, it's not reasonable to expect you to remember the intricate details of one game during the wait.
3) In correspondence chess, players may make "conditional moves" which say "if my opponent makes this move, then I'll make that move". I'm not sure what the official purpose of conditional moves is, but I can think of three effects they have: first, they save the clock time of the person making the conditional move; second, they help the game move faster; and third, they ensure that you don't forget your move--like taking notes. The third may be incidental to the intended purpose, and there is a difference--when making a conditional move, you are bound by what's in your "notes". Still, the fact that it protects you from forgetting a superior move is undeniable.
My original motivation for taking notes during my slow online games was so that I could compare my analysis to ChessMaster's analysis after the game. It's always interesting to see how well the multi-move sequences that I map out squares up against ChessMaster's opinion of the best sequence of moves from a particular position. In the informal setting of slow online play, taking notes during the game also helps to keep it interesting during the sometimes long pauses.
Any rule that the players agree on is obviously acceptable. But who wants to be bothered with negotiations about rules before each game? Sometimes, the situation calls for the application of common sense. When playing real-time online games, especially with time controls, ethics may require not taking notes. But what about non-real-time games? In my opinion, taking notes during slow games where you often wait for days (or weeks or months in some cases!) for your opponent to make a move is reasonable. Here's my reasoning:
1) Since you have all the time you need to make your move, you could spend enough time that you'd eventually make come to the same conclusions you would have if you had notes to remind you of your prior analysis.
2) If you find a great move or sequence, but you opponent takes a few weeks to make their move, it's not reasonable to expect you to remember the intricate details of one game during the wait.
3) In correspondence chess, players may make "conditional moves" which say "if my opponent makes this move, then I'll make that move". I'm not sure what the official purpose of conditional moves is, but I can think of three effects they have: first, they save the clock time of the person making the conditional move; second, they help the game move faster; and third, they ensure that you don't forget your move--like taking notes. The third may be incidental to the intended purpose, and there is a difference--when making a conditional move, you are bound by what's in your "notes". Still, the fact that it protects you from forgetting a superior move is undeniable.
My original motivation for taking notes during my slow online games was so that I could compare my analysis to ChessMaster's analysis after the game. It's always interesting to see how well the multi-move sequences that I map out squares up against ChessMaster's opinion of the best sequence of moves from a particular position. In the informal setting of slow online play, taking notes during the game also helps to keep it interesting during the sometimes long pauses.
1 Comments:
By 
, at January 16, 2008 8:07 AM
can i write caution: , and i am allowed to anayse the game and be like rook x bishop...
