Internet chess killer
"Chess has been around for over a thousand years, and people are just starting to watch at explosive rates now," said Alexandra Botez. "Yeah, you're playing with – it's kind of cool – sometimes it's like Iran or Albania, some countries that the average American maybe can't even point out on a map!" Hamilton said.īut the chess explosion isn't just from people playing it's also people watching. "The idea is you're playing total strangers?" asked Pogue. "I couldn't really see my friends as much, so I was kind of looking for that competitive vice to continue in my life, and I found that through chess," said grad student Richard Hamilton. The signups grew by a million people a month. By June 2020, the number of people joining had tripled from the previous year. So, where's the boom? You probably saw this coming – it's online. "To me, they are what an undiscovered Mozart symphony would be to a music lover," he said."Oh, God, I think I squeeze $200, $150, $200 on that," said Reed. The British player fears his revelations may mean that Fischer - if it is him - will be unwilling to play Short again on the web.īut he said the games would have a lasting effect on him. "The guy was obviously trying to tell me something," Short told the paper. The immediate reply was: "Siegen 1970." Fischer had played Acevedo at the Siegen Chess Olympiad in 1970. The most decisive "proof" came when Short asked his opponent if he knew of Armando Acevedo, an obscure Mexican player.
![internet chess killer internet chess killer](https://www.frontiersin.org/files/Articles/552749/fimmu-11-01484-HTML/image_m/fimmu-11-01484-g001.jpg)
#INTERNET CHESS KILLER SERIES#
Short is one of the world's best speed chess players, and drew a speed chess series 6-6 with then world champion Garry Kasparov in 1995.īut he told the Telegraph: "In my opinion Fischer is a much stronger speed chess player than Kasparov, which is incredible when one considers that at 58 he is virtually a geriatric in terms of the modern game."ĭuring the internet games, Short chatted online with his mystery opponent, whom he said showed great knowledge of the major chess players of the 60s - Fischer's most active period. "In this first game I was totally crushed." "From this deliberately unpromising position emerged moves of extraordinary power," he said. Nigel Short believes Fischer is better at speed chess than Kasparov Short said he immediately suspected a hoax, but became aware there was method in the apparent madness. These were moves that no Grandmaster would ever play." "My unseen opponent began with some highly irregular, if not totally absurd, opening moves - shifting all his pawns forward by one square. Short said his adversary's style of play was intriguing. In speed chess, known as "blitz" in the chess world, each player has a three-minute time limit per game.ĭespite his misgivings, Short eventually arranged to play the unknown opponent, and in October last year lost the first of their four confrontations 8-0. Short said he was initially sceptical when told by a Greek Grandmaster last year that Fischer had been playing speed chess anonymously on a website, the Internet Chess Club. "I am 99 percent sure that I have been playing against the chess legend," he said.
![internet chess killer internet chess killer](https://chesskingtraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/CA20ok-275x236.jpg)
Nigel Short, who in 1993 challenged Russian Garry Kasparov for the world title, told the Telegraph he was almost certain he had played Fischer on the web.