Kasparov: Sofia Rules are "natural" for future WCC matches. Proposes fixed 960 tournaments

[EGarrett]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMPbDJ5czTk

Relevant parts start at about 3:40.

He says that people are very reluctant to consider changes to the World Championship format, but things like the end of adjournments due to computers came quite necessarily, and (paraphrasing here) that Sofia Rules would be a "natural" addition for future WCC matches in order to keep the tension of the game.

He's also interested in the radical idea of using Fischer Random to eliminate openings entirely, however too many of the positions look ridiculous to the grandmaster's eye, but there are quite a few that are playable, and he would like to see in the future perhaps a single Chess960 position to be chosen beforehand for a tournament, to minimize memorization and the years of theory, but to still allow some room for preparation.

[wlrs]

The "single chess 960 position beforehand" seems a little strange to me. Wouldn't it mean both teams hire a boatload of engine experts/GMs to get as much prep done in a short time as possible?

[Do it Right]

Imagine there was no theory for the chess we know today and two world class players were trying to prepare and learn all they could about the starting position in a couple of weeks or a month. Even if they were working with teams of hundreds of GMs and access to the fastest super computers on earth the theory would likely end up being pretty superficial, and that's assuming the player who is absorbing all the research has a computer-like memory!

I really like the idea but I just don't see 960 ever catching on.

[EGarrett]

I would guess that the top players have all devoted way too much of their time to studying openings to ever embrace 960. Which is too bad because, at least as I'm concerned, it's the far more dynamic, creative, and accessible game. From what I recall also, computers can't dominate it nearly as easily, and it has the most "future potential" for the game, as traditional chess will only become more and more solved and a contest of memory as computers and people tear through the variations.

[J_V]

Originally Posted by EGarrett

I would guess that the top players have all devoted way too much of their time to studying openings to ever embrace 960. Which is too bad because, at least as I'm concerned, it's the far more dynamic, creative, and accessible game. From what I recall also, computers can't dominate it nearly as easily, and it has the most "future potential" for the game, as traditional chess will only become more and more solved and a contest of memory as computers and people tear through the variations.

It would seem to me that when you start fresh from a new position, opening preparation would decide more games not fewer. I think you'd have to keep the prep time to a very small amount of time.

[EGarrett]

Oh, I wasn't referring to Kasparov's format, I meant Fischer's, where you don't see the position until the game begins.

[Noir_Desir]

While chess960 is cool in principle, it suffers from the fact that most starting positions suck. The standard position is there for a reason. You can put a pawn in the centre and open a path for the bishop and queen at the same time. Bishops have two possibilities of development with roughly equal value (fianchetto or standard). The knigths can be developed towards the centre effortlessly and don't step on each other's toes. All of this is not true for many chess 960 starting positions.

[EGarrett]

Noir, that's an interesting thing to bring up, and I was meaning to ask about that since Kasparov said something similar.

As an observer, I haven't seen any difference in the "enjoyability" of games with configurations that don't develop the pieces as easily. Though I understand they may be more of a pain to actually play since it requires more moves to get started.

However, I find it hard to see how this would make the games less entertaining, unless certain positions basically stop the players from playing an open game at all?

If that's not an issue, I find it far more interesting to watch a game where the players are paying attention to the position and looking for tactics from move 1, no matter if it's clogged, rather than, as a spectator, just sitting there for the first 15 moves while they or the commentators call out "Sicilian Grunfeld Berlin, here we go" and they throw the pieces around without thinking taking less than a second per move. It's highly inaccessible and they're just testing to see if either one of them forgot the latest computer analysis that's been thrown around.

[heltok]

Originally Posted by Noir_Desir

Chess960 is fun because the fact that most starting positions are interesting. The standard position is just there because of tradition. Every game you put a pawn in the centre and open a path for the bishop and queen at the same time. Bishops have only two possibilities of development with roughly equal value (fianchetto or standard). The knigths can be developed towards the centre effortlessly and don't step on each other's toes. meh

FYP

[Gorgonian]

The second half of what he said makes zero sense when paired with your changes. You made his post worse, since it made sense before your edit.

[TexAg06]

Why is it necessary to give them players any time at all to study the position beforehand? Why not show them the position for the first time at the board? If he really wants to eliminate opening theory, this would do it entirely.

[EGarrett]

Kasparov was known for his preparation and work ethic, so he would naturally want to preserve some of that. I also don't mind if there was still an edge available for those who worked beforehand, I just don't want to see the players insta-playing out the Guicco Pirc Calanoni variation hoping the other person forgot move 13.

[Neil S]

You know what would make Fischer random take off in a hurry? Somebody putting up substantial cash for Fischer random tournaments.

[Do it Right]

Originally Posted by TexAg06

Why is it necessary to give them players any time at all to study the position beforehand? Why not show them the position for the first time at the board? If he really wants to eliminate opening theory, this would do it entirely.

You could ponder the starting position of any 960 setup for hours. I think some amount of preparation is a very good idea since it would improve the quality of ideas and concepts in the games. In a normal 40/2 game you just don't have enough time to take an hour on the first move. It would also introduce a strange abnormality into the game where black could arguably have an advantage since he'd get to consider the starting position on white's time.

[Dynasty]

Why would the starting position of the pieces be chosen randomly?

How is that better than letting the two players use their first eight moves to place the pieces on the back rank?