Author: Fernando Villegas
Date: 09:32:43 07/04/02
Hi all: Plans is what the programs lacks, everyone say. OK, but maybe we should take a more closer look that that word, "plan", and to see what really means in terms of mental operations of a chess player. And then if they are esential to chess perfomance instead than just for human-mental-chess-kind-of-perfomance. I do not know, of course, how plans are made by IM's or GM's. But my guess is that there are not too much different to ours, patzer or just experts planners, that is to say, they make like us a general description of the situation and what to do next. Sometimes this is verbalized in that kind of muted, uncomplete, verbalization along which much mental processes go; sometimes even does no reach -or surpass- that level and it is a kind of visual representation, even perhaps a kind of locomotor predisposition, etc. I suppose this last one is the kind of "description" of really good players. More verbalization equates less masterly handling of an operation, except when writing or talking. But then, how much useful is an appraisal in "general terms", no matter how it was coded? I mean, beyond obvious situations where the mere word plan is unnnecesary and pedantic, in the realm of complexity when positions does not gives an inmediate answer to the question what-to-do, then I dare to say that planning is less a good tool to play better than a sychological tool to feel you are handling the game. My equation is simple: the more complex the situation, the more the need -sychological need- for "plans" seems to be, but the more complex the situation is, for the same token the less adequate a general plan is. I mean: more complex means more poverty of a plan, less fittness, less usefulness. I consider a plan for a complex situation like a crust that impedes to see what is really happening in the board. I guess many games has been lost less because of a bad plan than just for having a plan tha fix yor mind obsesively in a purpose and so you becomes blind to reality. In fact, chess programs probably has in his lack of plans at least part of the reasons of his strenght. BUt of course this is a tricky issue and I hope you will comment this, refute this and teach me something I do not know. My best no plans fernando
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