Computer Chess Club Archives


Search

Terms

Messages

Subject: Computer aid for e-mail chess

Author: Manuel Monasterio

Date: 09:05:11 11/23/99


This note comes as the second one, the other was posted yesterday.
I would like to add two observations regarding this issue. Pondering a little
more over the subject, I think that:
1) A strong grandmaster may be capable of truly profiting from the chess
programs. Let’s say for example Kasparov (a player thais is known for his use of
computers for his preparation), he can use the strong chess engines available to
help him to get out of the route. To come out with new moves and plans. The fact
is that you have to be a really strong player to truly discriminate from useful
computer plans from useless ones, a lesser player may get confuse.
2) Chess programs are very interesting in the way they approach the game, they
always begin approaching the positions anew. The first great player in chess
history to do this systematically was Alekhine. One of his major assets was this
capability of disengage himself from the previous history of the game
approaching each position as a “just born” entity. (much food for thought here
for those interested on Zen Buddhism or J.Krishnamurti discourse). The biggest
single liability of the human mind in terms of evolutionaty creativity is our
memory-association function (very useful and perhaps indispensable in so many
fields of life but an obstacle for breaking the limits through  new frontiers ).
Memory and reminiscenses are constantly popping out into consciousness
contaminating our perception with past images, and interfering with a true and
fresh contact with here-now reality.

In this area computers can help us a lot to understand and make a better use of
mind functions. Been my area of expertise that of Psychology,cognitive processes
and Human Resources, I have pointed before in some scientific papers that
technology at large is nothing else than the “instrumentalization of human
consciousness”. The dicotomy that some people sees in computers and machines in
relation to men is an ilussion. Personally I love computers and it is obvious
that we can learn a lot of human mind functions studying this “artificial
reflection” of ourselves, that is in reality what computers are.

Manuel Monasterio





This page took 0 seconds to execute

Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700

Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.