### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/241 "2010-05-30T17:59:00Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#):
>
> I don’t accept anyone as my better, unless we’ve played best of 99.
Well… that should only take me 50 games. 😛
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### Author:  [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/242 "2010-05-30T18:17:43Z")
nevermind… my maths is teh worstest. 😃
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### Author:  [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/243 "2010-05-31T04:44:21Z")
> [@Autolycus](#):
>
> So, this is the last round? We’re not doing round robin? No double elimination? I’m confused to how this is set up lol.
No, there are 4 rounds, maybe 5. Draws kind of confuse things. Most tournaments are 5 rounds but the fact that we’re playing on the internet (where attention spans are short) means that we might be better off declaring a winner after the 4th round. Assume, for now, that we’re going to a 5th round like a normal tournament. If one player really runs away with it after a 4th round of play, then we might just call it there.
Although, judging from the turnout of this match, we might as well play indefinitely. I see no problems playing a permanent ladder. I mean, if certainly posters can keep a Lost thread going for 7 years, why not a chess thread?
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### Author:  [@peekercpa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peekercpa)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/244 "2010-05-31T13:58:32Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#):
>
> I mean, if certainly posters can keep a Lost thread going for 7 years, why not a chess thread?
\
and it might very well take that long for me to actually win a game. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/245 "2010-05-31T14:33:26Z")
Since Oredigger won, it looks like I’m against Maserschmidt now. I’m Hamletsdmb on [Chess.com](http://Chess.com), whenever you’re ready Maser.
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### Author:  [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/246 "2010-05-31T17:13:25Z")
> [@Hamlet](#):
>
> Since Oredigger won, it looks like I’m against Maserschmidt now. I’m Hamletsdmb on [Chess.com](http://Chess.com), whenever you’re ready Maser.
I challenged you on gameknot already. Should I revoke that and sign up for chess?
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### Author:  [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)
#### Post date: [May 31, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/247 "2010-05-31T21:26:31Z")
While I’m waiting for the moves to come in my ending game, I’m open to friendly challenges from other board members today, you can challenge me at [Chess.com](http://Chess.com) or at GameKnot (I have the same user name)
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### Author:  [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/248 "2010-06-01T23:33:23Z")
Mmm… **Edward The Head** has now 38 hours to make his next move…
I’m still open for other friendly matches.
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### Author:  [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/249 "2010-06-02T02:27:31Z")
And all that for a draw, sorry if we are making a mess of the pairings **Chessic Sense**.
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### Author:  [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/250 "2010-06-02T17:26:59Z")
Well it seems that I just won two hours worth of chess instruction at a silent auction. Two hours, that might get me what, a bit more understanding!
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### Author:  [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/251 "2010-06-02T17:33:11Z")
I’m ready for my next game if the pairings are ready.
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### Author:  [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/252 "2010-06-02T18:52:06Z")
Auto and I are still pretty much in the middle. I think we’re completely even unless he sees something I don’t, which is entirely possible. We’ll need a couple more moves unless Chessic wants to create multiple pairings again.
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### Author:  [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/253 "2010-06-02T20:02:53Z")
No you pretty much nailed it **Ore**. We both had some offensive things going on, but then with that last exchange I think we are both pretty much impotent until one of us gets something together again. I’m up in points now but probably not after your next move, heh.
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### Author:  [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/254 "2010-06-02T20:36:04Z")
Quick question, chess buffs.
If Deep Blue played itself at chess, would every game be a stalemate?
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/255 "2010-06-02T21:51:43Z")
Well, not “stalemate” which has a specific meaning in chess and is rarely seen (like a tie in cricket), but you would expect a high percentage of draws. However, it would not play the exact same line every time and it is possible that it can at any time spot some tactic that was “over the horizon” when it considered the previous move, so some games would not end in draws.
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### Author:  [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2010, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/256 "2010-06-03T07:25:35Z")
“Over the horizon”? How many moves ahead could Deep Blue see, and how many moves does an average chess game take until it is finished?
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/257 "2010-06-03T13:38:35Z")
I’m not sure as to the first, and as to the second, “mister, the average varies”. It’s rare for a serious game to run to fewer than 10 moves barring a ridiculous opening blunder (and they have been known) and most games are probably decided long before move 70. Maybe one of our serious chess theorists has some figures from a database. 🙂
But you can be sure that even a fantastic computer can’t analyse all the way to the end of the game in most positions. The number of possible positions grows exponentially, typically by a factor of about 400 for one move by each side. So it stands to reason that if Deep Blue can see _n_ moves ahead, it’s possible that after it has moved it can examine the new position and will now see something that was \*n + \*1 moves ahead before. Avoiding this “horizon effect” has been a major concern of chess programmers since the early days.
Deep Blue, by the way, is yesterday’s news. [Rybka](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rybka) is the new kid on the block.
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [June 3, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/258 "2010-06-03T20:14:29Z")
Footnote: Actually, even 10 moves or so would imply “serious opening blunder”, although sometimes the serious blunder takes serious smarts to exploit. [Example](http://www.lifemasteraj.com/old_af-dl/rettarrpg0.html).
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### Author:  [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/259 "2010-06-04T01:44:01Z")
Hamlet was playing a rational game as Black when he made a bit of a mis-move. Sorry for the rough finish, Hamlet, but good game!
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 Nf6
4. O-O Nxe4
5. Bxc6 dxc6
6. Qe2 Qd5
7. d3 Nf6
8. Nc3 Qd6
9. Nxe5 Be7
10. Re1 O-O
11. Bf4 Qb4
12. Nc4 Bd6
13. a3 Qc5
14. b4 Qd4
15. Nxd6 cxd6
16. Qd2 Bf5
17. Ne2 Ng4
18. Nxd4 Rae8
19. Nxf5
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### Author:  [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2010, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2010-sdmb-chess-championship/538681/260 "2010-06-04T04:52:24Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#):
>
> I’m ready for my next game if the pairings are ready.
Care to tell me the result, then?
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