Chess

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Who here loves chess?

I'm a major chess fan; love playing it.

I am not that good at it, but I love it.

Are Autistic people not particularly that good at Chess? I was thinking while I was at work...there's so much you have to pay attention to on the board at once that it may seem a bit overwhelming for us.

Just a thought.

I still love playing it though

I am severely bad in Chess! Sob sob sob!! !

I love chess. My ELO rating (estimated) is about 1600 to 1650, which is about average for a club player.

i also love chess, but i am not very good
probably because i tend to get too locked on to certain things that are happening.

I don't like Chess. I prefer games with a random element, they're more interesting.

*waits for someone to quote WOPR*

I'm not good at the game and I hardly ever play it these days, but I've always liked it a lot. The great thing about it for me is that (unlike card games) there's no challenge to my short-term memory - the only thing to keep in mind is the current state of play, which is displayed perfectly on the board at all times. I don't use a clock though. I don't like the pressure of making a move before I feel I've thought it through properly, just like in real life.

I like the pieces as well......I relate well to the aesthetic style of the traditional sets. Modern sets are also great fun, but when I play, I have to stick to a set that I know, or the unfamiliarity throws my concentration.

I used to be fairly good, but I fell out of practice long ago.

I like chess.
I played in a few tournaments when I was 11,12,13.
I haven't played a game in years now though.
I bought a chess computer a while back, with 24 levels. Eventually I worked out a (really dumb) combination of moves that beat the computer every time at every level. I wish I could remember the combination so I can dig it out from the shed and kick its butt again.

I think chess is a fairly suitable game for autistic people. It's not easy to explain why, but my hunch is that the sorts of cognitive problems that autistic people have are not the sort that would make chess more difficult.

I think the sorts of situations where information processing causes problems for autistic people would be situations like working on a trading desk, working in a bar and large social gatherings. These are situations where you are constantly being bombarded with information that you have to respond to immediately or commit to short term memory - and if you don't do either of these things, then the information passes you by. But chess is different. With chess the information is there in front of you: you can stare at it as long as you want to, and you can take as long as you want to make your decisions. (Ok, most games are timed, but you are still given a fair bit of time.)

(And chess is obviously different to social gatherings in that with chess you are dealing with information that is discrete, concrete, impersonal etc.)

I guess chess is about spatial intelligence, and spacial intelligence is something some autistic people use to their advantage, like Temple Grandin. I might mention the autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire too, but I'm not sure if having a photographic memory is really all that similar to being able to visualise a chess board 20 moves down the line. Maybe it is; perhaps a psychologist could help with that one.

Btw, there is a thread in the Games forum about Bobby Fischer, and whether or not he was an aspie.

Actually, I cannot stand the game. Chess seems a bit too idealistic in terms of understanding warfare, and doesnt take a lot into account. But, most importantly, it is one of the few games I cannot visualize. My vision tends to blur a bit and my understanding of some of the strategies is limited . . . course, it doesnt help that I cannot "read my opponent." I have better luck playing Magic: The gathering.

Ah yes, but that human opponent is quite a social thing, at least for me. I know computers can play chess with humans, and I've had a lot of fun playing against computers when the skill setting has been right for me, but it's not the same as a real live person. Politically I'm not a great fan of competition, but in a social setting with strong limits on the possible damage of losing, it can be a really refreshing experience.

I never learned to play chess, so i'm not sure if i'd like it or not. From what i understand, it requires a lot of planning ahead and predicting what's going to happen before it happens to be good at it.. and i can't usually keep my attention on planning things ahead of time like that.

I am good at chess.

I play online at http://www.freechess.org/

I suck badly at it.

I like chess, but people do not like to play chess with me without a clock. Starting mid-game I tend to think each move through quite far and this leads to L-O-N-G waits before I move the next piece. The exception is during the opening where I have "scripted" some of the more common opening setups and gambits. I throw those out at light speed.

I hate chess.

Chess is a tactical game as long as you learn simple rules and the value of each peice for example a castle is a higher value that a bishop and knights are your "play makers" so to speak using stratergies like "pin" and "night forks" the game becomes less complicated.