How about players of old like Murphy who is said to have been of 2600 - 2700 strength and yet played opening moves considered subpar today. Didn’t stop him from finding a 10 move mate with variations on the middle of the board in a blindfold simul.
Too often in my line of work, not chess but similar in many ways, people confuse knowledge with ability. They are not the same thing. One can have very little knowledge and yet lots of technical ability to kick the living daylights out of a very knowledgeable but less skilled opponent. This happens all the time in chess, fighting, classical music competitions etc.
How about players of old like Murphy who is said to have been of 2600 - 2700 strength and yet played opening moves considered subpar today. Didn’t stop him from finding a 10 move mate with variations on the middle of the board in a blindfold simul.
Too often in my line of work, not chess but similar in many ways, people confuse knowledge with ability. They are not the same thing. One can have very little knowledge and yet lots of technical ability to kick the living daylights out of a very knowledgeable but less skilled opponent. This happens all the time in chess, fighting, classical music competitions etc.

