The spread of computational and, in particular, AI systems, which can (at least very closely) mimic and surpass humans is, to use a chess terminology, putting into check several societal sectors. For example, in social research, there is already a call to return to the laboratory (in the previous years, a lot of the surveys, interviews and experiments were done online), as fears of widespread LLM usage, are tainting scientific results. For the sake of not making this too large, the point I want to bring across is that there are already several examples of a fear that online (non face to face) interactions are doomed in the face of an impossibility of ensuring that those interactions are truly human-human.
My question here is what is the general opinion in this website about this situation when it comes to chess? What do you think is the future of chess? Do you still believe that online chess will continue to exist as the main form of the game for many players, or do you believe that more people will go to clubs and seek to play presentialy?
I think, the future is great, because I would not mind playing against an AI which is perfectly mimicking a human player.
real chess always has been and always will be over the board, online is for practice, there is a reason that random people can get to 2000+ online but are struggling and will struggle to reach 1500 over the board, game is totally different over the board, and what comes to online chess is that the more people play the greater the percentage of people using outside help, no one will ever catch them and no one really should, cause it is impossible
@sheckley666 said in #2:
> I think, the future is great, because I would not mind playing against an AI which is perfectly mimicking a human player.
That's actually an interesting point of view, thanks. Are you also the type that would not mind to be in the matrix?
@deckrohan said in #4:
> Are you also the type that would not mind to be in the matrix?
Of course not. If it's a perfect matrix, then why should I mind?
@N00801 said in #3:
> real chess always has been and always will be over the board, online is for practice, there is a reason that random people can get to 2000+ online but are struggling and will struggle to reach 1500 over the board, game is totally different over the board, and what comes to online chess is that the more people play the greater the percentage of people using outside help, no one will ever catch them and no one really should, cause it is impossible
I wonder about that. Anyone has experience with any club member that has a high online rating but play much poorer OTB? I did not meet anyone like that. I think they would be too ashamed to show their faces in the club. I am quite confident I did not meet anyone that cheats in my club. But you never know of course.
@sheckley666 said in #5:
> > Are you also the type that would not mind to be in the matrix?
>
> Of course not. If it's a perfect matrix, then why should I mind?
I assume it's a rhetorical question. I'm not here to convince you of anything, just happy to hear your opinion.
@deckrohan said in #6:
> > real chess always has been and always will be over the board, online is for practice, there is a reason that random people can get to 2000+ online but are struggling and will struggle to reach 1500 over the board, game is totally different over the board, and what comes to online chess is that the more people play the greater the percentage of people using outside help, no one will ever catch them and no one really should, cause it is impossible
>
> I wonder about that. Anyone has experience with any club member that has a high online rating but play much poorer OTB? I did not meet anyone like that. I think they would be too ashamed to show their faces in the club. I am quite confident I did not meet anyone that cheats in my club. But you never know of course.
A lot of people who have a high rating online never go to a chess club, they never play OTB cause much of the high rated players play superfast time controls which isnt chess really, 5+0 and lower time controls OTB is even harder, online is all about tricks and traps and such and the longer time controls are riddled with cheaters hence no one plays them
@N00801 said in #8:
> > > real chess always has been and always will be over the board, online is for practice, there is a reason that random people can get to 2000+ online but are struggling and will struggle to reach 1500 over the board, game is totally different over the board, and what comes to online chess is that the more people play the greater the percentage of people using outside help, no one will ever catch them and no one really should, cause it is impossible
> >
> > I wonder about that. Anyone has experience with any club member that has a high online rating but play much poorer OTB? I did not meet anyone like that. I think they would be too ashamed to show their faces in the club. I am quite confident I did not meet anyone that cheats in my club. But you never know of course.
>
> A lot of people who have a high rating online never go to a chess club, they never play OTB cause much of the high rated players play superfast time controls which isnt chess really, 5+0 and lower time controls OTB is even harder, online is all about tricks and traps and such and the longer time controls are riddled with cheaters hence no one plays them
That's probably somewhat true. I do play 3+0 OTB, but it's messy
Online has one big advantage - you can play anytime you want for as long as you want from the comfort of your own home. Plus there is no dress code and you can drink, smoke or be stoned at the same time.
But it has one big disadvantage - the threat of cheating. Plus it rewards hand/mouse coordination and premove and you lose out on the social aspect of interacting with fellow humans.
People who play here obviously feel the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. We tend to play fast time controls to reduce the risk of cheating. If cheating could be eliminated, online would be even more popular.