The world’s best players are asking whether chess is over.
The elite grandmasters say they’ve become dependent on opening moves recommended by their computers — and the machines keep coming up with improvements, on the 15th, 20th or even 25th moves, that makes the likely outcome of any game a draw.
“The stronger computers get, the more opening lines are neutralized that were rich and varied, the more drawing resources are found for Black, unfortunately,” former world champion Vladimir Kramnik said after a colorless 19-move draw in the recent Candidates matches in Kazan.
This wasn’t the case 15 years ago, when top players used computers mainly as databases, not as analytical tools — if they used computers at all.
“Right now, 1995 feels to me like some golden era when we all woke up in the morning and we just went and played whatever we like,” current champ Vishy Anand told chessvibes.com. Today, he said, “There’s just a hell of a lot of theory.”
To save the game, some elite players are proposing subversive changes to the rules of chess. “For instance, I had the idea of banning castling before the 10th move,” said Kramnik.