Is Gary Kasparov Playing Chess in This Picture?

https://medium.com/@idancali/is-gary-kasparov-playing-chess-in-this-picture-c3d7b789f9dd#.5k43qhg7v

by idancali • 10 years ago

2 7 10 years ago

dalke2• 10 years ago

No.

It's set up with the initial board; no piece has moved. Kasparov is on the white side, and white goes first, so it's supposed to be his move. The opening moves of any game are so well practiced that they go quickly. Basically, they are memorized, and there is no need to spend time thinking about them while playing, especially not the first move.

If Kasparov were playing a game of chess, he wouldn't be thinking about his first move but would be making it.

In addition, take a look at the timer clock. It's depressed on Kasparov's side. That means time is counting down for black. But it's white's move, not black's. This setting is meaningless, which means no game is in play.

Therefore, no, Kasparov is not playing a game of chess in this picture.

I realize the picture was meant as a metaphor for other purposes. Perhaps there's a different metaphor lurking in the picture, like "looking like you are concentrating doesn't mean you are concentrating on what it looks like you are doing."

It does, however, make it hard for me to appreciate the subtitle "Everything depends on the answer to this question. Everything.".

buserror• 10 years ago

Ah, I had stopped reading immediately after looking at the picture for the same piece placement.

In this picture, G Kasparov is earning a paycheck by posing in front of a chessboard while trying not to look at the camera.

Good for him, too ;-)

gus_massa• 10 years ago

I hope you didn't see the first stock image of a hand moving a pawn. It's horrible, don't look at it.

It looks like this article was written by someone that doesn't play chess, so I don't think that it is a reliable person to make conclusions about the subject.

idancali3• 10 years ago

Thanks for the comment, you're right the subtitle kinda sucks, I actually hesitated when I wrote it but I eventually left it.

Is Gary Kasparov Playing Chess in This Picture?

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