I'm surprised that Carlsen doesn't say more about chess 960. He seems to think that the level of forcing opening prep has just made it too difficult to play against well prepared, unambitious opponents at classical time controls. His remedy is faster time controls, but why not chess 960?
I'm under the impression that the chess 960 world championship has been played at rapid or faster time controls. But why not play that with slower time controls, starting with an hour or two for computer free prep? The content would be incredibly rich, and to my mind much more interesting for us spectators than listening to the umpteenth repetition of discussions of whether the players are just trying to remember their prep on move 15.
Chess960 has its connoisseurs, and if you're one of them, more power to you. Most of us aren't (which is why the number of standard games dwarfs the number of Chess960 battles), and the games will be even less understandable to mid-level club players on down, as they don't have their usual landmarks to orient themselves.
Btw, can you remember any Chess960 games? YMMV, but none are coming to my mind. They aren't anthologized, and they're of no use to me as a player or a chess coach. I also disagree that the content would be "incredibly rich". Quite the contrary. Think of how poorly engines played openings without an opening book until very recently, when the neural net engines came on the scene. How will an hour or two of a GM looking at an entirely new position on his own even begin to compare with the riches that have come from generations of the best minds spending countless hours exploring certain openings and pawn structures? It may be fresh and it may be fascinating, but it will also be incredibly shallow compared to standard chess.
Btw, this should not be construed as an anti-Chess960 comment. It's a fun variant, and it's not a bad training exercise, either. And I'm glad there's a separate Chess960 World Championship. I just want it to stay separate.
The first part of the article is also relevant: https://www.chess.com/news/view/carlsen-on-nepo-vs-ding
I'm surprised that Carlsen doesn't say more about chess 960. He seems to think that the level of forcing opening prep has just made it too difficult to play against well prepared, unambitious opponents at classical time controls. His remedy is faster time controls, but why not chess 960?
I'm under the impression that the chess 960 world championship has been played at rapid or faster time controls. But why not play that with slower time controls, starting with an hour or two for computer free prep? The content would be incredibly rich, and to my mind much more interesting for us spectators than listening to the umpteenth repetition of discussions of whether the players are just trying to remember their prep on move 15.
Chess960 has its connoisseurs, and if you're one of them, more power to you. Most of us aren't (which is why the number of standard games dwarfs the number of Chess960 battles), and the games will be even less understandable to mid-level club players on down, as they don't have their usual landmarks to orient themselves.
Btw, can you remember any Chess960 games? YMMV, but none are coming to my mind. They aren't anthologized, and they're of no use to me as a player or a chess coach. I also disagree that the content would be "incredibly rich". Quite the contrary. Think of how poorly engines played openings without an opening book until very recently, when the neural net engines came on the scene. How will an hour or two of a GM looking at an entirely new position on his own even begin to compare with the riches that have come from generations of the best minds spending countless hours exploring certain openings and pawn structures? It may be fresh and it may be fascinating, but it will also be incredibly shallow compared to standard chess.
Btw, this should not be construed as an anti-Chess960 comment. It's a fun variant, and it's not a bad training exercise, either. And I'm glad there's a separate Chess960 World Championship. I just want it to stay separate.