The Psychology of Chess

Do you need to be a genius to be good at chess? What does it take to become a Grandmaster? Can computer programmes beat human intuition in gameplay?The Psychology of Chess is an insightful overview of the roles of intelligence, expertise, and human intuition in playing this complex and ancient game. The book explores the idea of 'practice makes perfect', alongside accounts of why men perform better than women in international rankings, and why chess has become synonymous with extreme intelligence as well as madness.When artificial intelligence researchers are increasingly studying chess to develop machine learning, The Psychology of Chess shows us how much it has already taught us about the human mind.

Autorentext

Fernand Gobet is Professor of Psychological Sciences at the University of Liverpool, UK. He is a chess International Master, and played numerous times for the Swiss national team.

Inhalt

Preface

Acknowledgements

• Opening

• The eye of the master

• Chunks!

• The best move

• Practice makes (almost) perfect

• Men vs. women

• Style and intuition

• Errare humanum est

• Psychological warfare and training techniques

• Playing the opponent

• Theoretical novelties

• Increasing the psychological pressure

• Outright cheating

• How to progress - From beginner to candidate master

• How to progress - From candidate master to grandmaster

• Suggested readings

• The magic bullet?

• Costs of playing chess

• Endgame