Chess and Keeping Your Poker
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Face When my kids were young and we were camping the kids loved to play poker in the evening. When 4 and 5 years old, my youngest Marc Griffin would giggle when dealt a good hand. I would say "keep your poker face!" and a horrible grimace would appear.
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Sometimes the most important thing a player has to do during a game is to keep our poker face. I can remember two games where this happened to me (as mentioned in my blunders essay): The late George O'Rourke and I had a late Friday night game and about hour five I was staring at his mate in about 7 moves. Sitting there Poker Face.....Poker Face. George was preoccupied with the queen side and missed it. I went on to win the game about hour six (about 1am.). BTW this was the last multi-day tournament that I ever commuted to, having missed my exit on the expressway driving home in the wee hours. Subsequently my wife makes me rent a room (advice: don't tell your SO about these things it will only make them worry). And in a game against my nemesis Mikhail Derazhne I had to sit there while he passed over a forced mate in about five. Later I went on to win the game.
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The situation where you realize you are in a lost position, but your opponent does not realize the fact, happens more often in games where a much stronger player is playing a weaker player. The stronger knows he messed up but the weaker player is oblivious to the fact. There have been times when I have been playing stronger players and if they take an inordinate amount of time, and I know I'm not in any type of danger, I take a real good look because sometimes it's my strong opponent who is trying to repair their position. Conversely: If you happen to be the stronger player and mess up, and your opponent doesn't realize it, often the dynamics in the position are there for you to win are greater because you haven't been punished, especially in the opening.
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This unbalanced in ability situation is very similar to a human playing a computer where the human unknowingly has a winning position. Because the computer's "chess horizon" is much further and deeper than that of the human, the only way it manifests itself to the human is when the computer starts sacrificing material to stop a combination the human hasn't figured out. It's an interesting phenomenon to experience. Fortunately you don't have to worry about keeping you poker face when playing a computer. And I always turn the wiseguy type remarks off as I hate being teased by personified machines. Kind of aggravating like the elevator in Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
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Do you have poker face or chess computer stories?
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Please Comment.
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Thank You,
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Mike Griffin
04/01/2009
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Face When my kids were young and we were camping the kids loved to play poker in the evening. When 4 and 5 years old, my youngest Marc Griffin would giggle when dealt a good hand. I would say "keep your poker face!" and a horrible grimace would appear.
.
Sometimes the most important thing a player has to do during a game is to keep our poker face. I can remember two games where this happened to me (as mentioned in my blunders essay): The late George O'Rourke and I had a late Friday night game and about hour five I was staring at his mate in about 7 moves. Sitting there Poker Face.....Poker Face. George was preoccupied with the queen side and missed it. I went on to win the game about hour six (about 1am.). BTW this was the last multi-day tournament that I ever commuted to, having missed my exit on the expressway driving home in the wee hours. Subsequently my wife makes me rent a room (advice: don't tell your SO about these things it will only make them worry). And in a game against my nemesis Mikhail Derazhne I had to sit there while he passed over a forced mate in about five. Later I went on to win the game.
.
The situation where you realize you are in a lost position, but your opponent does not realize the fact, happens more often in games where a much stronger player is playing a weaker player. The stronger knows he messed up but the weaker player is oblivious to the fact. There have been times when I have been playing stronger players and if they take an inordinate amount of time, and I know I'm not in any type of danger, I take a real good look because sometimes it's my strong opponent who is trying to repair their position. Conversely: If you happen to be the stronger player and mess up, and your opponent doesn't realize it, often the dynamics in the position are there for you to win are greater because you haven't been punished, especially in the opening.
.
This unbalanced in ability situation is very similar to a human playing a computer where the human unknowingly has a winning position. Because the computer's "chess horizon" is much further and deeper than that of the human, the only way it manifests itself to the human is when the computer starts sacrificing material to stop a combination the human hasn't figured out. It's an interesting phenomenon to experience. Fortunately you don't have to worry about keeping you poker face when playing a computer. And I always turn the wiseguy type remarks off as I hate being teased by personified machines. Kind of aggravating like the elevator in Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
.
Do you have poker face or chess computer stories?
.
Please Comment.
.
Thank You,
.
Mike Griffin
04/01/2009
I have a terrible poker face. I'm convinced my opponent can always tell what I'm thinking. For a while I took to wearing a baseball cap, pulling it way down to hide my expression. Needless to say my results went up dramatically. However... There was this one time at the NY Open, Dzindzi got so upset with me that he waved his hand across the board as if to say "get that hat out of my way". And it was my turn to move! The other incident was some CCA event when Alexander Ivanov started making faces at me over the board. I was mortified, put the hat away (maybe I waited 'til the end of the tournament, I don't really remember), and haven't used one since.Here's a couple Jason didn't mention. (Sorry I don't have any catchy labels for these.)(4) When your opponent makes a move, thinks for a second, and then gets up suddenly -- look for a blunder. He is probably leaving the board so as not to "give away" the mistake.(5) If your opponent is bald, watch the top of his head. It will glow like a lightbulb when he realizes he made a blunder.
an ordinary chessplayer
04.01.09 - 5:59 pm #
Problem solved!
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