Talk:232: Chess Enlightenment

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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I actually think that the title-text is a reference to the movie "Searching for Bobby Ficher, where Ficher's coach teaches him to play chess by sweeping all the pieces onto the floor. 174.31.180.218 20:43, 21 August 2013 (UTC)PassiveDemoralizer

Why does the explanation even have a portion of a summary of the rules of chess? It's not really important to the understanding of the comic, and I don't see any other reason for its inclusion. ISaveXKCDpapers (talk) 23:03, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

Because the voice in Cueball's head specifically asks how the Pawns move. Argis13 (talk) 14:25, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

The reason why you can't have "chess enlightenment" is that chess is a non- insight problem in the first place. Granted, a seasoned player will have insights, but even so, you must always check your ideas with a lot of hard calculation. That being said, almost all masters are good at calculating fairly long sequences in their head (although they don't really sweep the pieces off the board - dramatic as it is, it would be illegal). Many find it even easier this way, because in the long run it is inconvenient to keep your eyes rolling over the board.