Watching Games between Stronger Players

Whenever I play online chess and I feel exhausted from playing several games, I switch to watching other players’ games especially when there are masters around. I don’t know, I just feel that I can learn a lot just by watching them and trying to see the idea behind their moves. Most of the time, it’s also just an entertaining thing to view, more so when they play in faster time controls.

I think kibitzing a game can also be a good learning opportunity for different kinds of players. When you are able to discuss and analyze the master games, it just opens up a whole lot of ideas that we probably would not have thought. Of course, it would be a lot easier for us to look at the game and see which moves would be best in the position since we can have engines running and give us suggestions.

And that’s where we see the tenacity, grit, and creativity of players as well as their mental strength since playing under time pressure puts a lot of stress on anyone and can be very exhausting. But I guess that’s the reason why it’s a lot more interesting to watch blitz or bullet games of masters online. Other than the fact that you will simply see pieces flying, there will be points of rest or breaks in between those automatic moves for them to think about the best strategy to use in the position.

I watched a few of death matches on Chess.com between masters as well as some other events that involved titled players competing for prize money. Objectively, I wouldn’t say that these games would show the extent of these masters’ abilities since these events have faster time controls. Furthermore, there are other factors that come into play like internet lag and the possibility of cheating, although I believe platforms like Chess.com have countermeasures and other detection methods to monitor fair play among participants.

Nonetheless, it is enjoyable to watch them since that would be the only time when I can catch them live. I think it is also better to just see them in their casual form without the pressure of having to compete for something. Seeing them just have fun while playing chess online makes me want to put in the effort so that I can do what they do.

Although, those guys are professionals so they have spent many hours just training over the board and looking up various lines to see how they can improve the outcome of a certain game. What I’m trying to say is that it would take me a lifetime to probably catch up with them unless I drop every other priority in life and simply focus all my time, energy, and resources to mastering chess.

In any case, this is just a random article that I wanted to write. You probably know this already but aside from talent, I think what sets chess masters apart from the rest of us casual players or enthusiasts is the fact that they live to play this game. And we can just sit back and watch them do what they do best. Still, there is value to simply being a spectator to the stars and that would be the chance to let them show us how their minds work and what their thought processes are during the match. Granted, computers do allow us to see a lot more about a position especially how to play it “perfectly” but I think it is better to see human ingenuity in full action.

It would be best if there would be more chess masters who would stream their games online and explain their thought process while they play the game. There are pros and cons to that. The obvious pros are that viewers can learn from how they tackle a certain position or how they come up with plans. The cons would be that they would not be able to fully concentrate on the match, thus possibly reducing the quality of their game. But it’s a balancing act so it depends on what their purpose is for streaming their games.

I haven’t really seen grandmasters play in real life however, while I was in college, I took up a chess class and our teacher was the coach in the university as well as a FIDE master. More than that, we were able to play against him so I think that is one of the best experiences I ever had in chess. But there was one time when he required us to spectate one of the tournaments in which our chess varsity team participated. And while the players were in the hall, the coaches were outside hustling each other.

All in all, I think we need to grab every opportunity that we can get to learn more about chess and other than playing and practicing, watching stronger players expands our perspective and helps us gain insight on various things about chess. It would be best if we can ask them about it but just the chance to see them play is a good enough experience that would help us improve in the game.