#Chess

Inspired while watching videos about AlphaZero.

As a thought experiment, imagine that each piece is an investment, with the potential of certain pieces to be multiple times their initial value. A knight or bishop, normally worth 3 points may in time become +9 points during a game, such as the famous ‘octopus knight’ in game 16 of the world chess championship, where Karpov was forced to exchange a knight with his queen.

The sacrifice of a low functioning material such as out of place pawn or rook, doesn’t mean much if the overall portfolio is valued at a greater level.

In this sense, clarification of the position, and purifying the value of the greatest returning pieces eventually becomes the objective of the game. All irrelevant pieces fall to the wayside during the closure of the middle game period.

This is of course a known element of the game, material vs dynamic/time compensation.

When viewing through the lens of finance, as a portfolio, it does become easier to sacrifice material in my opinion. Understanding that it is improving the value of the portfolio overall and that clarifying existing pieces can create multiples (as it does for investments).

Cheers

Continue Reading →