Dragons.

[zxcvbnm]

What if they both insist that you play the same color?

They would be Eurabatres and Abashi most likely, and I think Eurabatres would let me play what I want (he would win anyway) and Abashi would prefer black.

or if you play with a quick time control?

What does that affect?

 

[Ur_Vile_Wedge]

I'm assuming you're going to try the old trick of.......

Spoiler :

Playing one game as white and a second as black. Then you play your two opponents moves against each other, to the real effect that you're coordinating a game between the two of them, and not thinking of your own moves. But you still have to see one's move, go over to the other board, play it, and then wait for a response. Consequentially, you're going to be moving slower than your two opponents. If you're playing with say, a two minute time control, your flag is going to fall before both of your opponents, and then you lose both games.

 

[xienwolf]

And there is always the possibility you just annoy them and they argue over how to split you as a mid-game snack.

 

[Mewtarthio]

They would be Eurabatres and Abashi most likely, and I think Eurabatres would let me play what I want (he would win anyway) and Abashi would prefer black.

Yes, but Abashi is the dragon of Ceridwen, not to mention the hero of the Sheiam. I imagine she's pretty smart, as far as cunning plans go. She's probably already thought of this, and she wouldn't insist on black because she'd know that's exactly what you'd expect.

And then there's the problem of what you do after you pull this off. Eurabatres is the strongest of the dragons, and I imagine he'd win. Thus, Abashi is humiliated by her loss to a mere mortal, researches your power (remember, she's the ultimate weapon of Ceridwen, the Dimensional Angel), discovers your duplicity, and either eats you immediately or has her Sheiam buddies banish you to Hell.

If Eurabatres loses, it's not so bad. He seems like a nice guy, and he'd be too worried about the fact that Abashi is running around out there to concern himself with you. If you spread news of your victory in an attempt to humiliate the Gold Dragon, then you'd be torn to shreds by the Cultists, of course.

 

[Breunor]

I imagine that playing against Cardith Lorda is like playing against Magnus Carlsen. Only worse. More like a kid with a brain like Deep Thought and Gary Kasparov rolled into one. But the feeling would be the same. You're sitting across from this young fellah, thinking, "How the h*** did he do that?"

I always imagined the Gold dragon to be very calculating and incredibly intelligent.

I'm viewing that it is like playing Greco -- brilliant player, but without all of the chess books, opening knowledge, endgame knowledge, etc. So, he wouldn't be able to beat someone like Kasparov who played hours/day for years and years, but sorry Ur_Vile_Wedge, I don't think 1800 would take him (but you can take me)!

Best wishes,

Breunor

 

[Mewtarthio]

Since Eurabatres has been around since the Age of Dragons, isn't it possible that he's gone through all the opening/endgame theory through sheer brute force?

Okay, he spent the Ages of Magic and Ice floating around disembodied, but still, you can't overlook the immortality factor.

 

[Ur_Vile_Wedge]

But it says in Cardith's entry (or was it Eurabatre's) that the dragon was plotting a way to get back into Creation and continue the war. Somehow I doubt that chess skill would help that...... And can a dragon focus long enough on something like that? I love chess, but if I were to suddenly become immortal and have a vastly upgraded processing and memory functions, I would go nuts imediately studying chess for the next thousand or so years.

 

[Mewtarthio]

But it says in Cardith's entry (or was it Eurabatre's) that the dragon was plotting a way to get back into Creation and continue the war. Somehow I doubt that chess skill would help that......

True, but Cardith's entry also shows that Eurabatres plays chess semi-regularly--he knows the rules, and he's really good. He might have played the game as a pastime in the Age of Dragons when he wasn't fighting, or he may have simply picked it up during the Age of Rebirth. Even the latter gives him well over a human lifetime to learn the game, and we can assume he's got a pretty good memory, being the most powerful non-angelic creature in creation. That can all add up eventually.

Okay, we can only settle this with the official Word Of God. Kael, if you're reading this, what's Eurabatres's USCF rating?

And while I'm asking, what's Tebryn Arbandi's favorite ice cream flavor?

 

[Breunor]

True, but Cardith's entry also shows that Eurabatres plays chess semi-regularly--he knows the rules, and he's really good. He might have played the game as a pastime in the Age of Dragons when he wasn't fighting, or he may have simply picked it up during the Age of Rebirth. Even the latter gives him well over a human lifetime to learn the game, and we can assume he's got a pretty good memory, being the most powerful non-angelic creature in creation. That can all add up eventually.

Okay, we can only settle this with the official Word Of God. Kael, if you're reading this, what's Eurabatres's USCF rating?

And while I'm asking, what's Tebryn Arbandi's favorite ice cream flavor?

I'm just assuming that in this world, they don't have publishers putting out books, don't have modern printing presses, don't have people running around studying these things, don't have world tournaments and people recording the games, and don't have that many people publishing games on openings and endgames and even middle game technique.

So, even great players who devoted tremendous time to playing chess in Medieval or Renaissance periods just couldn't keep up with any modern players in terms of the developments of chess.

That's why I'm using Greco as a model. My suspicion is that as a pure talent, he's as good as Fischer or Kasparov, but he clearly just didn't have all of the tools available. Even if Greco lived for 200 years though, he just wouldn't have that kind of knowledge.

Best wishes,

Breunor

 

[Sofista]

Eutrabartes could simply appreciate all this, and insist on Fischerandom.

 

[Breunor]

Eutrabartes could simply appreciate all this, and insist on Fischerandom.

And if Eurabates wants to make up his own set of rules, who will argue with him?

Best wishes,

Breunor