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| | | date = September 24, 2012 | | | date = September 24, 2012 |
| | | title = Think Logically | | | title = Think Logically |
| − | | image = think logically.png | + | | image = think_logically.png |
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| | | titletext = I've developed a more logical set of rules but the people on the chess community have a bunch of stupid emotional biases and won't reply to my posts. | | | titletext = I've developed a more logical set of rules but the people on the chess community have a bunch of stupid emotional biases and won't reply to my posts. |
| | }} | | }} |
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| | ==Explanation== | | ==Explanation== |
| − | {{w|Chess}} is a millennia-old board game in which two players take turns moving one of their 16 pieces to try and checkmate the other player's king (one of the pieces). When one player can capture their opponent's king on their next move, and the opponent has no legal move available to avoid such capture, the opponent is said to be in "checkmate", and by definition immediately loses.
| + | Chess is a very old board game in which two players take turns moving their 16 pieces, one at a time, to try and capture the other players king. The knight is a piece in chess that can only move in an L-shaped pattern, but compensates by being able to jump over other pieces. The comic highlights two mistakes players often make in chess: complete fixation on the king at the cost of their other pieces, and inability to take advantage of the knights movement patterns. |
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| − | The game, with origins around the sixth century and the modern rules being essentially set in the late 15th century, has a significant amount of history. The rules and traditions are well established. The knight is a piece that can only move in an L-shaped pattern (two squares in one direction, and one square perpendicular), but has the unique ability to jump over other pieces. | + | The comic is primarily a jab at competitive online games whose fans call for "buffs" (power additions) and "nerfs" (power reductions) to characters that they believe to be underpowered or overpowered, often with inadequate knowledge of those characters. The units in chess are widely agreed upon to be well balanced, and [[Cueball|Cueball's]] criticism of the knights show obvious lack of knowledge of the knights potential. His objections may also be rooted in his reluctance to admit defeat, which leads him to blame the game instead of his own skill or knowledge. |
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| − | The comic highlights two mistakes players often make in chess: complete fixation on the king at the cost of their other pieces, and failure to take advantage of the knight's movement patterns. At the same time, this is a jab at how people sometimes oversimplify an argument when confronted with a topic they are not familiar with. Previously this was depicted in [[675: Revolutionary]] and [[793: Physicists]]. See also the {{w|Dunning–Kruger effect}}. The units in chess are widely agreed to be well-balanced, and [[Cueball|Cueball's]] criticism of the knight shows an obvious lack of knowledge of the knight's potential.
| + | Cueball's friend proceeds to demonstrate Cueball's lack of knowledge by beating Cueball in four moves. |
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| − | Given the long history of chess, a significant amount of writing and research has been dedicated to the game and its strategies. This is inadvertently mocked by Cueball who naively suggests it would be trivial to list all situations in which a piece would move backwards (called a "retreat" in chess). Such a list — at least a partial one — certainly does exist, as do lists of numerous other chess moves and situations.
| + | The title text depicts Cueball trying to suggest revisions to the rules of chess and not understanding why his complaints are being ignored. |
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| − | [[Knit Cap]] proceeds to demonstrate Cueball's lack of knowledge by beating him in four moves, which typically would only occur when an experienced player plays a novice. The checkmate depicted is the {{w|Scholar's mate|scholar's mate}}, being a classic early-game checkmate in chess. It is extremely easy to defend against it (blocking the queen's vision of f7, without letting the queen take any of your pieces, would do), thus proving Cueball's inexperience. Scrutiny of the board suggests a scholar's mate, something along these lines (using chess algebraic notation): 1.e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Qh5 Nf6 4. Qxf7#.
| + | The checkmate depicted is likely the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholars_mate Scholar's Mate] and is the second shortest checkmate in chess. However, it could be a variation of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fool%27s_Mate Fool's Mate] with White winning instead of Black. |
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| − | Cueball, instead of admitting he underestimated the game, believes the failure is in the game itself. The title text indicates that Cueball attempted to suggest revisions to the rules of chess. Given that Cueball has no experience as a chess player, it is likely many of the changes are illogical or ridiculous. In the face of hundreds of years of history, it is not surprising that the chess community is ignoring them. The last major changes to the rules of chess occurred more than 400 years ago when, among other things, the pawn was given its two-space starting move and the queen was made into the most powerful piece (previously it was the weakest). The chess community's ties to the traditions of the game and their refusal to accept Cueball's suggestions are written off by Cueball as "{{w|emotional bias}}" suggesting his changes are logical, but that the community is letting their emotions cloud their rational decision making abilities, while in reality, it is he who is being affected. However, Cueball may feel better if he learns that lots of {{w|Chess variants|chess variants}} do exist out there.
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| − | The comic may also be a jab at competitive online games whose fans call for "buffs" (power additions) and "nerfs" (power reductions) to characters they believe to be underpowered or overpowered, often with inadequate knowledge of those characters. On the other hand, some online games and multiplayer computer games in general are unbalanced since they lack centuries of history to balance themselves, unlike chess.
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| − | [[Knit Cap]] is called ''knit hat guy'' in the [http://xkcd.com/1112/info.0.json official transcript]. There are two other cases (after this comic) where a person with hair has been shown with a knit cap. The first was [[Randall|Randall's]] wife after chemotherapy in [[1141: Two Years]] and the second time it was [[1350:_Lorenz#Knit_Cap|Knit Cap]] in [[1350: Lorenz]].
| + | At the same time this could be another jab at the oversimplification people sometimes show when confronted with a topic they are not familar with. Previously this was depicted in http://xkcd.com/675/ and http://xkcd.com/793/. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect . |
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| | ==Transcript== | | ==Transcript== |
| − | :[Knit Cap is sitting down at a computer touching the keyboard with one hand. Cueball is standing behind watching the screen.] | + | :[Man wearing a hat is sitting down at a computer. Cueball is standing behind him.] |
| − | :Laptop: ''*Move*'' | + | :Keyboard:''Move'' |
| | :Cueball: Why'd you move your knight away? | | :Cueball: Why'd you move your knight away? |
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| − | :[Knit Cap turns around and rests an arm on the chair looking at Cueball who holds out both arms.] | + | :[Man wearing hat turns around and rests his arm on his chair.] |
| | :Cueball: Just think ''logically''. The goal is checkmate, so you should always move pieces ''toward'' the other player's king. | | :Cueball: Just think ''logically''. The goal is checkmate, so you should always move pieces ''toward'' the other player's king. |
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| − | :[Closeup of Cueball holding a hand to his chin.] | + | :[Closeup of Cueball.] |
| − | :Cueball: I guess occasionally you need to move backward, but it'd be trivial to make a list of those circumstances and- | + | :Cueball: I guess occasionally you need to move backward, but it'd be trivial to make a list of those circumstances and - |
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| − | :[Knit Cap is leaning back in chair facing Cueball, panel is so slim that the lap top is not included.] | + | :[Man wearing hat is leaning back in chair facing Cueball.] |
| − | :Knit Cap: Have you ever ''played'' chess? | + | :Man: Have you ever ''played'' chess? |
| − | :Cueball: Not much, but— | + | :Cueball: Not much, but - |
| − | :Knit Cap: Wanna? | + | :Man: Wanna? |
| | :Cueball: Uh, ok. | | :Cueball: Uh, ok. |
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| − | :[Knit Cap sitting and Cueball standing is playing chess with a board standing between them on a very small table or a four legged stool. The board extends quite far out on either side. Their moves are indicated above with four by Knit Cap and three towards Cueball. It is clear both from this and from the pieces visible on the board that Knit Cap is playing white] | + | :[Man and Cueball playing chess.] |
| − | :<nowiki>*Move*</nowiki> | + | :Man: *Move* |
| − | : <font color="white">_____</font><nowiki>*Move*</nowiki> | + | :Cueball: *Move* |
| − | :<nowiki>*Move*</nowiki> | + | :Man: *Move* |
| − | : <font color="white">_____</font><nowiki>*Move*</nowiki> | + | :Cueball: *Move* |
| − | :<nowiki>*Move*</nowiki> | + | :Man: *Move* |
| − | : <font color="white">_____</font><nowiki>*Move*</nowiki> | + | :Cueball: *Move* |
| − | :<nowiki>*Move*</nowiki> | + | :Man: *Move* Checkmate. |
| − | :Knit Cap: Checkmate.
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| − | :[In a frameless panel Cueball is standing staring at the chess board, where there clearly are more pieces on his side of the board.] | + | :[Cueball standing and staring at the chess board.] |
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| − | :[Knit Cap has turned back to the laptop with both hands on the keyboard. Cueball is standing behind the chess board holding a finger up in the air.] | + | :[Man returns to his computer.] |
| | :Cueball: This game isn't very well-designed. For starters, knights are too weak... | | :Cueball: This game isn't very well-designed. For starters, knights are too weak... |
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| − | ==Trivia==
| + | {{comic discussion}} |
| − | This is the first xkcd comic featuring [[Knit Cap]].
| + | <!-- Include any categories below this line--> |
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| − | {{comic discussion}} | |
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| | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] |
| − | [[Category:Comics featuring Knit Cap]]
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| − | [[Category:Chess]]
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