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Reducing the draw percentage

Posted By: David Rockwell
Date: Monday, 10 December 2018, at 4:00 p.m.

In Response To: Reducing the draw percentage (Nack Ballard)

It is my opinion that the high percentage of draws in chess is a problem. It is detracting from the game not only at the highest level, but at lower levels as well. Most of my chess friends are Experts. Most of them are fearful of playing for a win at the expense of a smaller probability of losing the game. The exception to this are chess players who also play backgammon. A backgammon player is used to putting the game on the line with a risky play. I've tried to talk to my friends about the logic of increasing equity by playing for a win. I've never been successful.

In the article that Nack posted, the argument was made that the win of a single pawn would often be enough for victory. So what? In the three other games I play, draws are possible, but very unlikely. In Shogi (Japanese Chess) and Othello draws are less than 5%. I believe in Shogi it is 1% or 2% at the professional level. I've never had a draw as an amateur player in 30 years of play. And depending on the komi, the same is true of Go; there are draws on rare occasion. I see a game which is won based on a small advantage as a good thing.

The quality of Chess games is reduced by timid play spawned by the frequency of draws. Through time, this will hurt the game, especially as the superior Asian games of Go, Shogi and Xiangqi become known in Western cultures. I am acquainted with GM Larry Kaufman who once told me that he gave up Chess in favor of Shogi a few decades ago because of the frequency of draws. (He has since returned to Chess.) Chess will better stand the test of time if it reduces the frequencies of draws.

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