Chess and puzzles

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Was reading this Guardian article from nearly a year ago:

Dig deep and think as hard as possible’ – the secrets of success in Scrabble, Sudoku, Jenga and more

It got me wondering about the overlap between chess players and puzzle afficionadoes. I know some of those that post here (and chess players in general) have an affinity with some other puzzles and games (e.g. those who compete at the Mind Sports Olympiad), but was wondering if anyone has found any of these other puzzles and games helpful for improving at chess?

The chess connection in the article, by the way, is at the bottom:

For those looking to find puzzles outside the standard fare, Freddie Hand, second-year Cambridge maths undergraduate and puzzles champion, recommends...

Freddie played in the most recent Varsity match (2023).

[Ian Thompson]

Was reading this Guardian article from nearly a year ago:

Dig deep and think as hard as possible’ – the secrets of success in Scrabble, Sudoku, Jenga and more

The chess connection in the article, by the way, is at the bottom:

... and in the middle. Good or bad advice from Jennifer Shahade on how to play chess - "Don’t spend too much time thinking when your opponent is playing, because “if then you’re wrong about your opponent’s move, your brain is going to be burned out”?"

[Kevin Thurlow]

In answer to Chris, I used to do (and occasionally compile) crosswords, now I rarely do them, but try to do sudoku - there are various YouTube channels for sudoku. "Cracking the Cryptic" tends to have difficult ones - a three-hour solve just appeared, but they do feature easier ones. "Bremster" and "Sudoku Sleuth" generally do less extreme ones. All these have the option for you to click a link and try the puzzle yourself. I have also played Scrabble, Magic the Gathering, and appeared on Countdown. Whether any of these help chess is another matter... Ironically, at work, the head of the Chemical Nomenclature Advisory Service was due to retire and the manager asked what sort of person they needed to replace him.

"Someone who does the Times crossword, likes problems etc."
"How about a chess player?"

So I got the job. Nomenclature is about pattern recognition and using rules to create systematic names for chemicals, and then extending the rules, when somebody makes a chemical that doesn't obey the normal rules. In fact I probably became much better at naming chemicals than I was at chess. It still didn't help chess, but I think all these problem-solving things will appeal to the same people.

[Joey Stewart]

So I got the job. Nomenclature is about pattern recognition and using rules to create systematic names for chemicals, and then extending the rules, when somebody makes a chemical that doesn't obey the normal rules. In fact I probably became much better at naming chemicals than I was at chess. It still didn't help chess, but I think all these problem-solving things will appeal to the same people.

I often wondered who came up with them, did you not find that those iupac naming systems start to break down very quickly once the molecules start to branch out and reach any level of complexity?

[Kevin Thurlow]

"I often wondered who came up with them, did you not find that those iupac naming systems start to break down very quickly once the molecules start to branch out and reach any level of complexity?"

Yes! I did a talk on our procedures at an IUPAC meeting, knowing that the audience included most of the people that had created the rules in the first place. Luckily, they seemed to agree that our approach extended their rules and didn't really break them. Also, at school you learn that one sodium reacts with one chlorine (sodium chloride, aka table salt), or one oxygen reacts with two hydrogens to form water, but then the reality is you frequently get three hydrogens and a positive charge and one oxygen...

But IUPAC does give you a systematic name, that is more use than trying to remember that something is Scheele's Green.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

When the Walls Were Painted With Poison

[Roland Kensdale]

When the Walls Were Painted With Poison

'Scheele’s Green was made by blending copper and oxygen with arsenic'

Napoleon was said to have died of arsenic poisoning, found by some analysis of hair samples I think. (Not googled).

[Richard Bates]

Was reading this Guardian article from nearly a year ago:

Dig deep and think as hard as possible’ – the secrets of success in Scrabble, Sudoku, Jenga and more

The chess connection in the article, by the way, is at the bottom:

... and in the middle. Good or bad advice from Jennifer Shahade on how to play chess - "Don’t spend too much time thinking when your opponent is playing, because “if then you’re wrong about your opponent’s move, your brain is going to be burned out”?"

I can’t remember who it was, but sensible sounding advice from one of the top players on chess “thinking” strategy was to use your own time for concrete calculation, and your opponent’s time for more general stuff (possible plans, threats/weaknesses, what the pawn structure means for endings (and is it generally beneficial to exchange pieces), what you’re going to have for dinner etc etc).

[Paul Cooksey]

I've seen that advice attributed to Botvinnik.

On the topic, I have played a lot of different games. I like learning a new game and the phase when you are improving quickly. But once it becomes difficult to improve, I generally revert to chess. I can't see any way they have benefited my chess. For me, the other way round, that the baseline game skills I have learned playing chess help with other games.

I'd also like to think I'm better at my job than chess. But there is a chance I'm just in a smaller field and objectively mediocre at that too. I'd have been happier if Kevin hadn't brought it up and made me consider it.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"I'd also like to think I'm better at my job than chess. But there is a chance I'm just in a smaller field and objectively mediocre at that too. I'd have been happier if Kevin hadn't brought it up and made me consider it."

Oh - sorry about that. I guess I would be about 2700 at naming chemicals at my peak, so my analogy was way off the mark.

[Mike Gunn]

I do about one Sudoku a day (generally out of the Times Fiendish or Super Fiendish books). Professionally (my work continues although retired) I write software to solve engineering problems and I enjoy debugging code. Neither of these activities has improved my chess, I think.