Yeah, agree, but in the setup you mentioned, 1.b3 and 1. b4 are both strong moves, because it basically forces the game to develop kingside from the get-go.
Seems the opening can get really sharp, or basically a race to bunker via 1.Nf3
Ironically the starting position that I've found to be the most balanced for black and white is just swapping the starting square of the bishops and knights.
It turns normally-sound opening moves like 1.d4 and 1.e4 into liabilities and emphasizes the knights as blocking material to occupy squares like d2 and e2 , but the tradeoff is that a early-developed bishop can get a lot more active centrally via an open wing.
Such a layout makes for a very cautious opening phase where neither side really feels comfortable giving up much material. Really a fascinating setup.
Chess960 would also be better if both sides were asymmetrical and there were novel positions for both players in every game.
I go to a chess event 2-3 times a month in the city where I live, and there are a few of us that are big into variants and play a lot of Bughouse, Crazyhouse, Racing Kings, etc. 960 is a bunch of fun but asymmetrical 960 is a blast, and asymmetrical Bughouse 960 / Crazyhouse 960 is the most fun and hard version of chess I've ever played. There is no theory, just pure tactics and reaction.
Probably many asymmetrical combinations are unfair to black. Maybe running through combinations and simulated games with a chess engine could identify ones that are fair, asymmetric and fun? Then a database could be built up of these combinations and it could be randomly selected to start your game.
Similar idea is randomized openings. Checkers does this already. TCEC does chess AI tournaments using sharp preselected openings (matchups playing 2 games, one of each color)
It's from a culture of people who cheat to get ahead, because they come from a society SO competitive, SO cutthroat, and SO obsessed with education & testing that cheating is encouraged and rewarded...because its rewarded in the workplace, in the broader economy (up to a point), and in the political body.
Of course, there's also the Chinese, who cheat because they are international students paying several multiples of the tuition and the university doesn't want to upset that gravy train in the wake of several federal funding cuts. Also because your rank-and-file Chinese students at most American colleges suck at speaking English so they, except in pure STEM, need to cheat in order to pass in the first place.
>90% is pretty good, and much higher than i expected.
Problem with that at scale is those that might skirt by within that 10% might one day be your doctor, your lawyer, or your accountant and you'd never know until it bit you in the ass.
>They would have gone absolutely ballistic- rightfully so
Sadly, I disagree here. They would have qualified their reaction by asking who would be in power. If it was a GOP held white house, they'd probably rationalize it and say it's good.
Partisanship rot goes very deep on the republican side. Granted, the democrats suck, but the republicans fall in line every time without question.
As someone who has a largely republican family, ironically they say the same thing: “the republicans suck, but the democrats fall in line every time without question.”
While a generalization has the flaws of being, well, a generalization; I've noticed that this trope is at least more true than not when you qualify what TYPE of Democrats and Republicans you're talking about.
I think one is true of the representatives - Democrat constituents generally fall in line without question; whereas I think the other is true of the people - Republican voters generally fall in line without question.
The rot is deep for the constituents on either side, however. There's a LOT of incentive to preserve party/ideological status quo regardless of where you land.
well, what do the facts say? Thinking back to the last powerful Dem politician to get in trouble, Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, I don't recall any outpouring of support from him from his colleagues or diehard Dem voters.
The judge and jury aren't stupid. A legitimate auction for a box would be very upfront about the box and would not start the description identically to one for a laptop.
I mean, if the words "box only" are in the product descriptor, then it's on the consumer to read the descriptor...especially if they are going to drop a few grand on something. And doubly especially if a product looks vastly under priced in comparison to buying the same item brand new from the manufacturer.
Again, is this predatory? Yes, absolutely. But you can only prevent stupidity so many times....
>...I am often bemused by the lack of political understanding of many westerners here...
It's not a lack of understanding, my friend, it's hubris.
I am from the US. There's a mindset that permeates through the west that somehow we are "better", because of our values, or our governmental systems, or our economic power, or our military power, or whatever. It is flawed.
We also have a rather naive and simplistic viewpoint that because we are "better", that our viewpoint is the correct one, and that people from non-western nations should just accept whatever we do because it's in their best interest. Oftentimes, though, that "best interest" is in the short-term capitalistic/economic interest of the actors from the West who in turn stand to profit handsomely from the setup they wish to impose on nations like Iran or Venezuela. There is no concern for human life, no concern for the economic or societal health longterm of the impacted countries, nor for the country's internal affairs.
This has cost us dearly over the years. Sadly, the irony here is that a lot of these countries have a very "westernized" populace who just want to control their own resources. If we weren't such assholes to them, they'd be on "our side" as opposed to the overractionary path they have taken.
He's also never gotten what drama addicts get as kids that kinda steers them in the right direction: someone to firmly tell him "no" and someone to kick him in the balls when he acts out.
Agree 100%, this whole thing was incredibly dumb from the beginning. Trump's dementia and ego will ruin (has ruined?) the US's standing in what was the former West. What a sad day to be alive.
Seems the opening can get really sharp, or basically a race to bunker via 1.Nf3
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