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Top Ranked Chess Player Getting into SC2

Blogs > Jau
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Jau
Profile Blog Joined December 2011
United States4 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-01-05 02:52:21
December 29 2011 16:29 GMT
#1
Hey Team Liquid! Here is a post I made on Reddit a little less than a month ago. I feel like it serves as a good introduction to who I am and what my goals are

http://www.reddit.com/r/starcraft/comments/mv2dl/top_ranked_chess_player_getting_into_starcraft_i/

A little about myself... My name is Evan Ju. I am 20, in college, and I've been playing chess all my life. I have a huge passion for chess and I am a proud nerd-baller. I have represented the United States in international chess tournaments around the world and have been top ranked in the country for my age ever since I was 10. If you're curious about some of my other chess accomplishments..please follow this link : http://www.chess.com/members/view/Eilyisum
Anyways, and more importantly, I have recently really gotten into Starcraft II. I followed Stephano's tear at IPL Atlantic City (especially his loss in g2 against KiwiKaki gave me nerd chills) and Leenok's magical run at the recent MLG Providence. I remember being glued to my computer watching the live streams of those tournaments for nearly the entirety of those two weekends.

Until now, I have been simply happy and content watching the likes of Huk's top 3 control, the Day9 Daily, Destiny's Stream, reading sc2jokeexplainer, and etc. However, I now really want to try my own hand in playing SC2. There are obvious parallels between chess and Starcraft...strategy being the backbone of both games. However, chess is purely a strategical and psychological game, while Starcraft has the added element of keyboard speed and mechanics. Furthermore, chess is a game of perfect information, starcraft is not.

Basically, I am curious to see if my skills in chess can translate over to starcraft 2. Although SC2 is my first serious RTS game, I believe my ability to think strategically and my study habits/work discipline from playing international tournament chess are very applicable (professional chess training and Starcraft 2 Pro training methods are very similar).

I have been playing for about 2 weeks and am currently a platinum level zerg. From here on I plan on playing 2-4 hours a day to see if I can make the jump to diamond, masters, and then grandmasters!

One of the best parts of SC2 in my opinion is the community behind it. There is a sense of togetherness and support that frankly is not felt nearly as much among the chess community. I would greatly appreciate all of your guys' support as I continue my journey and plunge into the starcraft world . My stream is www.twitch.tv/evanju

TLDR: Top ranked chess player also trying to become a top SC2 player. If you are interested in following my progress, liking my page helps me tons and I would greatly appreciate it. Come check out my stream if you have the chance Thanks!

From this point on, I will be blogging about my whole SC2 transition/experience/journey here on team liquid whenever I have the chance. Thanks for your time and support. Happy holidays!
http://www.teamliquid.net/blog/EvanJu

Best,
Evan Ju (Jau)

[Edit]: My Account: http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/profile/3284380/1/Jau/

www.facebook.com/evanju1
www.twitch.tv/evanju
www.twitter.com/evan_ju
www.youtube.com/juevand


***
dasanivan
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States532 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-12-29 16:40:23
December 29 2011 16:37 GMT
#2
Hi Evan, and welcome to tl I don't know much about chess, but since you're #1 on chess.com you must be pretty smart. I wonder how far you'd go if your mechanics were just as good as your strategic approach.
Newbistic
Profile Blog Joined August 2006
China2912 Posts
December 29 2011 16:41 GMT
#3
Good luck dude. Will be keeping an eye out for your name in future tournaments.
Logic is Overrated
GMarshal
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States22154 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-12-29 16:42:42
December 29 2011 16:41 GMT
#4
This looks like a shameless plug of your twitter/fb/stream to me.

Rather than writing a blog about yourself,make it to GM and then write a reflection about how your chess experience parallels your sc2 experience or something, as is, this is a shameless plug of yourself, when you have yet to do anything to merit it. This has the potential to be fascinating, but you've yet to demonstrate that.

Rather than asking what the community can do for you, demonstrate that you can do something for the community, and then ask for people to subscribe to your twitter or whatever.

Best of luck.
Moderator
niteReloaded
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
Croatia5281 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-12-29 16:45:52
December 29 2011 16:44 GMT
#5
Welcome,

It's good that you're shooting high from the get-go, but try to keep a humble attitude because this game was never about talent, but about sick amounts of practice. (TLO, Tyler, Ret are examples) If you've practiced enough, then talent decides whether you're be able to win top tournaments or not.

Looking forward to tracking your progress, gl
dasanivan
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States532 Posts
December 29 2011 16:45 GMT
#6
On December 30 2011 01:41 GMarshal wrote:
This looks like a shameless plug of your twitter/fb/stream to me.

Best of luck.


I'd agree with you if there was nothing for the community to gain, but I have to say I've had a lot of curiosity about chess players. this is sort of another chance for me to see a chess mind + starcraft, so i wouldn't mind following his progress.
Cambium
Profile Blog Joined June 2004
United States16368 Posts
December 29 2011 16:48 GMT
#7
Good luck.

Just a heads up: your expertise in critical thinking will only help you once you reach a fairly high level, before that, it's mostly mechanics.
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
Probe1
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States17920 Posts
December 29 2011 16:48 GMT
#8
You know what would be more interesting? If you would link your account so we could check where you're at. Platinum is a good start, a lot better than some quasi-going pro blogs. But it'd be nice to check back and see without having to watch your stream.

I believe my ability to think strategically and my study habits/work discipline

I believe you'll find the latter vastly more useful than the former. Analogies to chess are always drawn about starcraft but what will really be a boon is diligent practice and learning habits.
우정호 KT_VIOLET 1988 - 2012 While we are postponing, life speeds by
Shai
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Canada806 Posts
December 29 2011 16:49 GMT
#9
Actually I'd love to watch him learn. I don't think it's fair to say "get to GM then I'll care" in this situation. This here is a good study on how chess skills translate to SC2 and in what way.
Eagerly awaiting Techies.
Jau
Profile Blog Joined December 2011
United States4 Posts
December 29 2011 16:50 GMT
#10
@GMarshal

I can see why you think it is a shameless plug, it really isn't though. I hadn't originally planned to stream until I was at least master's strength. However, people requested that I stream the journey to grandmaster (if I could even ever get there). In many respects, they said the journey from bronze to GM (from the point of view of a strong chess player) is more interesting to watch than actually getting GM itself.

I also realize that I may never get masters or GM, but it doesn't hurt to set myself high standards/goals. I've been doing that my whole life
GMarshal
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States22154 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-12-29 17:00:21
December 29 2011 16:57 GMT
#11
On December 30 2011 01:50 Jau wrote:
@GMarshal

I can see why you think it is a shameless plug, it really isn't though. I hadn't originally planned to stream until I was at least master's strength. However, people requested that I stream the journey to grandmaster (if I could even ever get there). In many respects, they said the journey from bronze to GM (from the point of view of a strong chess player) is more interesting to watch than actually getting GM itself.

I also realize that I may never get masters or GM, but it doesn't hurt to set myself high standards/goals. I've been doing that my whole life

I don't particularly mind that you link your stream, or that you choose to chronicle your journey, and if anyone on TL supports lofty goals, its me, it just irked me that you decided to also include your twitter and your facebook. I don't know, maybe its the cynic in me, but whenever I see a blog that includes a bunch of plugs I get the feeling that the person cares more about their own advancement than about enjoying the game or helping the community, and I've always felt like that kind of personality has an overall negative effect, which is why I always call people out on it. If the intent is to keep your viewership up to date (and clearly there are people interested) then I suppose its ok.

Either way, its not a huge deal, but I felt the need to comment on it.

As I said, good luck on your attempts to climb the ladder.
Moderator
ZERG_RUSSIAN
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
10417 Posts
December 29 2011 17:09 GMT
#12
On December 30 2011 01:57 GMarshal wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 30 2011 01:50 Jau wrote:
@GMarshal

I can see why you think it is a shameless plug, it really isn't though. I hadn't originally planned to stream until I was at least master's strength. However, people requested that I stream the journey to grandmaster (if I could even ever get there). In many respects, they said the journey from bronze to GM (from the point of view of a strong chess player) is more interesting to watch than actually getting GM itself.

I also realize that I may never get masters or GM, but it doesn't hurt to set myself high standards/goals. I've been doing that my whole life

I don't particularly mind that you link your stream, or that you choose to chronicle your journey, and if anyone on TL supports lofty goals, its me, it just irked me that you decided to also include your twitter and your facebook. I don't know, maybe its the cynic in me, but whenever I see a blog that includes a bunch of plugs I get the feeling that the person cares more about their own advancement than about enjoying the game or helping the community, and I've always felt like that kind of personality has an overall negative effect, which is why I always call people out on it. If the intent is to keep your viewership up to date (and clearly there are people interested) then I suppose its ok.

Either way, its not a huge deal, but I felt the need to comment on it.

As I said, good luck on your attempts to climb the ladder.

Why does someone caring about their own advancement irk you so much?
I'm on GOLD CHAIN
Jau
Profile Blog Joined December 2011
United States4 Posts
December 29 2011 17:09 GMT
#13
I have made some edits to the blog with your guys' comments in mind. Thanks for the feedback so far
Probe1
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States17920 Posts
December 29 2011 17:22 GMT
#14
Good luck Jau. Thank you for linking your account. That tells me a lot about how serious you are at the moment and when I check back in 3 days to see if you've laddered since now.

On December 30 2011 02:09 ZERG_RUSSIAN wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 30 2011 01:57 GMarshal wrote:
On December 30 2011 01:50 Jau wrote:
@GMarshal

I can see why you think it is a shameless plug, it really isn't though. I hadn't originally planned to stream until I was at least master's strength. However, people requested that I stream the journey to grandmaster (if I could even ever get there). In many respects, they said the journey from bronze to GM (from the point of view of a strong chess player) is more interesting to watch than actually getting GM itself.

I also realize that I may never get masters or GM, but it doesn't hurt to set myself high standards/goals. I've been doing that my whole life

I don't particularly mind that you link your stream, or that you choose to chronicle your journey, and if anyone on TL supports lofty goals, its me, it just irked me that you decided to also include your twitter and your facebook. I don't know, maybe its the cynic in me, but whenever I see a blog that includes a bunch of plugs I get the feeling that the person cares more about their own advancement than about enjoying the game or helping the community, and I've always felt like that kind of personality has an overall negative effect, which is why I always call people out on it. If the intent is to keep your viewership up to date (and clearly there are people interested) then I suppose its ok.

Either way, its not a huge deal, but I felt the need to comment on it.

As I said, good luck on your attempts to climb the ladder.

Why does someone caring about their own advancement irk you so much?

I'm surprised you can't answer that for yourself since you've been here so long. How many blogs have you seen come and go; how many new users have you seen claim they're going pro/grandmaster B+ A going to korea being picked up by a korean team et cetera.

It's tiring and numbing. Anyone that claims to be heading to GM is put under much more scrutiny than someone that just does it. I don't remember Ver ever making a post about it but he made GM last season. Fuck, I play team games with him and he never mentioned it until I noticed one day.

People that achieve results rarely chronicle them before they happen.


That being said, good luck Jau. You have quite a way to go and a lot of practice.
우정호 KT_VIOLET 1988 - 2012 While we are postponing, life speeds by
GMarshal
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States22154 Posts
December 29 2011 17:24 GMT
#15
On December 30 2011 02:09 ZERG_RUSSIAN wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 30 2011 01:57 GMarshal wrote:
On December 30 2011 01:50 Jau wrote:
@GMarshal

I can see why you think it is a shameless plug, it really isn't though. I hadn't originally planned to stream until I was at least master's strength. However, people requested that I stream the journey to grandmaster (if I could even ever get there). In many respects, they said the journey from bronze to GM (from the point of view of a strong chess player) is more interesting to watch than actually getting GM itself.

I also realize that I may never get masters or GM, but it doesn't hurt to set myself high standards/goals. I've been doing that my whole life

I don't particularly mind that you link your stream, or that you choose to chronicle your journey, and if anyone on TL supports lofty goals, its me, it just irked me that you decided to also include your twitter and your facebook. I don't know, maybe its the cynic in me, but whenever I see a blog that includes a bunch of plugs I get the feeling that the person cares more about their own advancement than about enjoying the game or helping the community, and I've always felt like that kind of personality has an overall negative effect, which is why I always call people out on it. If the intent is to keep your viewership up to date (and clearly there are people interested) then I suppose its ok.

Either way, its not a huge deal, but I felt the need to comment on it.

As I said, good luck on your attempts to climb the ladder.

Why does someone caring about their own advancement irk you so much?

Teamliquid was built on basically selfless people contributing for the sake of contributing towards a game and community they love. People like Zatic who uploaded thousands of VODs because someone had to do it, or R1CH coding the site so we would have somewhere to hang out. People who are in it for themselves never end up contributing, or do so only tangentially, when it benefits them. Those kinds of people are not good for us as a community, because they almost always leach on the efforts of those who do give up selflessly, and then do whatever benefits them most.

Caring for your own advancement is fine, its unnatural not to, but TL is a powerful thing, and only those who have earned it should be able to reap the benefits of using it as a personal army of sorts. As a rule of thumb I do my best to help anyone from TL who asks for it, but when someone who has done nothing and has nothing to show comes in asking for things, which he has not earned, I get annoyed. Not saying that this is necessarily the case here, but that is why people who care only for their own advancement irk me. If someone like, say Incontrol who has busted his chops for us, comes and says "hey guys, vote for me in this contest!" or "subscribe to my twitter!" you can bet I will, if XxxXRaNdOmNooBXxxX who has 3 posts and are all about his stream shows up and says "hey guys, vote for me in this contest plz!" you can bet I'm going to call him out.

That said, it doesn't totally apply here, since it seems like this is a stream that is of general interest to the community and people want to follow it.

I don't want to keep derailing this thread, so if you want to ask anything else, or rebuff my arguments, feel free to shoot me a PM.
Moderator
Itsmedudeman
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States19229 Posts
December 29 2011 17:34 GMT
#16
This seems so silly to me. No matter how dumbed down sc2 is to sc1, mechanical skills always comes before strategy.
Mothra
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
United States1448 Posts
December 29 2011 17:35 GMT
#17
Well I for one am interested in seeing how the chess discipline/training skills transfer over to starcraft. You don't run across master level chess players every day, that's pretty high skill level. I notice the guy is streaming blitz chess too, which could be fun. Good luck.
Fnatic NoVa
Profile Joined November 2010
Germany16 Posts
December 29 2011 17:36 GMT
#18
I'll follow your way - this looks pretty interesting to me
no pain, no gain!
Kickboxer
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Slovenia1308 Posts
December 29 2011 17:48 GMT
#19
I'm genuinely interested if you manage to become any good.
Probe1
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States17920 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-12-29 17:53:32
December 29 2011 17:52 GMT
#20
On December 30 2011 02:34 Itsmedudeman wrote:
This seems so silly to me. No matter how dumbed down sc2 is to sc1, mechanical skills always comes before strategy.

That's why I said the practice at practice: the experience in studying and practicing will be more useful than what exact background you came from. If you have the determination to study and practice until you become the best, you can do it in other things as well.

But yeah, I doubt if it was chess or any other activity that is mentally oriented there would be much difference.
우정호 KT_VIOLET 1988 - 2012 While we are postponing, life speeds by
Zeke50100
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States2220 Posts
December 29 2011 17:55 GMT
#21
On December 30 2011 02:34 Itsmedudeman wrote:
This seems so silly to me. No matter how dumbed down sc2 is to sc1, mechanical skills always comes before strategy.


Keep in mind that something like BW has been studied for quite a bit longer than SC2. While it may be true that (barring some ridiculous, miracle discovery regarding strategy) BW would be all about mechanics because most of the strategy stuff has already been explored, something like SC2, which is relatively new, still has room for growth in the strategy department. I'm interested to see if people will be able to break the current barriers of strategy. Of course mechanics are important, but we'll be the judge of that later

Good luck in your journey. You'll definitely need to be caught up-to-speed on the mechanics of RTS games, which will take quite a bit of work.
Lw247_
Profile Joined December 2011
38 Posts
December 29 2011 17:57 GMT
#22
Chess huh... interesting, shogi & go player here haha :-) (& a bw player since '98).

Anyways, don't forget it's still a different thing than chess but.. at some points your chess experience will make things easier for you, you'll see/figure out what I mean by that
Itsmedudeman
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States19229 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-12-29 18:09:12
December 29 2011 18:08 GMT
#23
On December 30 2011 02:52 Probe1 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 30 2011 02:34 Itsmedudeman wrote:
This seems so silly to me. No matter how dumbed down sc2 is to sc1, mechanical skills always comes before strategy.

That's why I said the practice at practice: the experience in studying and practicing will be more useful than what exact background you came from. If you have the determination to study and practice until you become the best, you can do it in other things as well.

But yeah, I doubt if it was chess or any other activity that is mentally oriented there would be much difference.

Yeah, but then factor in the fact that everyone has been going at it a lot more rigorously for years and years. 2-4 hours won't cut it as long as I'm assuming correctly in thinking that this is about reaching a level higher than simply masters or high masters (in which case it holds no meaning unless you reach masters in about a month's time imo). Having the skillsets and work ethic/talent to reach a very high level of competition certainly means something, but it doesn't sound like he's applying it here in sc2.
Marou
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Germany1371 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-12-29 18:19:36
December 29 2011 18:17 GMT
#24
Hej welcome to TL,

As a lot of people said, the willing to practice and the ability to understand your mistakes (and correct them) are the main things that you can translate from chess to SC2.
As we use to say : Good luck and have fun (and as long as the fun is there, practicing should not be a problem).

2 to 4 hours a day is enough to reach top masters, and maybe grandmasters on NA if you are somewhat talented and learn very fast. I think your main challenge to get to those levels will be to get your mechanics on par, and there is only one way : practice ! More games!

Also people complaining about this blog being a shameless plug, well...this is a blog, really people why being so mean towards a new member that had the decency of posting this in the blog section rather than the SC2 General like most newcomers would do T____T
twitter@RickyMarou
Chef
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
10810 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-12-29 19:01:36
December 29 2011 18:59 GMT
#25
gl

I think the only parallel between Chess and StarCraft is going to be dedication and commitment to learning the game. SC2 may be a bit more like Chess than BW, but Go is way more useful for both. Chess almost doesn't have a concept of territory (not really, not in the same way). Unit positioning? Seeing gaps in defences? Maybe.

I don't really know what your Chess rank means. You should explain it in layman's terms. Ok, you are the best at your age... But how are you compared to a Grand Master? That is the only term most people know about Chess, to be honest. Grand Master = good and makes money. Everyone else... Can kick my ass, but who cares?

I also think your goals are a little high. You are deciding that you will be able to get to the highest level, and maybe you will, but maybe you should see if this game even retains your interest for that long. Maybe you should try to be humble and let other people decide their expectations of you It's indeed interesting to see a successful chess player try a video game, but right now your op has no content, not even a video of you playing the game. It is just the promise on content, which on the internet, is empty. Let us know when you have content, and not a moment sooner.

Regardless, it's not something unforgivable. Just make sure the next time you post we able able to see you play. Commentate about what similarities you're finding between the games. If it looks like you have a very average style and mediocre skill, then this will have been a lot of build up for nothing. "Platinum" sounds like a valuable metal, but as an SC2 rank it is pretty boring. I want to see someone with 20 apm beating people thru pure strategy. That's what I expect of you.
LEGEND!! LEGEND!!
Mr. Black
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
United States470 Posts
December 29 2011 19:12 GMT
#26
This is interesting to me -- I have wondered if chess talent would translate. I believe that it will very well. The converse holds true for me at least -- I am terribad at chess and starcraft (this is a joke -- obviously this is meaningless).

Although the games are very different, I believe the ability to analyze losses and strengthen weaknesses that comes from competitive chess will make for your rapid advancement.

Honestly, I think anyone who is a top contender in ANY activity has a leg up on us more casual types.

If you keep posting, I'll keep reading. Also, make your goals whatever you want. The old TL types definitely have a good point about the "I'm silver, next stop grandmaster" posts that inundate TL, but I think your competitive history gives you a good premise. Having more content will help you out though...
Make more anything.
Arthemesia
Profile Joined May 2011
United States292 Posts
December 29 2011 19:46 GMT
#27
Good luck man, you should do well. It's a matter of learning the game well and applying all that you've learned in many different situations like chess. You should consider posting perhaps some chess videos as well. TL has a good amount of chess players or people interested in chess. People who are gonna watch you and are interested are going to most likely be people who play chess as well. Hope you do well and have fun
Apaquin
Profile Joined June 2011
United States27 Posts
December 29 2011 22:53 GMT
#28
One thing to note about starting to play sc2 that will save you a huge amount of time in the future: use custom hotkeys from the very start. One really needs to have their overall keyboard mechanics planned out or risk losing time relearning different keyboard strokes in the future. I can say with 100% certainty that the standard hotkey profiles available on battle.net are not perfectly suited for anyone.

Keyboard and mouse mechanics are the lowest level of personal style in sc2. Its crucial that the hotkey setup works harmoniously with one's style. And by style we're still referring to keyboard and mouse mechanics only. And perhaps instead of getting into such a rigid set of hotkeys and sticking solely to them, maybe one should think about having an amorphous hotkey setup. One could practice different styles with different hotkey setups. I'm actually quite sure some players will be doing so in the future, if they aren't already. Using modified hotkey setups for certain play styles could make some play styles more efficient in terms of keystrokes and easier to manage for the player.

I've been changing my hotkeys continuously since the beta. And I don't mean minor cosmetic changes either. But I've changed it so regularly that when I make a moderate change, I will only make a mistake 2 or 3 times before integrating it into my play. My hotkey setup works for multiple situations but I haven't mastered the basic level of control I want, so I haven't specialized hotkeys for specific situations yet. I do use different parts of my hotkeys in different ways in different match ups vs different units though. Its HARD to remember all the separate actions at first but you get used to it. I don't even play that much. One has to create something that feels good and natural to the hands, is easy to remember, efficient, and quick.
ha
Recognizable
Profile Blog Joined December 2011
Netherlands1552 Posts
December 29 2011 23:10 GMT
#29
I hope you picked protoss because as a chess player I can see your tolerance level to extreme bullshit be lower then as non-chess players. I figure when you lose in chess it's because you fucked up. Not because some dude decided blink stalker all in and you couldn't scout it. Also, Starcraft is mainly a game of mechanics. The strategy part is really easy and basically comes down to. He has taken his gas at this time so you can cross off lists in your head what strategy is doing. Or you see this and this building so you can cross off this and this *Insert random BO*
Divinek
Profile Blog Joined November 2006
Canada4045 Posts
December 30 2011 01:00 GMT
#30
On December 30 2011 08:10 Recognizable wrote:
I hope you picked protoss because as a chess player I can see your tolerance level to extreme bullshit be lower then as non-chess players. I figure when you lose in chess it's because you fucked up. Not because some dude decided blink stalker all in and you couldn't scout it. Also, Starcraft is mainly a game of mechanics. The strategy part is really easy and basically comes down to. He has taken his gas at this time so you can cross off lists in your head what strategy is doing. Or you see this and this building so you can cross off this and this *Insert random BO*


The strategy part is not really easy, I don't know what game you're playing. If you watch anyone who is truly good at this game you can see just how difficult the strategy aspect of this game can be
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
Oh goodness me, FOX tv where do you get your sight? Can't you keep track, the puck is black. That's why the ice is white.
RevTiberius
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
Canada353 Posts
December 30 2011 01:02 GMT
#31
Good luck buddy! I have an ELO rating of about 2250, or used to, when I was playing actively. I don't think there are any noteworthy similarities between chess and SC2. Good luck!
Teaching Chess to a Starcraft 2 Grandmaster: http://revtiberius.blogspot.ca
whatthefat
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States918 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-12-30 01:17:15
December 30 2011 01:15 GMT
#32
On December 30 2011 03:59 Chef wrote:
I don't really know what your Chess rank means. You should explain it in layman's terms. Ok, you are the best at your age... But how are you compared to a Grand Master? That is the only term most people know about Chess, to be honest. Grand Master = good and makes money. Everyone else... Can kick my ass, but who cares?

Going by his FIDE record, his Elo rating is 2283. To give an idea of where that stands:

<1000 Complete beginner
1000-1500 Novice
1500-2000 Club level
2000-2200 Expert
2200-2400 Candidate Master
2400-2500 International Master
2500-2600 Grandmaster
2600-2700 Top 200
2700-2800 Top 50
2826 Current #1

In the Elo scheme, a difference of 400 points means the higher rated player is expected to lose about 1 game in 10. Keep in mind, getting above 2000 usually takes several years of work, but the skill differential from there to the world's best is enormous. In other words, he's pretty damn good (around #10,000 in the world).
SlayerS_BoxeR: "I always feel sorry towards Greg (Grack?) T_T"
HardMacro
Profile Blog Joined September 2011
Canada361 Posts
December 30 2011 01:21 GMT
#33
Awesome, looking forward to the result of this experiment!

2 factors will be noted:

- How well chess training/skills translate into SC2 strategy mastery.

- How much mechanical skills disadvantage (you are starting quite late) you can negate with strategic superiority.

Also, I think you would, for lack of a better term, rape face in turn-based strategy games, but the real-time element in SC takes away importance from the brain to the hands and eyes. You will not be in any position to create AND execute new meta-game shifting builds anytime soon, so your play will still be largely limited to the current meta-game. You'll probably hit high masters or maybe even GM once you've had enough practice (assuming you have at least average mechanical skill ceiling), but that's where cheese mostly stops working and people simply win by being faster and more efficient, having better multitasking and micro. None of which have any real relevance to chess.

This is just my predication though, good luck. Lastly, the poster on the first page was right, this does seem a bit self-promotional asking for things without giving anything in return, especially being a completely new poster.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ saving this here because I use it, don't know how to make it, and don't know it's name
Mothra
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
United States1448 Posts
December 30 2011 03:07 GMT
#34
I was thinking, tactics in chess is somewhat analogous to mechanics in starcraft. Both are prerequisite to any serious strategy, both can be drilled with repetition. They involve the storing up of patterns, one in piece positioning and exchange sequences, the other in key/mouse position and sequences. But, as people have noted, it's the work ethic that will be interesting to follow, not any direct transfer of skills. Getting FM title in chess takes a lot more work and hours than Masters in SC2.
Suichoy
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
Canada397 Posts
December 30 2011 05:14 GMT
#35
OP, how many hours a day did you train at chess to get where you are?
Gann1
Profile Joined July 2009
United States1575 Posts
December 30 2011 05:44 GMT
#36
On December 30 2011 02:55 Zeke50100 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 30 2011 02:34 Itsmedudeman wrote:
This seems so silly to me. No matter how dumbed down sc2 is to sc1, mechanical skills always comes before strategy.


Keep in mind that something like BW has been studied for quite a bit longer than SC2. While it may be true that (barring some ridiculous, miracle discovery regarding strategy) BW would be all about mechanics because most of the strategy stuff has already been explored.


I hate this misconception. New builds and strategies are constantly being applied in BW.

/offtopic
I drop suckas like Plinko
Cupine
Profile Joined December 2011
Canada51 Posts
December 30 2011 05:51 GMT
#37
Oh wow!, I watch your games all the time in live chess, good luck in sc2! still rated 1400 D:, but i'll be up there someday!
Cupine.945, Official protoss player now
Lumire
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States607 Posts
December 30 2011 05:52 GMT
#38
On December 30 2011 14:44 Gann1 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 30 2011 02:55 Zeke50100 wrote:
On December 30 2011 02:34 Itsmedudeman wrote:
This seems so silly to me. No matter how dumbed down sc2 is to sc1, mechanical skills always comes before strategy.


Keep in mind that something like BW has been studied for quite a bit longer than SC2. While it may be true that (barring some ridiculous, miracle discovery regarding strategy) BW would be all about mechanics because most of the strategy stuff has already been explored.


I hate this misconception. New builds and strategies are constantly being applied in BW.

/offtopic

Yeah same, a lot of builds from even a year ago are really outdated...
|| o.o
iamke55
Profile Blog Joined April 2004
United States2806 Posts
December 30 2011 13:22 GMT
#39
Can you explain how you apply some strategy from chess to SC2? Most people in the SC2 community, including myself, do not understand the concept of strategy beyond really basic ideas like build orders, scouting, and unit compositions. I would be interested in seeing how a chess player views strategy.
During practice session, I discovered very good build against zerg. -Bisu[Shield]
Recognizable
Profile Blog Joined December 2011
Netherlands1552 Posts
December 30 2011 13:45 GMT
#40
On December 30 2011 10:00 Divinek wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 30 2011 08:10 Recognizable wrote:
I hope you picked protoss because as a chess player I can see your tolerance level to extreme bullshit be lower then as non-chess players. I figure when you lose in chess it's because you fucked up. Not because some dude decided blink stalker all in and you couldn't scout it. Also, Starcraft is mainly a game of mechanics. The strategy part is really easy and basically comes down to. He has taken his gas at this time so you can cross off lists in your head what strategy is doing. Or you see this and this building so you can cross off this and this *Insert random BO*


The strategy part is not really easy, I don't know what game you're playing. If you watch anyone who is truly good at this game you can see just how difficult the strategy aspect of this game can be


How can you see how difficult the strategy part off the game is without being extremely good at the game yourself? I'd like to think myself as half decent enought to understand the strategy part and it's really not that complicated. You have your overall build and at each stage of the build you react a certain way to certain strategy's, these strategy's are scouted by scouting were the gas is allocated and scouting certain buildings. You aren't thinking ahead more then 3/4 steps. Ofcourse these decisions need to be made extremely fast whilst doing a ton of other stuff and this is what makes Starcraft fun. But isn't with chess the point you think like 10/20 steps ahead?
Daray
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
6006 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-12-30 14:06:56
December 30 2011 14:06 GMT
#41
Maybe EG should sign Magnus Carlsen, would be interesting
Boonbag
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
France3318 Posts
December 30 2011 17:44 GMT
#42
I'd rather grind chess than starcraft !
DarK[A]
Profile Blog Joined October 2011
United States217 Posts
December 31 2011 23:25 GMT
#43
It's already pretty impressive to only be playing 2 weeks and be top gold / plat. I've been intermittently following him and he definitely is serious about it.

His strength in chess play is blitz chess, which is GREAT for sc2, imo.
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