EPT"Chess is a game with a finite quantity of possible spatial combinations. Black has more information than White but is not favored.
This is a simple and obvious geometric proof that Chess is the definition of a stupid game."
This is a simple and obvious geometric proof that Chess is the definition of a stupid game."
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Taking these into account, Victor Allis calculated an upper bound of 5×10^52 for the number of positions, and estimated the true number to be about 10^50.[2] Recent results[3] improve that estimate, by proving an upper bound of only 2^155, which is less than 10^46.7 and showing[4] an upper bound 2×10^40 in the absence of promotions.
These concerns notwithstanding, let me proceed to the tale of Charles "Chessmaster Hex".
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/HwKrx8h.jpg)
Charles was born with the unique ability to instantly comprehend any finite sequence, no matter how complex, as a simple vector. After twenty games of chess, Charles had solved what he called "the single player" campaign, and was on the verge of quitting when an idea came to him.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/KV6lkwr.jpg)
"My opponents all suck", he said to himself. "I guess I'll get really high and just play myself." So that's what he did. He got really high and played against himself, and that's how the game of Starcraft was invented in its nascent, quasi-conceptual form.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/gVV3iyx.jpg)
"Ordinary chess is horribly boring. In an ideal world, Black would win because White moves first. Now that I'm really high, I'll just call every game where Black loses a loss. Therefore Black is Zerg."
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/hemYq6q.jpg)
"Now that I'm super high on Ayahuasca I don't mind playing White. Not because it makes winning any better, but because it looks cool while I move the pieces on the board. Since White ought to lose I'll call every game of White a loss. Therefore White is Terran."
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/YiANQa8.jpg)
"Yea this is almost tolerable," Charles mused. "It's too bad I'm a super genius because if I wasn't then I wouldn't do this." And so muttering, Charles picked up pieces on either side of the board and started moving them simultaneously. "It's a lot better when I play to my ability, which I couldn't do when I wasn't using both hands. Simultaneous Chess is a lot more fun and in my hallucinogenic dreamscape every game is a win. I guess I'll call Starcraft Protoss."
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/lLPV3rT.jpg)
Well, by the end of his Ayahuasca trip Charles had played every possible sequence of ZvT, ZvP, ZvZ, TvZ, TvT, TvP, PvZ, PvT, and PvP possible on a Chessboard. Since this was far more Chess than anyone had ever played before there was no point explaining his findings to the world. In the end Charles invented computers, founded the CIA, and created the Game Development Company Blizzard Entertainment.
After twenty decades of successful work in his time capsule Charles had recognized his dream of delivering space age technology to middle class citizens world wide. Finally the world could play and enjoy Starcraft as he had envisioned it so many centuries ago while tripping hard on Ayahuasca. It was like Chess in Avatar-world and was way, way cooler than Chess.
The adventures and misadventures of this creation story date back thousands of years IRL, but are probably best known by the character "Chessmaster Hex" of Cowboy Bebop acclaim.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/0jtujZJ.png)
Thanks, Charles. It's been real.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/phfBUk6.png)
