Valedictorians of the Soviet School: Professionalization and the Impact of War in Soviet Chess

Bernstein, Seth

doi:10.1353/kri.2012.0030

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…The relative income and social status benefits of GMs are plausibly highest for individuals in Eastern Europe, which would explain the particularly substantial relative survival advantage we found in this region. In the Soviet Union, for example, becoming a professional chess player was supported by the State and playing chess at a master level promoted as an esteemed profession [ 46 ]. Today, degrees in higher education with chess specializations are available in Russia, largely through State-funded scholarships.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Longevity of outstanding sporting achievers: Mind versus muscle

2018

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BackgroundWhile there is strong evidence showing the survival advantage of elite athletes, much less is known about those engaged in mind sports such as chess. This study aimed to examine the overall as well as regional survival of International Chess Grandmasters (GMs) with a reference to the general population, and compare relative survival (RS) of GMs with that of Olympic medallists (OMs).MethodsInformation on 1,208 GMs and 15,157 OMs, respectively, from 28 countries were extracted from the publicly available data sources. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the survival rates of the GMs. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to adjust the survival for region, year at risk, age at risk and sex, and to estimate the life expectancy of the GMs. The RS rate was computed by matching each GM or OM by year at risk, age at risk and sex to the life table of the country the individual represented.ResultsThe survival rates of GMs at 30 and 60 years since GM title achievement were 87% and 15%, respectively. The life expectancy of GMs at the age of 30 years (which is near the average age when they attained a GM title) was 53.6 ([95% CI]: 47.7–58.5) years, which is significantly greater than the overall weighted mean life expectancy of 45.9 years for the general population. Compared to Eastern Europe, GMs in North America (HR [95% CI]: 0.51 [0.29–0.88]) and Western Europe (HR [95% CI]: 0.53 [0.34–0.83]) had a longer lifespan. The RS analysis showed that both GMs and OMs had a significant survival advantage over the general population, and there was no statistically significant difference in the RS of GMs (RS [95% CI]: 1.14 [1.08–1.20]) compared to OMs: (RS [95% CI]: 1.09 [1.07–1.11]) at 30 years.ConclusionElite chess players live longer than the general population and have a similar survival advantage to elite competitors in physical sports.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Longevity of outstanding sporting achievers: Mind versus muscle

2018

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“…Regardless of how we see the two games, they are considered to be of great importance. Seeing how the US and the USSR battled for supremacy on the chess board only serves to further strengthen this view (Bernstein, 2012).…”

Section: Chess and Gomentioning

confidence: 99%

Scaffolding Human Champions: AI as a More Competent Other

Sætra

2022

Hu Arenas

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Artificial intelligence (AI) has surpassed humans in a number of specialised intellectual activities—chess and Go being two of many examples. Amongst the many potential consequences of such a development, I focus on how we can utilise cutting edge AI to promote human learning. The purpose of this article is to explore how a specialised AI can be utilised in a manner that promotes human growth by acting as a tutor to our champions. A framework for using AI as a tutor of human champions based on Vygotsky’s theory of human learning is here presented. It is based on a philosophical analysis of AI capabilities, key aspects of Vygotsky’s theory of human learning, and existing research on intelligent tutoring systems. The main method employed is the theoretical development of a generalised framework for AI powered expert learning systems, using chess and Go as examples. In addition to this, data from public interviews with top professionals in the games of chess and Go are used to examine the feasibility and realism of using AI in such a manner. Basing the analysis on Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory of development, I explain how AI operates in the zone of proximal development of our champions and how even non-educational AI systems can perform certain scaffolding functions. I then argue that AI combined with basic modules from intelligent tutoring systems could perform even more scaffolding functions, but that the most interesting constellation right now is scaffolding by a group consisting of AI in combination with human peers and instructors.

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Valedictorians of the Soviet School: Professionalization and the Impact of War in Soviet Chess

Cited by 2 publications

References 19 publications

Longevity of outstanding sporting achievers: Mind versus muscle

Longevity of outstanding sporting achievers: Mind versus muscle

Scaffolding Human Champions: AI as a More Competent Other

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