Wilt Chamberlain, Bill WaltonLarry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jaylen Brown, Klay ThompsonAndre Iguodala… But what can all these names have in common? Vou may be surprised to learn that these are fine amateurs… d‘chess ! The opportunity to focus on these episodes where the two disciplines crossed.
Luka Doncic : as unplayable on the parquet as behind a screen
Impossible to miss the Slovenian genius, both on the floors of the Great League and now as…that‘artificial intelligence. A few months ago, Luka Doncic was thus interviewed at a press conference, andfter one of the reporters asked him if he was following the news on his phone, Doncic shook his head, explaining in a joking tone that he preferred to play chess.
The hoax could have ended there. More Chess.comthe famous chess platform, took advantage of the mini buzz generated to partner with the Slovenian, creating the mythical Luk.AI bot : a chess engine that any player can challenge at any time.
On the site, each engine has its own particularity (his level, his opening technique, his style of play…). The subtlety of Luk.AI ? The computer was introduced with a beginner level (500 how much)but his level increases as players around the world have fun challenging him. The description below Luk.AI justifies this variation by the delirious progression curve of number 77 since his arrival in the NBA. Note that this is not about machine learning : l’computer doesn’t really learn from players, but in reality the level simply swells based on the number of players challenging it.
https://t.co/nyHDnHgab5 chess skill unlocked. Play against him so he can get stronger. Let’s go! https://t.co/w8ua4I9orb
— Luka Doncic (@luka7doncic) February 17, 2023
If you want to challenge Luka Doncic’s AI, it happens here! But beware. You may have as much difficulty as playing against him in basketball! In a few days, the computer has reached an elo of 3000. As a reminder, the Grandmasters international (GM)the greatest geniuses of the game, are around 2700. Only super computers such as Leela Chess Zeroor Stockfish could still beat him today.
Keeping busy during the COVID 19 crisis
During the health crisis, basketball experienced a long period of shutdown spanning several months. During this same period of time, chess has experienced absolutely crazy growth, especially with the arrival of the series The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix. But another factor in its rapid development can also be explained by the sudden interest of superstars, and mainly athletes. This is the case for example Gordon’s Hayward. Transferred to Charlotte during the 2020-2021 offseason, the winger took advantage of the break to take private lessons on the Internet. That evening for example (see below), he was with Levy Rozman aka Gotham Chess for the close friends : a content creator honored with the title of International Master.
More hayward is not the only one to have fleshed out his chess game. Daryl Morey was also inspired during this period and agreed to an exclusive interview with Hikaru NakamuraGrand Master and 5 times United States champion. If you want to discover more intimately a fascinating discussion between two geniuses of their respective game, the video is also available on YouTube.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, meanwhiledidn’t bother to put in extra hours of learning. He went back to playing with his partner, Mariah Danae.
Late night chess game with @mariahdanae15 pic.twitter.com/HgSKfI13uN
— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) March 16, 2020
An advertisement that takes us to the land of nostalgia
It’s not the first time that basketball and chess have had a wink. In 2009, the NBA had thus dared to advertise combining the two disciplinesin order to kick boost to Playoffs. This announcement then highlighted all the biggest stars of the time. We found there at the head of the poster the late Kobe Bryantbut also Ray Allen, Kevin GarnettDwyane Wade, Brandon Roy or Carmelo Anthony. We discovered the latter responding to each other, blow by blow, on the chessboard, but also on the floors. And there’s no denying it, the hype effect is guaranteed and makes you want to go and revisit this time when B-Roy still had knees.
Klay Thompson : more passionate about chess than the NBA Finals?
2018 was a brilliant year for the Warriors : with the exception of the Rockets, that year no one will come to worry the band of Klay Thompson, et Golden State will end up imposing itself easily It front of Cavs finally. During this period, the rear All-Star had given an interview for The Wall Street Journalthe opportunity for the latter to open up about his hobby of the moment: chess. Klay admitted that during the road-tripsome thieves including himself, Andre Iguodala and Stephen Curry went head-to-head on the sixty-four square board. He had also taken the opportunity to receive some advice from Magnus Carlsen in person, considered by many fans to be one of the best players in history. In return, the Norwegian had shown his passion for the orange ball on social networks. Besides, we give you a clue about his favorite teams…
NBA trade deadline. Nothing like it.
Harden and peak Embiid in Philly????
1-2-3-4-5 SIXERS
Get that work in @dmorey????
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) February 10, 2022
@SHAQ @NBAonTNT all the way from Norway, can vi get a RT? pic.twitter.com/qCYdqyEU
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) February 8, 2013
If we can think that a world separates the NBA and chess, it would be to forget all the similarities they share. Attack, defense, duel, tactics, competition… The game of kings definitely shares a lot more similarities with the orange ball than you might imagine.
