Chess and Poker

I remember when, as a teenager, but already an experienced tournament chess player, I overheard someone say that a certain local chess master I was familiar with had not been playing in tournaments recently since he was now playing professional poker. I thought it strange, not to say somewhat heretical. Even treasonous. Poker? A gambling game? Abandoning chess, the premier game of logic and reasoning, the “Royal Game,” in order to pursue a living in the sometimes seedy word of casinos, card sharps, and Old West clichés? I was bewildered and immediately revised my opinion of the chess player significantly downward. 

There is no doubt that chess is, ultimately, a game of pure skill in terms of the board and pieces, the rules, and the moves made by each player; there is no element of chance, so to speak. But what are the personal qualities and entire skillset required of a master tournament player in addition to pure chess knowledge and acumen in choosing moves? They are numerous and essential.

At first glance, it seems that chess is a contest of pure skill and iron logic, and that any gambling card game must, inherently, incorporate so much luck that skill must play a small part and compare unfavorably with the Royal Game. But, in the final analysis, this turns out to be an oversimplified and naïve point of view.

Rated tournaments and serious chess matches each last hours, and a strict time limit is enforced. Decisions throughout the contest must be made with these factors, and others, in mind. Concentration, focus, time management, and stamina are all at a premium. Further, one is often playing a combatant familiar to the first party, and a knowledge of his or her strengths and weaknesses, preferred types of positions, and the like, may well be attendant factors in strategic decision-making. One may, even, at a key juncture, assay a move or combination of moves that one knows are not objectively the best, but should be most effective against this particular opponent, given his or predilections, the current time clock situation, tournament round considerations, etc. In other words, in these, as well as in other ways, psychology may well play a role, chess still being technically a game devoid of “luck.”

The principal variations of high-stakes poker require much the same set of skills and abilities in order for a player to be successful, despite the admitted element of luck. Intelligence, caginess, knowledge and use of practical psychology, focus and concentration, and discipline are all required.