Reply To: Why don’t we already have the perfect wargame?

[blinky465 17028xp 1]

Your opponent will create enough uncertainty and fog of war through their choices and strategies

This is a great point. In fact, it’s also one of my tactics when playing chess. I’m no Grand Master. But I can put up quite a challenge for the average eight-year-old. One of the things I love about chess is being able to think ahead and plot moves two, three, sometimes five or six moves in advance.

It reminds me a little bit of hold ’em poker – when good players face each other, you’re no longer playing the person in front of you; you’re playing what *you believe* they will play on their future turns, and use your turn not so much to advance your own position, but to create a belief in your opponent of what you’re likely to do next.

Sometimes, when looking a few moves ahead, and all I can see is defeat, I’ll throw a really wacky move into the mix. Chuck a knight up againt an opponent’s pawn, or sacrifice a bishop – just to get my opponent wondering “what has he seen that I haven’t”. It’s a tactic that works surprisingly well to create uncertainty and unsettle an opponent!