The Babson task

To an outsider, we chess players might seem a rather uniform breed. Studious and contemplative, we spend hours absorbed in a board game to no apparent end. It is the archetypal thinker’s hobby.

But within the subculture, there are many, perhaps even a majority, who identify as pragmatists, not thinkers. Results are the driving motivation. At the board, they are drawn to ideas which are likely to wrong-foot the opponent, with no special regard for their objective merits. In their study, they disdain the more obscure, frivolous or unrealistic chess problems such as the one in the puzzle below. What, they ask, is the purpose of seeking a subtle mate in 2, when a simple move like 1 Qxb8+ wins easily? For some players, the game’s rewards are not intrinsic at all. Chess improvement is a serious matter, and their online or tournament rating is no less tangible than their bank balance.