I recommend you first take the test on your own to discover your own chess personality. A few chess celebrities have already taken the test.

Hikaru Nakamura Danny Rensch John Bartholomew

Take the test for yourself!

The test questions are going to be analyzed by Stockfish 6 to see what the engine's chess personality is.

Question 1:

This position is from the Sicilian Najdorf. The engine thinks this position is completely equal, eval = 0.00. There are 304 games in the online database after ...Kd8 and White is scoring 48%. I ran the results with both answers and came up with the same personality. Let's choose Black.

Question 2: When you play in tournaments, do you usually score with consistent results or do you often perform on the extremes - either really well or really poorly? Stockfish is very consistent.

Question 3:

Stockfish evaluates this Sicilian Sveshnikov position as 0.48, and it should be Black's move according to the database. We will choose A) Black has given up a critically important d5 square.

Question 4: Stockfish plays ruthlessly against all opponents so we'll go wity B) don't notice my opponent.

Question 5:



Stockfish evaluates this as +1 with the sacrifice Nxg5. Retreating the bishop back to g3 is evaluated as 0.00. The idea is that the c3-rook can swing over to the kingside after the sacrifice and e3-e4.

Question 6: Do you play gambits? Most gambits have poor engine evaluations so we'll select No.

Question 7: How would you evaluate the previous position? A) Stockfish would calculate several variations. It would also evaluate the placement of the pieces, but the variations will probably be most important.

Question 8: Under serious time pressure are you more likely to move pieces aimlessly or blunder? A) Move pieces aimlessly. Engines are known to do this in completely closed positions. Blundering will be rare for the engine unless there is a horizion effect position wher the engine can not see deep enough in time pressure.

Question 9:



Stockfish thinks Bxc5 gives White a +.44 advantage. 1.d4 is closer to equal.

Question 10: You start the game with 1.d4, would you rather face 1...d5 or 1...f5? A) The engine gives an eval close to +0.1 after 1...d5 and +0.5 after 1...f5. Stockfish would rather face the Dutch!

Question 11:





Stockfish evaluates the position as +1.5, so the engine would definitely play on.

Question 12: This is an emotional question, asking if you'd rather face an opponent you beat previously because A: You've crushed them or B: Your odds will be slightly higher. Engines have no emotions so let's go with B.

Question 13:

The engine takes no time at all to realize 1.Nxe6 is the best move giving an eval of +0.5. Other moves are 0.00 or less. Let's go with A since it doesn't need to invest serious time here.

Question 14: What do you think of the saying chess is 99% tactics? A) Engines do win a lot of games via tactics against humans, but against other engines the positional aspects of the game become very important. There is a lot of work that goes into figuring out an engine's eval besides just the tactics. Let's choose disagree.

Question 15:



Stockfish evaluates this position as +2.2 and would never choose this line as Black.

Question 16: Have you ever broken something or yelled out loud after a loss? Answer: No.

Question 17:



Kingside gets an eval of +0.6. Queenside is only +0.3. Let's choose kingside.

Question 18: Engine's don't get excited or nervous before games.

Question 19: The engine is going to calculate pure variations and at the end of each variation look at the placement of the pieces. Overall this would be closer to B since the engine is playing via calculation and not by feel.

Question 20: The engine will have a tougher time building a 'plan' since they don't link current moves to previous moves. Engines are fairly good at attacking when the opportunity presents itself.

Result

Stockfish 6 is a Surgeon! Mostly positional, aggressive, calculating, and calm. Emanual Lasker is also a surgeon. Surgeons are tricky, practical players who use positional play to fight for a win in all positions. They have great nerves and calculating ability.

Please share your results and thoughts below!