The importance of solitude – why time on your own can sometimes be good for you
Thuy-vy Nguyen
Assistant Professsor, Department of Psychology, Durham University
Published: April 27, 2023 11.22am EDT
Spending time alone can induce fear in a lot of people, which is understandable. At the same time, the difference between moments of solitude and loneliness is often misunderstood.
As a psychologist, I study solitude – the time we spend alone, not interacting with other people. I started this research more than ten years ago and, up to that point, findings on young people’s time alone had suggested they often experience low moods when alone.
On social media, television or in the music we listen to, we typically picture happiness as excitement, enthusiasm and energisation. From that perspective, solitude is often mistaken for loneliness.
In psychology, researchers define loneliness as a distressed feeling that we experience when we don’t have, or are unable to get, the kind of social connections or relationships we hope for. Solitude is different.
While people’s definitions of solitude might vary, what is interesting is that for many, being solitary doesn’t necessarily mean there’s no one else around. Instead, many people can, and do, find solitude in public spaces, whether this be sitting with a cup of tea in a busy cafe or reading a book in a park. And my research suggests that taking some time for yourself could have a positive impact on your daily mood.
From the many episodes watched of the TV sitcom, All In The Family, only two can be recalled. One of them concerned a Tupperware Party hosted by Edith, Archie Bunker’s wife. I recall Archie picking up a piece of plastic Tupperware which is then placed in a different location. The obviously perturbed Tupperware sales woman immediately moves the single Tupperware object to its former position, saying, “Every little Tupper has its place!” What can I say? It cracked me up… Unfortunately, I was unable to locate the scene described, but did find a short segment of the episode, which can be found below.
Tupperware has been struggling for years. Three charts show just how bad it’s been. By Alex Leeds Matthews, CNN Published 10:43 AM EDT, Sun April 23, 2023
Tupperware may be on the verge of collapse, but the 77-year-old business’ potential demise isn’t necessarily a harbinger of worsening economic conditions.
While sales data shows the rest of the US consumer retail sector — including some of the company’s competitors in the food storage space — seems to be recovering from the pandemic dip, Tupperware sales continue to decline.
Some business experts say that’s because Tupperware has failed to adapt to changing consumer behaviors. And now, faced with mounting debt, declining sales and plummeting stock prices, perhaps little can be done to save the company from bankruptcy.
This game was followed in ‘real time’ I stopped watching after seeing the ridiculous 12th move, d4 as it caused me to wonder how many times the player of the white pieces had previously attempted the Chigorin Variation, and/or how much time was spent studying games in which 2 Qe2 had been played. Then I wondered if the 4th move by black had messed with the mind of the general of the white army…
To begin, the Stockfish program at lichess.org responds to 2 Qe2 with 3 e5. That is right, one of the top, if not the top Chess programs will move the same pawn with each of his first two moves. “But coach,” you say, “you taught us to complete development before moving a piece twice.” “That’s right, Bobby, I did. But did I say anything about not moving a PAWN twice?” The Chess coach must have an answer for everything, even when he doesn’t…
Here’s the deal… 2 Qe2 is the move that wins the most against the French defense. I kid you not. In 3758 games 2 Qe2 has won an impressive 44.3% of the time. In over 200,000 games 2 d4 has won’only’ 38.5%! In 17,542 games 2 d3 has won 41.7%.
I was pleased to see SF will play the only third move I have ever played in the position, 3 g3. Jordi Ayza Ballester played 3 Nf3, which happens to be the most often played move, according to 365Chess.com. 3…g5, as Brian McCarthy was fond of saying, must have “Rocked his world.” I have played the Chigorin ‘attack’ against the French for over half a century, and never seen the move. 365Chess contains only 4 (FOUR!?) games in which the move has been played (https://www.365chess.com/opening.php?m=8&n=899&ms=e4.e6.Qe2.c5.Nf3.Nc6.g3&ns=3.16.118.234.898.1077.899)
After seeing 10 Kh2?! the realization struck that Jordi Ayza Ballester had no clue what he was doing. Certainly d3 must be played in this opening. When Jordi played 12 d4?! I stopped following the game… The Stockfish program determines white has a lost position, down by -1.7, after the twelfth move, and it was all over but the shoutin’. This is one of the most pitiful performances with the white pieces you will ever see. How did the dude obtain a rating of 2092 without having a clue? Is there any validity in the rating system these daze?! Just askin’…
Although I would like to write that the best was saved for the last post concerning the venerable Najdorf variation of the Sicilian defense it would be far more accurate to classify it as exactly the opposite, as it could possibly be the worst move to make against the Najdorf. In the Stockfish vs Stockfish game that follows the best Stocky can do is move the Queen to the d3 square two moves later, which at least moves the Queen out of the way for the bishop. Fishy did not play the move g3, which would be the obvious way to play, as is done in the 2 Qe2 variation against the French.
I had seen enough to declare the moribund game a draw. If you have been having trouble when facing the Najdorf maybe you should consider playing 6 Qe2 as a way of potentially making a draw…
365Chess.com contains only 48 games in which the player of the white pieces chose 6 Qe2. There is a reason.
With this post the series on the Najdorf ends. With the series of posts I attempted to give an overview of the most popular Chess opening. If you are contemplating playing the Najdorf, or want to know how to play against it, there is enough material, if you replay each and every game, to obtain an excellent overview of the venerable Najdorf. It really is
because Stockfish provides the theory and 365Chess.com provides the practice. Good luck with that!
The following video does NOT contain anything concerning 6 Qe2, but does present 6 g3 TWICE, which makes me wonder…why…
In this ongoing series on the venerable Najdorf variation we have come to the last four moves having been played in triple digits: 6 Qf3 (254); 6 h4 (247); 6 a3 (229); and 6 Qd3 (110). I am giving it to you straight, with no chaser, today. Or as my friend Brian McCarthy was fond of saying, “Just give me the MEAT!” (https://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2021/04/24/brian-mccarthy-r-i-p/)
Yet another article has appeared at the New York Times concerning the Chess Boom:
There was a time not too long ago when people who played Chess were thought to be “smart.” Chess was a serious game held in esteem by many people all over the planet. Unfortunately, as can be seen from the above picture, Chess has become a frivolity. Case in point:
Mr. Allebest, Chess.com’s C.E.O. “When I was a kid, chess was for nerds,” he said.Credit…Kim Raff for The New York Times
From the article:
“But by all accounts — from players, parents, teachers, website metrics — the game’s popularity has exploded.”
At least there is one honest and objective ‘player’ in the current ‘game’ and his name is Mike Klein.
“Mr. Klein has been traveling the country trying to convince schools to include chess in the curriculum. He argues that chess is good for the brain, but he concedes that the scientific studies he invokes, linking chess with better performance on standardized tests, “are pretty old or don’t have a good control group or are not a large enough sample size.”
28, another chess celebrity on Twitch and YouTube, earned a particular claim to fame: Once, while streaming a match, she blundered into losing her queen and reacted with an endearing, bemused shock that made the gaffe seem cool. To accidentally lose your queen is now known as the Botez Gambit.
In the following position Aravindh has just made the move recommended by Stockfish at lichess.org, 19…Qb6. The ‘Fish also shows white with a winning advantage of +1.7.
Position after 19…Qb6
After Na3 Rab8 21. Nd3 Na4 the next position has been reached:
Position after 21…Na4
In reply GM Jacobson played the SHOCKING 22 b3, jettisoning the advantage. After 22…Ncd5 the game was even, Steven.
Position after 22…Ndc5
GM Jacobson let go of the rope completely when making one of the worst moves you will ever see any Grandmaster make, 23 bxa4? Although the game continued for a few moves, it should not have continued. Possibly Brandon was in a state of shock, like a deer caught in the headlights, and continued making moves out of inertia.
This could, and would, be considered an aberration under most circumstances, but since GM Jacobson ‘let go of the rope’ in his previous tournament, the 2023 Reykjavik Open, it could be an indication of something else.
Position after 37…Qf4+
In the seventh round of the 2023 Reykjavik Open game with Frenchman IM Quentin Loiseau (2449) Brandon had to move his King. Cogitate on the position and decide were you would move your King.
blows huge chance as prep leaks online (https://chess24.com/en/read/news/ding-liren-blows-huge-chance-as-world-championship-prep-leaks-online) it is written: “In some ways they’d been unlucky, since internet sleuths also uncovered the same players had first tried to play on chess.com, where the games would have been much harder to find, but had fallen foul of the anti-cheating system detecting something unusual in their play.”
What does this say about the “anti-cheating system” in use at Chess.com?
Chess.com’s anti-cheating system KreatorSS Apr 10, 2012, 2:11 PM
We Can’t Know How Good Chess.com’s Cheating Detection is
There is an interesting parallel to the necessary ambiguity of the details of Chess.com’s anti-cheating measures to a video game called old school runescape (OSRS) and Jagex, the game developers’ anti-botting detection measures. Botting is where a player runs a code to have their character play the game automatically, which is of course against the rules. (https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/xwtg4w/we_cant_know_how_good_chesscoms_cheating/)
finished in a tie for third place with many other players in the recent 2023 US National High School Championship, a half point behind the two leaders. I would like to inform you of the names of the winners, but after being unable to access the USCF webpage contained the information I contacted my friend, Mulfish, who reported, “The US Chess website has had service outages off and on for the last two days. Once it’s up you should be able to get to the crosstable. Once it’s working again you shouldn’t have any trouble.” Some things never change…
Stockfish still considers 2 Nf3 best. In reply to the game move, 2 Nc3, SF considers the move played in the game, 2…a6, best. The move 2…Nc6 has long been favored by we humans, with 365Chess.com showing almost 50,000 games with the move. 2…d6 and 2…e6 are almost tied with each showing over 12,000 games. The best move, according to the ‘Fish, 2…a6, has only been seen in about 3,000 games. 3 g3 has been the far and away favored by humans in 1344 games. Then come 3 Nf3 with 485 games, followed by 3 f4 with 469 games. 3 a4 shows 417 games, while the SF best, 3 Nge2 has only been seen in 2015 games. 3…b5 has been the most often played move, and SF considers it best. Ditto for 4 Bg2, and 4…Bb7. Arthur played 5 d3, as have most other players, but SF will play 5 Nge2. Mr. Kaplan played 5…d6, but 5…e6 has been seen in ten times more games, possibly because SF considers it best. Mr. Guo played 6 Nh3, and SF considers it best, but 6 f4 has been the most often played move. SF will play 6…g6. After 7 0-0, the move 7…Nd7 has been played in 9 games; 7…Nf6 (8); 7…Nc6 (5); 7…Be7 (3); followed by the only game featuring the move SF considers best:
The third move of the game by Mr. Houston has been seen in 9504 games. 3 d4 has been played in almost 100,000 games. 3 c3 is second with 9504 games. 3 Nc3 has been played 9,259 times. It is the move favored by Stockfish. After 4… Qxd5 the move played in the game, 5 d4 has been played in 1844 games. The move favored by Stockfish, 5 Be2 has been seen in action only 43 times. 5…Nf6 followed. Stockfish would play 5…cxd4, which would be a Theoretical Novelty. After 7…Nbd7 Gus played 8 Be2. Stockfish would play 8 a4, for what should be obvious reasons. That brings us to this position:
Position after 8 Be2
I expected Arthur to play 8…b5, which is the choice of SF. The move played, 8…Qc6, was shocking. Stockfish says, “Inaccuracy. b5 was best.” Stockfish gives the move played in the game a dubious (?!) distinction. After 8 Be2 the ‘Fish shows white with an advantage of +0.3. After moving the Queen for the second time in the opening, SF shows the white advantage improving to +0.9. Granted, that is not much of an increase, but it caused me to think of something one Legendary Atlanta area Chess Coach is more than a little fond of saying when a student retreats a piece that has no business retreating: “There you go running back scared again!” Sometimes he will exchange “scared” to “crazy” depended on the student. One of the “rules” of Chess is to not move an already developed piece the second time before completing development. The computer Chess programs have shown that particular reasoning needs to be rethought, but when teaching neophytes, it is best for them to learn the rules before teaching them when to break the rules. Arthur’s game went downhill from here. Stockfish shows him with a lost game, down by -1.8, after only eleven moves. After his 12th move, Arthur was down by -2.5. It was all over but the shoutin’… This is one of the worst games Arthur has played in some time. Let us hope it is an aberration.
Armchair Warrior 