Stephen Morris (Letters, 17 September) claims that while backgammon requires great skill, as a dice game it also involves luck – unlike chess. But top chess players, including reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen, would beg to differ. While chess is a game with perfect information, its complexity precludes perfect evaluation of the play. Like life, flagging attention, moments of indecisiveness and inexplicable “faulty” moves give the game unpredictable turns and lead to unexpected outcomes. A 2014 study of chess experts, including Carlsen, shows that they consistently attribute a modest – but non-zero – contribution of chance factors to game outcomes. Dice and other randomising devices are not the only sources of uncertainty, chance and luck.
Professor Peter Ayton
Department of psychology, City, University of London
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