Money is a game · Synthesizer School

Mar '23 in Other

Money is a game

Game theory defines a game as "any interaction between subjects that is governed by rules that determine the moves of each participant and involves a system of wins for all possible combinations of moves".

Economic reality is full of situations that fit this description: negotiation, bargaining, foreign trade policy, relations between government and individuals, between workers and employers.

At the same time, many games in the usual sense: desktop or computer games contain elements of economics. Whether it is trade at auction in World of Warcraft, the struggle for resources in the board game The Settlers of Catan or international trade in the Civilization series of games. Thus a full game is a playful Russian doll, including economic mini-games.

Even chess is partly an economic game. This is expressed in the value of each piece counted in pawns, the superiority of one player over another counted in the same pawns and the phenomenon of "exchange," where players voluntarily enter into a kind of economic relationship in order to obtain benefits or reduce costs.

If we take the distribution of chess players according to their rating on chess.com for 2014, we get the following results:

• 36% of the players have rating between 50 and 950

• 67% of players have rating from 950 to 1950

• 1% of players got their hands on rating from 1950 to 2950

One hundredth of the players playing blindfolded will wipe out the remaining 99%.

Half of the world's wealth belongs to the one percent of financial players. I do not speculate as to whether this is fair. Under the current rules of the game, the distribution is just that. Who knows, if the rules of chess were changed to add a die to create an element of chance, it might be possible to even out the chess distribution and make it more "fair.

My chess rating is around 700. Here's what my next steps could be:

• Develop in the game and raise my rating: learn the basics, take experience from experienced players, read books and watch videos on chess, constantly practice, solve problems, participate in tournaments and competitions.

• Play for fun: go to the site from time to time and play five-minute games with random opponents, keep relatives and friends company, being content with your 700 rating points without claiming more.

• Quit the game: declare that chess is a stupid and unfair game that takes too much time, and high ranked players owe their success to a high IQ, diligence and an early start.

• Bonus option: come up with a game to replace chess and convince the other players to join in.

Here's what I definitely shouldn't do:

• Expect to be taught to play chess at school or university.

• Take advice from 400 ELOs on how to become a grandmaster.

• Learn chess from the book "Checkers – A Strategy for Winning"

And how do you master the game of finances?

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