Dorian Rogozenko

Matthias Bluebaum’s coach

“Matthias always says, ‘The computer is right.’ Sometimes he doesn’t care at all what I think as a coach. He really loves working with computers.

I understand that computers provide an objective evaluation and calculate an infinite number of variations. But it’s the seconds who translate this into human understanding.

With perfect play, chess ends in a draw. The computer can find ten lines in the Sicilian Defense and consider them equal.

The second’s job is to look at the variations and draw conclusions. A human would hardly find this move—it would be unexpected. But this variation is easy to remember. Or, this variation creates pressure because the opponent needs to find six precise moves in a row, etc.”