Do we analyze the game? Communities of Practice, post mortem Analysis and Chess Engines

Abstract

This article aims to address the impact of the Web on a community of practice, and it does so through chess. Thanks to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), in recent decades knowledge and practice of chess have grown exponentially all over the world. However, these digital tools are changing some of their traditional habits. For example, post mortem analysis, a social and face-to-face learning practice, is giving way to an individual and virtual exercise supported by online analysis engines. In most cases, ICTs contribute to the construction, maintenance and growth of communities of practice, but they can also contribute to their disappearance. But a community of practice is not defined by the medium through which members connect. Therefore, this duality should not be thought of in dichotomous or negative terms.