I think that this is an early canary of what ubiquitous A(G?)I would mean. Human chess is basically like riding a horse now - a quaint nod to older times.
We don’t ride horses the way we did before because we now have transport and cars and trucks.
We still run and bike and gym. Sometimes to commute, and sometimes for fitness. Not everyone can be Usain Bolt, but the trails and tracks are full all week long.
There are more people riding horses than ever - it has become a hobby for the upper middle class, head to the exburbs of any US city and you will see lots of people who work in the city and come home to their horses every night.
Back before cars oxen were preferred for most tasks needing animal power - they were stronger and ate less food. Where speed mattered though the horse was better. Of course before the car people walked unless they were disabled - the horse/oxen were for pulling cargo or the plow, but either way you walked behind (it wasn't unheard of for the wagon driver to lead the team, though often they would sit on the wagon).
If you lived in a city (remember before tractors 95% of the population lived on a farm!) you probably didn't have any animal transport at all: they ate too much food. On the farm animal labor was useful, so if the farm could support it you would have it (many farms couldn't, and slaves were potentially more useful for the rest)
Counter-point: there is a literal door halfway up the north face of Eiger, and it was there when Eiger earned its "Murder Wall" moniker by killing party and party attempting the first ascent. In one case four corpses were recovered just a few rope lengths from the door.
Quaint or not, people find meaning in their unnecessary efforts, sometimes enough meaning to bet their own lives.
Yeah, cars predate marathons by about 10 years. The marathon sport was invented for the 1896 olympics, the first car was shown off in 1886 and sold commercially in 1888
There seems to be a "reverse Balto/Togo" effect here. Pheidippides did NOT run the famous "Marathon".
Pheidippides ran the 150-mile journey from Athens to Sparta (and back: 300 total miles) and then died.
The "Marathon to Athens" 26.4 mile journey was another heroic messenger, but someone who was mistaken for Pheidippides. It seems very unlikely for Pheidippides to be the messenger because he'd have been tired (and/or dead) from his Athens / Sparta message.
Like racing, we could have an Open/Unlimited class that lets humans partner with whatever, and a Restricted class which would be only stock wetware allowed.
If the chess world's aim is to play wholly as humans, it failed a long time ago. Engines control all modern GMs early play, with natural play only beginning when a player's memory fails. One of the ironies about the current scandal is that some of the most sanctimonious critics of cheating don't think twice when pushing out 20+ moves predetermined by the engine.
