onegoodmove

From the Church of the 64 squares, a reliable source of wisdom and humilty, Igor writes: Now, if you remember, not long ago I sent you a couple of games I played against Rascal*. The subject line of the email was the "next victim". Here we are, a week later and Rascal does the same thing. The only difference this time is that Rascal's rating is over a hundred points higher. And of course, I played 26.Qh6 - instead of 26.Bh6 as I did in the previous game, a home improvement. Here is my question. Who is running this thing, that it can't learn anything, could it be some Republican? *Rascal is a computer program that plays chess on ICC Here is a link to the games that will allow you to play through the moves. And yes Igor, it was undoubtedly a Republican....

Continue reading "Church of the 64 Squares" »

Posted by Norm at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Not long ago Chris posted links to articles by Jeff Sonas discussing the man vs machine competition in chess and makes the claim that the players are improving at a rate equal to that of the computers. International Master Igor Ivanov recently sent me a game he played at the Internet Chess Club Many programers test there programs there since there are so many titled players willing to play against the computers. Igor often plays against the computers there and has gained real insight into how they play and the dangers they pose. But there are truisms in chess that apply whether you are playing against the machine or another human. This is a great game since Igor risks much by gambiting a couple of pawns for a lead in development. Interestingly the computer he played against on this ocassion is named Man vs. Machine. Play through it you'll enjoy and game as well as Igor's notes. igormvsmc.vchd Ivanov, I - Man vs Machine Computer Internet Chess Club, 2003 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3 dxc3 5. Bc4 A very important moment. To learn chess you have to fight your fear of losing, even if you are dealing with a...

Continue reading "Fight Your Fears" »

Posted by Norm at 11:23 PM | Permalink

"Every year computers are becoming stronger at chess, holding their own against the very strongest players. So very soon they will overtake their human counterparts. Right? Not necessarily, says statistician Jeff Sonas, who doesn't believe that computers will inevitably surpass the top humans. In a series of articles Jeff presents empirical evidence to support his claim." Jeff Sonas points out that humanity's chess abilities are improving as well and cannot be held static in comparison to the improvements made on computer hardware and chess software. Read his article on the Chessbase Website. UPDATE: Part II of Jeff Sonas' article is up. In this part he discusses evidence that the rate of improvement for computers and the rate of improvement for top Grandmasters is currently neck and neck....

Continue reading "Man vs. Machine - Who is Winning?" »

Posted by Chris Jenson at 1:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

On chessbase.com, I found a link to an excellent short animation film by Pixar Studios about an old man playing chess here. This is a great little short film. You will need the quicktime 5 viewer to watch it. You can download the quicktime viewer, if you don't already have it, for free at apple.com....

Continue reading "Geri's Game" »

Posted by Chris Jenson at 2:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I have always a slight feeling of pity for the man who has no knowledge of chess. just as I would pity the man who has remained ignorant of love.—Siegbert Tarrasch The Chess Artist: Genius, Obsession, and the World's Oldest Game by J. C. Hallman is a must read if you love the game, or if you are just curious about what it is that evokes such passion. He has described what it is to be a chess player. He captures the yes I know I spend too much time at the game, and I don't give a damn. The I can't help myself. The I could stop, maybe I could, but I don't want too. It was a trip down memory lane for me, capturing many of the experiences I've had over the years. Many of the characters are the same I've encountered in my obsession with the game. Nick de Fermian who taught me about the beauty of the Queen sacrifice*, and Carol Jarecki the queen of arbiters that I had the pleasure of assisting several times at the National Open in Las Vegas to mention just two. The story of the Chess Artist is of the author...

Continue reading "The Chess Artist" »

Posted by Norm at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Match Drawn Final Score Kasparov 2 Fritz 2 Kasparov will play against another computer program in November. ESPN will broadcast a whopping 17.5 hours of the match! This time it will be the Fritz engine, one of the best five chess programs in the world. This version of the program includes X3D technology which creates a virtual 3D board. Check back here for game scores as the games are played. For more details go to chessbase.com. Kasparov vs X3D Fritz - Schedule (EST): Game 1: Nov. 11 1:00 pm Game 2: Nov. 13 1:00 pm Game 3: Nov. 16 1:00 pm Game 4: Nov. 18 1:00 pm. ... ESPN 2 The fritz program is running on 4 intel 2.8 ghz processors and looks at 4,000,000 positions per second, that translates to an 18 ply search in under 4 minutes. Game one (Tuesday November 11) an incredibly exciting first game found Fritz repeating the position to force a draw. Kasparov repeated the opening he played against Junior. He won the game against Junior, but although he had chances against Fritz he was unable to win. "The position was not easy technically. I think I missed a chance to consolidate my...

Continue reading "Kasparov vs. X3D Fritz" »

Posted by Chris Jenson at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (1)

Chris recently attended the National Chess Open in Las Vegas and posted a picture of a replica of the automaton chessplayer, known as "The Turk." A fanciful account of The Turk was made into a silent movie and is now available on DVD. Peter Nichols writes about it in the New York Times. Silent Classic About a Marvel By PETER M. NICHOLS We have the chess-playing computers Deep Junior and Deep Blue. Now meet the Turk, a turbaned automaton from the 1770's that not only played the game but also defeated virtually everybody it came up against in matches across Europe. In Raymond Bernard's highly entertaining 1927 silent classic "The Chess Player," released this week on DVD and VHS by Milestone, the vanquished include Catherine the Great, who has the device shot shortly before dawn for the crime of lèse-majesté. Bernard's film, adapted from a novel by Henry Dupuy-Mazuel, makes a wildly fanciful drama of a true story. Carved figures with machinery inside to make them move were in vogue in 1769 when an Austrian court official named Wolfgang von Kempelen announced that he would produce an automaton like no other. The Turk was a life-size figure seated atop a...

Continue reading "The Turk" »

Posted by Norm at 9:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Chess teams checkered by recruiting practice College: Some complain about grandmasters as old as 40 competing in tournaments. On the college chess circuit, there are certain maxims: Advance your pawns, protect your king -- and don't be surprised if your opponent has gray hair. College chess, once the domain of 20-year-old whiz kids, has a ringer problem, players and officials say. Increasingly, the elite college teams -- most notably, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County -- are prospering by offering large scholarships to recruit grandmasters as old as 40 to represent them at tournaments. "It's disillusioning," said Lubos Pastor, 29, a finance professor at the University of Chicago who played for its team as a graduate student. "You go to play in [a tournament] and say, 'Hey, I saw that guy in Chess Life magazine! I didn't know he was a student at such and such university.'" Nothing much has changed. This tournament or perhaps it is just chess tournaments in general attract controversy, but probably it is just humans doing what they do best. I remember an incident that occurred a number of years ago at this same tournament. The following conversation is accurate though some names have been...

Continue reading "Ringers And Rules" »

Posted by Norm at 11:16 AM | Permalink

The Iraq Showdown As a Matter of Chess -Raymond Keene GM Chess is a mind game, the objective of which is to checkmate or kill the opposing king. Ultimately that is the only way to win, unless an opponent, staring inevitable defeat in the face, voluntarily opts to resign... Bush's huge buildup of troops in the Persian Gulf is a clear parallel with massing forces around the enemy king prior to delivering the checkmating blow. Usually this succeeds, but I have seen inexperienced players with a huge material advantage but unskilled in king-hunting chase a sole enemy king around the board only to blunder into stalemate. continued...

Continue reading "Checkmate or Stalemate" »

Posted by Norm at 12:55 PM | Permalink

For this first time since 1998 Garry Kasparov was not the winner at the Linares Super Grandmaster tournament. Not only didn't he win but his loss to Radjabov was awarded the best game prize. Kasparov's outburst over beauty prize in Linares Justice should be blind, but should beauty? At the closing ceremony the prize for the most beautiful game went to Kasparov-Radjabov. The teen's win over the #1 was a landmark moment, but Radjabov had a losing position and it took a "??" move from Kasparov to create the upset. Kasparov erupted at the ceremony and went after the journalists who had voted. Who was wrong? Leko won the tournament, funny how the big story is Kasparov's outburst at the closing ceremony. The disputed game Download Linares Games in pgn format....

Continue reading "What The Fuck?" »

Posted by Norm at 5:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In a recent article Dr. Ray Kurzweil, the inventor of optical character recognition used in flat bed scanners amongst other things, has suggested that once computers get better than humans at chess, we will lose interest in this venerable game. “Deep Fritz-like chess programs running on ordinary personal computers will routinely defeat all humans later in this decade. Then we'll really lose interest in chess.” This article was written after a match between world champion Vladimir Kramnik and Deep Fritz, programmed by Frans Morsch of Germany. The eight game match was tied 4-4. Gary Kasparov, who has the highest rating in the world, is currently playing Deep Junior. “Deep” in these names refers to the use of more than one processor in parallel. After 5 games at the time of writing the match is tied 2.5-2.5. There is only one game left and Kasparov will have black. It is likely that this match will be a tie or that the computer will win. If Deep Junior wins this match, should we lose interest in chess? I think it is a strange attitude Dr. Kurzweil has here about the relation of computers and humans in chess. I have no doubt his...

Continue reading "The Death of Chess?" »

Posted by Chris Jenson at 3:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Kramnik only managed a draw in his match against Deep Fritz with very favorable rules will Kasparov fare better against Junior. If you are looking for the Kasparov - X3D Fritz Match Here is an interesting report on the upcoming match from the N.Y. Times (registration required) On Sunday, he begins a six-game $1 million match against an Israeli program, Deep Junior, the three-time world computer chess champion. The match will be played at the New York Athletic Club, and the games will be shown in real time on the Web here and here. The play will start at 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 26, 28, and 30, and on Feb. 2, 5, and 7. Each game will last at most seven hours. Photo by Chip East/Reuters The Games Final Result Current Score Kaparov 3.0 Deep Junior 3.0 Important News Final Game on TV CHESS: Garry Kasparov takes on Deep Junior Kasparov faces the I.B.M. computer calculating three million moves per second! 3:30 p.m. - 7 p.m. ESPN2 (time eastern GMT -5) Game 1 Kasparov-Deep_Junior 1-0 Game 2 Deep Junior - Kasparov 1/2-1/2 Game 3 Kasparov - Deep Junior 0-1 Kasparov after obtaining an opening advantage frittered it away and then...

Continue reading "Kasparov vs Junior" »

Posted by Norm at 12:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Alexander Shabalov Wins U.S. Chess Championship SEATTLE -- With a stunning queen sacrifice, Latvian-born Grandmaster Alexander Shabalov of Pittsburgh defeated an up-and-coming rival to win the U.S. Chess Championship. It took Shabalov 61 moves over almost six hours Saturday night to beat 19-year-old Varuzhan Akobian, an Armenian who lives in Glendale, Calif., for the $25,000 prize, the biggest in the tournament's history. Alexander Shabalov - Varuzhan Akobian Decisive Game Final Round All US Championship Games Java Viewer Download Games as Portable Game Notation File (pgn)...

Continue reading "U.S. Chess Championship 2003" »

Posted by Norm at 10:14 PM | Permalink