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Ilya Smirin gets Shreddered – almost
23.04.2002
– This time it was a close call for the human. World champion programm Shredder
played a fine Scotch game against Ilya Smirin, and the Super-GM soon found himself
in a lot of trouble. At move 14 he sacrificed a pawn, to which one prominent
kibitzer remarked: "He may well have enough compensation, but gee, against
a computer why work so hard?" In the end the resourceful Smirin tricked
the computer and the game ended draw. You can replay the live chat version on
our Javascript board or go
to our special coverage page.
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Hiarcs 8 – chess knowledge and tactical strength
22.04.2002
– The program Hiarcs is the work of the English programmer Mark Uniacke. It has
gained a substantial following because, unlike its colleagues, it works with
chess knowledge rather than a brute force search. Three years have passed since
the previous version was published. Now the author presents Hiarcs 8.0, which
is uniquely positional in style, but at the same time has gained tremendously
in tactical strength. Mark Uniacke tells us all about it here.
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The fine difference between winning and winning
21.04.2002
– Once again an exciting game with the 2702 GM effortlessly outplaying one of
the strongest programs in the world with the black pieces. But as in the previous
two games Ilya Smirin discovered that against computers there is a big difference
between having a winning position and actually winning the game. Tiger defended
tenaciously, the game ended in a draw. You can replay the live chat version
on our Javascript board or
go to our special coverage page for full details.
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Smirin to play Tiger on Sunday
21.04.2002
– Wait, wait, not that Tiger! Nor this
one, although we are getting warm. No, Grandmaster Ilya Smirin, who is currently
leading 2:1 against the world's best computer programs, will be playing Chess
Tiger, which was written by a Frenchman in Guadaloupe, and played 2788 performance
in a GM tournament in Argentina. Will Smirin be able to tame the Tiger? You
can find out on our Playchess
server on Sunday night at 19:00 GMT. Full details on this exciting event
are on our special coverage page.
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Category 16 in the Taiga
19.04.2002
– We are talking marshlands and lakes, forests with sable, musk-rat and stoat. And oil, around 2.5 billion tons of it. The Nefteyugansk region of West Siberia has few settlements, one of them being Poikovsky. That is where the 3rd Karpov International Chess Tournament is being
held, a category 16 with ten strong GMs. You can catch the action at the official web site. And maybe check out a little Taiga puzzle
here.
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Smirin narrowly misses another crush
18.04.2002
– Ilya had Deep Junior on the ropes. With brilliant anti-computer strategy the
Computer Killer was winning after 30 moves. But that is just half the story
– you have to actually bring the thing home. A couple of inaccuracies and
Junior was back in the game, which ended in a draw. You can replay
the game with some of the action on the Playchess
server (500 viewers today). Full information is on our special
coverage page.
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Eurotel Trophy – who plays against whom
18.04.2002
– Just ten more days, then we can watch the Eurotel World Chess Trophy, featuring
the 32 of the world's top players facing off in a rapid chess knock-out for
a total prize fund of 500,000 Euro. The organisation Online World Chess (Bessel
Kok, andSerge Grimaux), has just announced the pairings for the first round.
You will find full information on our Eurotel
report page.
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Little monsters!
18.04.2002
– At this very moment there are ordinary people, just like you and me, walking about with devices stuffed in their pockets that have the capability to scare mere mortals out of their collective wits, especially when it comes to playing chess. These little monsters are the new generation of pocket PCs. James E. DuBois has written a nice review
here.
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Shirov on FIDE, Octagon and the Dubai prize fund
17.04.2002
– Originally they were promised a prize fund of $500,000, but when the players
arrived for the FIDE Grand Prix in Dubai they were told it had been reduced
to $120,000. We reported
this story without knowing too many details. After all, things appeard to
have been settled and everone started playing. Now one of the participants,
Alexei Shirov, tells us exactly what transpired on that fateful 7th of February,
when their prize fund was slashed. You will find his letter here.
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Thanks to Alexandra, now FOX has discovered chess!
16.04.2002
– The article starts: "The new face of chess is not a nerdy,
nondescript, temperamental teen-age boy — but a smart, hip, sexy 17-year-old
girl. Dubbed the "Anna Kournikova of Chess," Alexandra Kosteniuk of
Russia has wowed game gurus with her keen, aggressive approach to the sport.
But she has also snagged attention with her good looks, winding up on the covers
of magazines, modeling a new chess uniform and circulating photos of herself
on the Internet." You will find the rest here.
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This time a firm shove for mankind
16.04.2002
– The battle between man and machine is going well for us humans. The new Hiarcs program balked at the aggressive King's Indian main line
and opted for the much tamer exchange variation. With over 400 visitors watching
and cheering on the Playchess
server Smirin slowly built up what looked like a winning advangage, but
may have missed the final twist on move 38. You will find the annotated game at the bottom
of our special coverage page.
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A blow for humanity
15.04.2002
– There was cheering all around on the Playchess
server when Ilya Smirin, Elo 2702, struck a "blow for humanity", as one visitor on the server put it. With ruthless efficiency he demolished computer world champion Shredder in just 24 moves. On Monday he faces the brandnew Hiarcs 8 program. You will find all details and the annotated games on our special
coverage page.
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