![[hu]](/mwf/v12/flags/hu.png "Hungary")
Last night, there was a blitz tournament in Amsterdam. All of the top engines from the main tournament participated and Shredder won by a full point. So, congrats to Stefan Meyer-Kahlen, the ironman of computer chess. He's got something like 10 various ICGA titles, going back to his days as a university student.
Below is a short report from Hans. The most curious part, at least for me - Micromax managed to reach a drawn position vs Rybka ?! A little hard to believe, but ok. I'll post the games if I get them.
Vas
"
I had to move my laptop for my first game and the internet cable was a bit
short. I should have guided my laptop under tables and around the legs of
the table to entangle it. Instead I made the mistake of unhooking it and
connect a different cable. And then of course the connection was gone. I
tried to call you, but you didn't pick up. So I quickly downloaded the last
Rybka 32bit version for single processor and played with that. It went
pretty well, 4 draws and 3 wins. This resulted in an untied 2nd place behind
Shredder. Stephan was very lucky in the last round against Zappa. He was
clearly losing (-6) and then the zappa operator made a wrong move on the
board. Otherwise Zappa would have won the tournament. Rybka started with 2
good wins against Loop and Jonny and then I had to play Micromax. Rybka
offered a piece for 3 pawns in front of the king. Micromax defended well
exchanged all pieces and the remaining endgame KNKppp resulted in a draw.
Luckily 20 moves earlier Micromax lost on time. Then I had draws against
Gridchess (a pawn down for most of the game, but bishops on different
colour), Zappa (who defended well), Shredder (the first game where I thought
Rybka would lose without a chance after it sacked a rook against a knight,
but Rybka manoeuvred its pieces so well that it looked like Rybka was
winning, but in the end Rybka was down again and had to go for the
perpetual) and Deep Sjeng (a bishop was trapped, but Rybka managed to start
a king attack by sacking a bishop, which looked like winning, but Deep Sjeng
managed to exchange all pawn and pieces except for a rook for both sides,
which looked pretty drawish).
"
Below is a short report from Hans. The most curious part, at least for me - Micromax managed to reach a drawn position vs Rybka ?! A little hard to believe, but ok. I'll post the games if I get them.
Vas
"
I had to move my laptop for my first game and the internet cable was a bit
short. I should have guided my laptop under tables and around the legs of
the table to entangle it. Instead I made the mistake of unhooking it and
connect a different cable. And then of course the connection was gone. I
tried to call you, but you didn't pick up. So I quickly downloaded the last
Rybka 32bit version for single processor and played with that. It went
pretty well, 4 draws and 3 wins. This resulted in an untied 2nd place behind
Shredder. Stephan was very lucky in the last round against Zappa. He was
clearly losing (-6) and then the zappa operator made a wrong move on the
board. Otherwise Zappa would have won the tournament. Rybka started with 2
good wins against Loop and Jonny and then I had to play Micromax. Rybka
offered a piece for 3 pawns in front of the king. Micromax defended well
exchanged all pieces and the remaining endgame KNKppp resulted in a draw.
Luckily 20 moves earlier Micromax lost on time. Then I had draws against
Gridchess (a pawn down for most of the game, but bishops on different
colour), Zappa (who defended well), Shredder (the first game where I thought
Rybka would lose without a chance after it sacked a rook against a knight,
but Rybka manoeuvred its pieces so well that it looked like Rybka was
winning, but in the end Rybka was down again and had to go for the
perpetual) and Deep Sjeng (a bishop was trapped, but Rybka managed to start
a king attack by sacking a bishop, which looked like winning, but Deep Sjeng
managed to exchange all pawn and pieces except for a rook for both sides,
which looked pretty drawish).
"
In Amsterdam do you use Rybka with defaults settings?
Have not you tried to increase the contempt parameter vs weaker engines?
Regards :).
Have not you tried to increase the contempt parameter vs weaker engines?
Regards :).
We don't use contempt in tournaments. Perhaps it's something to consider for the future - there are plenty of improvements to make.
Vas
Vas
![[de]](/mwf/v12/flags/de.png "Germany")
"And then of course the connection was gone. I
tried to call you, but you didn't pick up. So I quickly downloaded the last
Rybka 32bit version for single processor and played with that."
Oh noooooooo :( :( :(
Why does this happen in the most important tournament???
tried to call you, but you didn't pick up. So I quickly downloaded the last
Rybka 32bit version for single processor and played with that."
Oh noooooooo :( :( :(
Why does this happen in the most important tournament???
More importantly - why did the Rybka team not have a more powerful local back-up machine ?? Even a Core 2 Duo laptop would have helped tremendously
If you're going to use a remote machine, fair enough, but to NOT have a decent backup is just asking for trouble
If you're going to use a remote machine, fair enough, but to NOT have a decent backup is just asking for trouble
![[kw]](/mwf/v12/flags/kw.png "Kuwait")
Really ... I agree totally. I have had my dual core laptop running at 2Ghz for what be close to a year now. I would guess laptops are up to 2.4 ghz by now (although I haven't checked). But even on 2 cores at 2Ghz and running X64bit Rybka should be plenty strong to create havoc. I actually think it is amazing that it came in second place with a measley single core Athlon 3000+. That is probably a Sempron 3000+ since it is a laptop and I think AMD laptops using this speed rate were Semprons.
Still I feel happy for Stephen for winning this. Shredder has a great history when it comes to chess engines and it is nice to see it come back and win the blitz title.
Still I feel happy for Stephen for winning this. Shredder has a great history when it comes to chess engines and it is nice to see it come back and win the blitz title.
In normal rounds, I'm the backup. The blitz tournament though is just for fun, it's not serious. You have to see it once to know what I'm talking about.
Last year, the Junior guys lost at least 3 games on time. Rybka was also going to lose once, to Chiron (who gave me a sporting draw). The internet just randomly slows down and you're dead.
Vas
Last year, the Junior guys lost at least 3 games on time. Rybka was also going to lose once, to Chiron (who gave me a sporting draw). The internet just randomly slows down and you're dead.
Vas
Understood.
Better then in future just to forget about using a remote machine totally for the blitz tournament. Just take a Core 2 Duo laptop... maybe
Better then in future just to forget about using a remote machine totally for the blitz tournament. Just take a Core 2 Duo laptop... maybe
![[gb]](/mwf/v12/flags/gb.png "United Kingdom")
Blitz turnement just for fun?? Vas you are obviously a brilliant chess programmer - in fact a genius like all world champions! I think however you have a blind spot and underestimate the comercial value of for example being able to claim "world champion in all categories". As it happens from a commercial perspective Shedder can claim to be world champion in chess (blitz). They can claim to have won ahead of Rybka and I am sure some commercial soup can be cooked on that.
So far it seems that your match offer has been ignored by Fide, but a match offer from a world champion (best would have been : world champion in all categories) would be hard to ignore. If Rybka does not win the world championship, I am afraid that FIDE (and the press) will largely continue ignoring Rybka. Scientifically only the rating should really count, but in the commercial world it is unfortunately all about "spin" and twisting the reality to your own advantage. The blitz turnement might appear as if it is just for fun, but this is a desception created artificially so certain participats do not take it serious. It is all carefully calculated!
So far it seems that your match offer has been ignored by Fide, but a match offer from a world champion (best would have been : world champion in all categories) would be hard to ignore. If Rybka does not win the world championship, I am afraid that FIDE (and the press) will largely continue ignoring Rybka. Scientifically only the rating should really count, but in the commercial world it is unfortunately all about "spin" and twisting the reality to your own advantage. The blitz turnement might appear as if it is just for fun, but this is a desception created artificially so certain participats do not take it serious. It is all carefully calculated!
![[us]](/mwf/v12/flags/us.png "United States")
Soren,
I agree with with you. See my post here:
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=1193
However, Vas has a different point of view and he is the main guy, so there you have it.
Regards,
Milton
I agree with with you. See my post here:
http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=1193
However, Vas has a different point of view and he is the main guy, so there you have it.
Regards,
Milton
We'll try to improve this stuff for next time. IIRC I went out with my wife during this tournament, maybe it could have waited a day or two :)
It's going to be hard to dominate this tournament, though. Around 25% of the games end with time forfeit or operator error. Maybe with a good on-site machine the chaos could be controlled. When Ikarus won in 2006, this was their recipe - local machine and not a single operator error.
Vas
It's going to be hard to dominate this tournament, though. Around 25% of the games end with time forfeit or operator error. Maybe with a good on-site machine the chaos could be controlled. When Ikarus won in 2006, this was their recipe - local machine and not a single operator error.
Vas
![[au]](/mwf/v12/flags/au.png "Australia")
Yes, there should be no excuse for being so under prepared in case of any contingency.
Vas, I am sure Rybka 2.3.2 mp would have pulled ahead- I have just bought a T7300 ( Core 2 Duo) with 2gigs RAM and in case any tournament is held in Sydney, please feel to loan it for the tournament.
regards,
Varun
Vas, I am sure Rybka 2.3.2 mp would have pulled ahead- I have just bought a T7300 ( Core 2 Duo) with 2gigs RAM and in case any tournament is held in Sydney, please feel to loan it for the tournament.
regards,
Varun
I can only echo this. No way should WCCC have been treated as a casual affair in any respect; you should play with your best equipment, best people, and leave nothing to chance. It is not enough to win. You must endeavor to annihilate the competition every single time until people are questioning why tournaments should even be held and the entire chess world from the lowest patzer to the strongest GM knows that Rybka is not only the best, but the best by a wide and unbridgeable margin.
Take that $100,000 toward FIDE and buy enough back up computers to cope with any emergence that could arise-hell you know FIDE is going to get a case of Alzheimer's when it comes to you anyhow-may as well put the bucks to good use.
sidserious
sidserious
This is actually a very funny report.
"Stephan was very lucky in the last round against Zappa. He was
clearly losing (-6) and then the zappa operator made a wrong move on the
board. Otherwise Zappa would have won the tournament."
-6 to a loss? Must have been a doosey! I wonder if SMK will mention this?
Alan
"Stephan was very lucky in the last round against Zappa. He was
clearly losing (-6) and then the zappa operator made a wrong move on the
board. Otherwise Zappa would have won the tournament."
-6 to a loss? Must have been a doosey! I wonder if SMK will mention this?
Alan
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