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Up Topic Rybka Support & Discussion / Rybka Discussion / What happened to 9th PAL-CSS Freestyle Chess Championship?
- - By ccherng (*) [us] Date 2010-10-23 05:48
Are there ever going to be more freestyle tournaments with large prizes?
Anyone know of other freestyle tournaments with prizes?
Parent - - By Nelson Hernandez (Silver) [us] Date 2010-10-23 11:10
I don't know the whole story, but apparently both Chessbase (the host) and the sponsor (in UAE) lost interest.  One could cynically speculate that Freestyle was supposed to be a showcase for GMs, but it didn't turn out that way.  Also, there were too many loopholes in the rules that various players took advantage of (or tried to take advantage of).  It's not that anybody cheated; it is that the rules weren't tight enough, and even with tight rules, certain provisions would have been unenforceable.  Finally there was the vast gulf between the elite players with monster hardware and non-public software and the lower half of the entrant list.  It became increasingly obvious that serious competition for Freestyle prizes required multiple interdisciplinary skills combined with considerable hardware resources and a certain ruthless cunning.

Nowadays it is kind of moot.  Nobody fancies taking on the Rybka Cluster.
Parent - - By Ozymandias (***) [es] Date 2010-10-23 11:49
IIRC it was more like the sponsor wanting to go solo. Have they lost interest after years of software development problems? Could be, but that's speculating.
The problem with the rules is the more serious one, IMHO. Freestyle will never be taken seriously if everybody is expecting Player A to play at a 3300 level against Player B just like they're expecting him to drop a piece against Player C, or some scheme a little bit more subtle (not talking about Bali, here :wink:).
As for the cluster being the undisputed favourite, I wouldn't rule last tournament's two runner-ups out of the competition just yet.
Parent - By Cubeman (**) [nz] Date 2010-10-24 10:36
Poor little Cluster, all dressed up and no-where to go.
Parent - - By ccherng (*) [us] Date 2010-10-24 04:15
So nobody knows of any other smaller freestyle tournaments?
Parent - - By CumnorChessClub (***) [gb] Date 2010-10-24 07:16
There is the FICGS Freestyle Cup next weekend http://www.ficgs.com/waiting_list_ficgs_chess_cup.html(30+15) :wink:

"As for the  Freestyle Tournaments sponsered previously by PAL/CSS, the focus for new freestyle activities will probably not be on the Fritz server, I am quite sure, we will see a revival of freestyle chess in 2011 on the Infinity Chess Server.

Tournament software for the new Infinity Chess server (Development starting again from point zero a year ago!) is still going on rather intensive is on the way and probably in some aspects better than all we know from other chess servers."

Arno Nickle
General Manager of Infinity Chess

(Edited/Translated by Kevin Plant (Tester/Moderator Infinity Chess)
Parent - - By Nelson Hernandez (Silver) [us] Date 2010-10-25 22:17
I had no idea Arno was still at it.  He is the Godfather of Freestyle chess.
Parent - - By Banned for Life (Gold) Date 2010-10-25 22:57
It's never a good sign when development stops, they throw out everything that was done, and then restart.
Parent - - By Fulcrum2000 (****) [nl] Date 2010-10-26 09:06
Well, considering the trouble we had in the last Infinity tournament, I think it is a wise decision :razz:
Parent - - By ccherng (*) [us] Date 2010-10-26 22:03
What trouble happened?
Parent - - By Fulcrum2000 (****) [nl] Date 2010-10-27 16:55
Parent - - By Nelson Hernandez (Silver) [us] Date 2010-10-28 23:58
More than 20 logged in, and a lot of them kibitzing multiple games.  That was an unforgettable experience which we can laugh about now.  Server must have crashed 15 times at least over the course of several hours.  One guy whose name I won't mention had something approaching a nervous breakdown, letting fly with paranoid accusations.  Arno was in despair trying to keep the wheezing beast alive.  Meanwhile, behind the scenes the software developers were in turmoil.
Parent - By CumnorChessClub (***) [gb] Date 2010-10-29 08:45
"Meanwhile, behind the scenes the software developers were in turmoil."

Of course this has lead to a new team of software developers:smile:
Parent - - By Ozymandias (***) [es] Date 2010-10-29 13:26
Turmoil? As in "state of extreme confusion or agitation"? I can hardly believe that.
Parent - - By Fulcrum2000 (****) [nl] Date 2010-10-29 13:59
Well, at that point the developers didn't even know if the crashes where hard- or software related. Some started games were finished at the playchess server because of the endless crashes. As Nelson said, an unforgettable experience :twisted:
Parent - By Ozymandias (***) [es] Date 2010-10-29 15:03
Yeah, better to just look ahead, after a 2-year plus hiatus, it's better to forget about anything InfinityChess 1.0 related.
BTW, Kevin, as soon as you have a working beta, let us know so that be can start to test it in a "controlled" environment.
Up Topic Rybka Support & Discussion / Rybka Discussion / What happened to 9th PAL-CSS Freestyle Chess Championship?

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