THE WEEK IN CHESS 75 17/03/96 Mark Crowther
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1) Introduction
2) FIDE to hold their World Championships in Iraq
3) PCA Ranking list March 1st
4) German Team Cup
5) Karditsa international tournament
6) Beer-Sheba Cat 10 by Shay Bushinsky
7) VI Torneo Fernando Marcote
8) 1st VISA NORDIC GRAND PRIX Reykjavik Iceland by Einar Karlsson
9) GM Shirov defeats Ferret 2-0 in Internet Chess Club Match by Eric Peterson
10) 22nd National Women `A' Chess Championship, Salem, INDIA
11) Belgrade Yugometal - Women's Tournament.
12) MASTERS CLASSIC TESTING GROUND FOR TOP CHESSERS by Bobby Ang
13) Malaysia-India Chess Match by SS Quah
14) 5th annual ZSG/Computerij Weekend Tournament March 8-10 by Henri Spijkerman
15) Komputer Korner by Al Tomalty
GAMES SECTION
-------------
Karditsa International Tournament 24 games
ICC Computer vs Human match 2 games
DPMM 1/2 final (German Cup) 3 games
Salem India 5 games
Visa Reykjavik Open 30 games
ZSG/COMPUTERIJ-TOURNAMENT 23 games
Far East Bank Masters Classic 22 games
Malaysia-India Chess Match 36 games
1) Introduction
---------------
My thanks to Willy Iclicki, Ian Rogers, Einar Karlsson, Shay Bushinsky,
Danny Mozes, Eric Peterson, Arvind Aaron, Bobby Ang, SS Quah,
Henri Spijkerman, Argiris Kotsis and Al Tomalty. Al contributes another of his
excellent Komputer Korner articles.
Palle Mathiasen asks me if there is anyone
with 3 meg of space on their www server. He has lost his www
page (World Chess Champions) and wonders if anyone can help him
out. Get in touch with him if you can help.
A big week full of interesting chess. Dominated by the depressing
prospect of FIDE tearing itself apart in the wake of the choice of
Iraq as venue for the FIDE Championships. Next Friday see the
start of the VSB Tournament in Amsterdam. I believe that there
will be another tournament this week also in the Netherlands.
Ivanchuk is no longer playing in the VSB after a dispute with
the organisers to do with paying the expenses of an assistant.
His replacement will be Boris Gelfand. I hope to be present at
the VSB tournament myself at some time and look forward to my
first foreign visit very much as I have so many friends in the
Netherlands.
Hope you enjoy this issue
Mark
2) FIDE to hold their World Championships in Iraq
-----------------------------------------------
As reported last week at a FIDE press conference on the 7th
of March it was announced that their World Championship
match between Kamsky and Karpov was to be held in Baghdad
Iraq. In a FIDE press release by Willy Iclicki (Willy's news 2)
he outlined the case and I take much of the information from
there.
He says:
Both players were consulted about the decision before the bid
was accepted.
The bid was for $2m.
Both the players and FIDE agreed to $0.5m being donated to
a humanitarian organisation such as UNICEF or the Red Cross.
Why Iraq? The only bid. Baku and Moscow showed interest but
no firm commitment.
Kirshan Ilyumzhinov contacted the UN to ask if there was a
sporting boycott or Iraq. He has written to UN General Secretary
Boutros Gallil to explain the decision. It was pointed out by
the Continental President of Asia Mr. Al Hitmi that FIFA
(the soccer organisation) allows teams to play in Iraq at their
own risk.
A few days after the press conference the decision was confirmed
in Doha at the executive board meeting. (Next meeting is in
Elista on May 22nd.
Kirshan Ilyumzhinov has said:
"Chess should not be involved in World political decisions, it
should serve only as an Ambassador to Peace."
It has been confirmed by FIDE that if Kamsky is forbidden by
the US Government from playing in Iraq then no sanction (such
as default) will apply.
Willy Iclicki concludes
"Conclusion: To quote Mr. Makropoulos whether good or bad, we need publicity.
Why reject what other sport federations are accepting. Individuals may have
their own opinion but there was only one offer for the match and if FIDE had
rejected it they could have been in real trouble. The President announced that
for the next executive board meeting, to be held in Elista on 22 May, he will
present his ideas about new plans and the future structure.
Fasten your seat belt guys we are moving real fast... "
My reaction
-----------
My own reaction. I regard the decision as being risible. Of
course once one starts talking about the human rights and
international record of different countries one can get onto difficult
ground. A beauty contest between the US, UK, Iraq, Iran, France,
Russia, Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Israel, Brazil, Kuwait, UAE, Denmark,
Iceland just for example will, as likely as not, produce different
results depending on ones view of the World.
A glance at reactions from around the World may
confirm this. However the only reason Iraq is doing this
is because Saddam Hussein finds it useful that an International
organisation will hold its premier event in his country. Do
a majority of FIDE members find this acceptable? It is clear
that if they do then some FIDE member nations will find it so
unacceptable that they will withdraw from the organisation.
FIDE supported the Anti-Apartheid boycott of sports events
in South Africa. There appeared to be support for that
throughout FIDE. I would have thought that as the Iraqi
regime's human rights record is, if anything, far worse
than South Africa's then it is very inconsistant to hold
a match there.
The undoubted publicity coup of holding the match in Iraq
is likely to be outweighed by the withdrawal of a number
of Federations from FIDE if this match goes ahead.
In a number of parts of the World it will also give the
indication that FIDE are in a pretty desperate situation
to even contemplate such a move.
International Reaction
----------------------
Within a few hours of the decision the Danish Chess Federation
was threatening to withdraw from FIDE. He recieved support from
the Icelandic Chess Federation president, Mr. Gudmundur
Thorarinsson. He added that he people at the Icelandic
Chess Federation are starting to question if Iceland has any
business staying in FIDE.
Within a few days an official Israeli fax was sent.
To: Fide From: Tel-Aviv 13.03.96
Att: Mr. Kirsan N. Iljumzhinov - president
Dear Mr. Iljumzhinov,
It is with total astonishment and great sorrow that we learned
about Fide's intention to hold in Baghdad, under the auspices
of Sadam Hussein, the Fide World Championship between Karpov
and Kamsky. Such a step will bring shame on all decent
chess players in the world. It is a disgraceful politization of
our game.
We strongly protest this decision and appeal to you and to Fide
to repeal it. We advise you that in the case that the games will
proceed under the auspices of Fide, the Israel Chess Federation
will leave Fide.
We call on all Chess Federations to act similarly for the sake
of the good name of chess as a game of peace and friendship.
Sincerely Yours
Joseph Lapid
Chairman Israel Chess Federation
Other FIDE News
----------------
[Again from Willy Icklicki's News 2]
World Championship 97
---------------------
World Championship 97. Asked about the financial situation of the 1997 W.C., the
President answered that he had already received a few offers from Yugoslavia,
Russia, Vietnam, Jordan and Korea. It was also confirmed that free the 10 first
player of the FIDE Grand Prix would be qualified for the following cycle. All
regulations have been sent already to the FIDE members but basically what it
says is that a player qualified should play at least four tournaments
(pre-registered with FIDE). Points will be cumulative and a league table will be
published. A tournament contract will be presented to each player.
Protecting the FIDE logo
------------------------
Mr.M. Sand has started by registering FIDE in a few European countries. A big
sorry to those currently using the logo without payment of a fee but if you
want to avoid future trouble, you will have to send a check to FIDE.
Campomanes and Makropoulos allegations.
---------------------------------------
The President released a press statement in favour of the Chairman and the
General Secretary, which clearly closes the matter of allegations against
Messrs. Campomanes and Makropoulos regarding ex-gratia payment by FIDE in 1994.
Mr. Makropoulos strongly contested the validity of the Verification report
published by Mr. Doyle (USA) on the New Jersey WWW page. He said that officially
the FIDE Permanent Secretary never received this report. Moreover, the note read
by the Auditor Mr. Israel Gelfer was not in the spirit of what was posted on the
net.
Mr. Campomanes also took this opportunity to announce that even if the case
regarding some unclear financial mismanagement was dismissed by the Philippines
authority, he is still suing the President of Philippines Chess Federation for
50,000,000 pesos. Mr. Borjal risks also a heavy jail sentence.
[Elsewhere it has been confirmed that this legal action has started]
Tournaments.
-----------
For those who still want to become a World Champion, from 8-15 June Messrs.
Kutin and Iclicki will organise the 1st World Expert and Amateur Championship in
Potoroz under the auspices of the Slovenian chess federation. For those lucky
people who will play in the Olympiads in Armenia later this year, let me tell
you that the Organisers are doing things at their best levels. Four new hotels
and 15 charters will bring players from all over the world to Yerevan. The
organiser also presented their logo : An Eagle holding ...a chess set.
FIDE on-line.
------------
Chess Planet, the company established a month ago by Messrs.
Abundo and Iclicki will sign a contract end of the month. Their
goals are chess, chess and chess including a press agency, official
tournament organisation, official ratings and titles, university to
learn chess, forum, shop....a full activity centre using the best
hi-technology on the market.
It is expected to be fully on-line by end June 1996. Chess Planet has already
received much canvassing from software, hardware and publishing companies.
Ian Rogers resignation
-----------------------
In another message on the internet Ian Rogers announced his resignation
from the FIDE players' council.
From: Ian Rogers, 100245,632
TO: FIDE, 100555,3251
DATE: 13/3/96 2:28 AM
RE: Copy of: Resignation of Players' Council Chairman
Amsterdam 13th March 1996
Dear Mr Abundo,
It is with some regret that I hereby resign my position as Chairman of the FIDE
Players' Council.
My position has been made untenable following deliberate misstatements of the
Players' Council's position on the new World Championship cycle in FIDE Forum
and various postings by FIDE on the Internet.
As you well know, Mr Illumzhinov's proposal in its current form was never put to
the Players' Council. We did indeed discuss the concept of a yearly World
Championship at our meeting at the Moscow Olympiad but, whatever our positive
feelings might have been, we were of the opinion that it could not be
considered while the scheduling of zonal tournaments were so ad hoc in many
parts of the world, running up to six months late in some zones.
To say that the Players' Council expressed "great support" for Mr Ilumzhinov's
new cycle is simply untrue since we were not asked about it before it was
announced , nor have we been consulted since then . There are indeed some
members of the Players' Council who support the new proposal and also some who
oppose it but both supporters and opponents could have pointed out obvious
flaws in the proposal as it stands - if they had been asked.
There seems no point in remaining on a Players' Council whose opinions are
misused for political purposes - when they are not being ignored - so I repeat
that I am resigning both as Chairman of the Players' Council and as a member of
this body.
Yours sincerely,
Ian Rogers
3) PCA Ranking list March 1st
--------------------------
After a low profile the PCA Ranking list is appearing regularly
again. At first sight there are some very strange disparities
with the FIDE list.
PCA WORLD CHESS RANKING
For player rated 2500 and higher
Results up to March 1, 1996
Produced by Ken Thomson with ChessBase
Calculated by Vladimir Dvorkovich, Chess Union Int.
1. Kasparov,Garry RUS 2780 157
2. Kramnik,Vladimir RUS 2775 147
3. Anand,Viswanathan IND 2764 153
4. Kamsky,Gata USA 2754 165
5. Karpov,Anatoly RUS 2753 150
6. Ivanchuk,Vassily UKR 2748 155
7. Topalov,Veselin BUL 2698 177
8. Polgar,Judit (GM) HUN 2694 194
9. Ehlvest,Jaan EST 2675 136
10. Short,Nigel D ENG 2666 195
11. Shirov,Alexei LAT 2665 182
12. Bareev,Evgeny RUS 2665 151
13. Adams,Michael ENG 2654 189
14. Khalifman,Alexander RUS 2654 135
15. Gelfand,Boris BLA 2653 171
16. Almasi,Zoltan HUN 2652 161
17. Salov,Valery RUS 2651 177
18. Yusupov,Artur GER 2646 117
19. Sokolov,Ivan BIH 2646 178
20. Svidler,Peter RUS 2645 167
21. Rublevsky,Sergei RUS 2644 167
22. Morosevic,Alexander RUS 2634 209
23. Korchnoi,Viktor SUI 2632 175
24. Krasenkov,Mikhail RUS 2632 187
25. Hracek,Zbynek TCH 2630 170
26. Dreev,Alexey RUS 2629 149
27. Akopian,Vladimir ARM 2626 143
28. Tiviakov,Sergei RUS 2624 189
29. Seirawan,Yasser USA 2623 188
30. Kharlov,Andrei RUS 2622 162
31. Leko,Peter HUN 2622 133
32. Illescas Cordoba,Miguel ESP 2621 174
33. Nikolic,Predrag BIH 2616 198
34. Granda Zuniga,Julio E PER 2616 210
35. Speelman,Jonathan S ENG 2615 163
36. Kosashvili,Yona ISR 2614 191
37. Yudasin,Leonid ISR 2612 168
38. Vladimirov,Evgeny KAZ 2611 163
39. Georgiev,Kiril BUL 2609 182
40. Huzman,Alexander UKR 2609 148
41. Epishin,Vladimir RUS 2608 149
42. Hansen,Curt DEN 2607 180
43. Nunn,John D M ENG 2606 173
44. Glek,Igor V RUS 2605 170
45. Magerramov,Elmar RUS 2604 188
46. Oll,Lembit EST 2603 180
47. Andersson,Ulf SWE 2601 142
48. Smirin,Ilia ISR 2598 175
49. Dorfman,Josif D FRA 2597 128
50. Fischer,Robert James USA 2594 197
51. Gulko,Boris F USA 2594 168
52. Wolff,Patrick G USA 2593 179
53. Nenashev,Alexander UZB 2592 174
54. Polgar,Zsuzsa (GM) HUN 2592 176
55. Malaniuk,Vladimir P UKR 2590 183
56. Piket,Jeroen NED 2589 190
57. Savchenko,Stanislav UKR 2589 164
58. Rohde,Michael A USA 2589 190
59. Timman,Jan H NED 2588 168
60. Adianto,Utut INA 2587 186
61. Onischuk,Alexander UKR 2587 172
62. Beliavsky,Alexander G UKR 2586 170
63. Morovic Fernandez,Ivan CHI 2585 161
64. Huebner,Robert GER 2585 147
65. Polugaevsky,Lev RUS 2584 188
66. Rogers,Ian AUS 2584 185
67. Gavrikov,Viktor LTU 2583 128
68. Azmaiparashvili,Zurab GEO 2583 184
69. Ljubojevic,Ljubomir YUG 2580 150
70. Lobron,Eric GER 2580 194
71. Campora,Daniel H ARG 2580 180
72. Kurajica,Bojan BIH 2580 189
73. Sadler,Matthew ENG 2579 184
74. Agdestein,Simen NOR 2579 237
75. Pigusov,Evgeny RUS 2579 136
76. Novikov,Igor A UKR 2579 132
77. Lautier,Joel FRA 2577 199
78. Dokhoian,Yury RUS 2577 162
4) German Team Cup
---------------
Wolfgang Haar reported on Compuserve this result
from Saturday in Germany.
Werder Bremen 3 : 1 Koeln Porz
=================================================
Hracek,Zbynek = : = Lutz,Christopher
Kindermann,Stefan = : = Huebner,Robert
Blatny,Pavel 1 : 0 Christiansen,Larry
Knaak,Rainer 1 : 0 Vaganian,Rafael
-------------------------------------------------
5) Karditsa international tournament
---------------------------------
My thanks to Argiris Kotsis who sent the games from the first 5 rounds
of this International Event. The web page http://www.compulink.gr/chess
is well worth checking out. He gives credit to Compulink, Chorus,
Detak, Disimo, Mr Exarhos, Mr Mihelakis and Mr Paganos.
Round 1 (1996.03.11)
Agnos, Demetrios - Vouldis, Angelos 1/2 43
Alterman, Boris - Miladinovic, Igor 1/2 44
Kotronias, Vasilios - Atalik, Suat 1-0 68
Skembris, Spyridon - Grivas, Efstratios 1/2 20
Nikolaidis,I - Nenashev,A (1) was postponed until
Monday.
Round 2 (1996.03.12)
Alterman, Boris - Nikolaidis, Ioannis 1-0 59
Grivas, Efstratios - Kotronias, Vasilios 1/2 15
Nenashev, Alexander - Skembris, Spyridon 1/2 12
Miladinovic, Igor - Vouldis, Angelos 1/2 68
Atalik, Suat - Agnos, Demetrios 0-1 50
Round 3 (1996.03.13)
Agnos, Demetrios - Grivas, Efstratios 1/2 19
Kotronias, Vasilios - Nenashev, Alexander 1/2 47
Skembris, Spyridon - Alterman, Boris 1/2 23
Nikolaidis, Ioannis - Miladinovic, Igor 1/2 9
Vouldis, Angelos - Atalik, Suat 0-1 39
Round 4 (1996.03.14)
Alterman, Boris - Kotronias, Vasilios 1/2 23
Grivas, Efstratios - Vouldis, Angelos 1-0 42
Nenashev, Alexander - Agnos, Demetrios 1/2 47
Miladinovic, Igor - Atalik, Suat 1/2 12
Nikolaidis, Ioannis - Skembris, Spyridon 1/2 11
Round 5 (1996.03.15)
Agnos, Demetrios - Alterman, Boris 1/2 48
Kotronias, Vasilios - Nikolaidis, Ioannis 1/2 72
Skembris, Spyridon - Miladinovic, Igor 1/2 47
Atalik, Suat - Grivas, Efstratios 1/2 39
Vouldis, Angelos - Nenashev, Alexander 0-1 41
Karditsa GRE (GRE), III 1996. cat. XII (2528)
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Agnos, Demetrios m ENG 2460 * = = . = . . 1 . = 3.0 / 5 2595
2 Alterman, Boris g ISR 2585 = * . = . = = . 1 . 3.0 / 5 2605
3 Grivas, Efstratios g GRE 2475 = . * = . . = = . 1 3.0 / 5 2579
4 Kotronias, Vasilios g GRE 2610 . = = * = . . 1 = . 3.0 / 5 2616
5 Nenashev, Alexander g UZB 2595 = . . = * . = . . 1 2.5 / 4 2595
6 Miladinovic, Igor g GRE 2560 . = . . . * = = = = 2.5 / 5 2516
7 Skembris, Spyridon g GRE 2505 . = = . = = * . = . 2.5 / 5 2549
8 Atalik, Suat g TUR 2535 0 . = 0 . = . * . 1 2.0 / 5 2434
9 Nikolaidis, Ioannis g GRE 2530 . 0 . = . = = . * . 1.5 / 4 2478
10 Vouldis, Angelos m GRE 2425 = . 0 . 0 = . 0 . * 1.0 / 5 2285
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6) Beer-Sheba Cat 10 by Shay Bushinsky
-----------------------------------
The annual Beer-Sheba tournament was one point short of a cat. 11
event. Only in the last two rounds the eventual three winners pull
away from the chacing group that followed. Here are the final results:
Victor Michalevsky's 2600 performance will make him Israel's 27th GM
Beer-Sheba Cat. 10 March 1996 11 rounds
---------------------------------------
1. Greenfeld, Alon g ISR 2560 26 17.04.64 7
Mikhalevski, Victor m ISR 2495 57 12.07.72 7
Avrukh, Boris m ISR 2495 47 . . 7
4. Yudasin, Leonid g ISR 2635 16 08.08.59 5.5
Tunik, Gennady m RUS 2475 41 27.05.53 5.5
Mikhalevski, Alexander m ISR 2435 23 11.03.58 5.5
Bykhovsky, Avigdor g RUS 2405 13 05.03.55 5.5
8. Tseitlin, Mark D m ISR 2545 23 23.09.43 5
Shmuter, Leonid m UKR 2490 0 03.05.69 5
10. Kanstler, Boris m KGZ 2475 14 16.04.62 4.5
Finkel, Alexander g ISR 2500 30 01.01.75 4.5
12. Vydeslaver, Alik m ISR 2480 30 19.07.75 4
7) VI Torneo Fernando Marcote
--------------------------
1. Vera, Reynaldo g CUB 2495 32 07.01.61 6.5
2. Estremera Panos, Sergio f ESP 2385 53 . . 6
3. Vallejo Pons, Francisco f ESP 2355 42 21.08.82 5
Rivera, Daniel m URU 2345 40 15.08.59 5
5. Franco, Zenon g ESP 2470 58 12.05.56 4.5
6. Rodriguez Lopez, Rafael f ESP 2290 58 06.02.66 4.5
7. Del Rey, Diego f ARG 2350 24 12.02.72 4
8. Ruiz Diez, Julio Cesar ESP 2215 22 19.03.78 3.5
9. Cubas, Juan ESP 2165 7 . . 3
Hernandez, Yudania m CUB 2245 40 . . 3
8) 1st VISA NORDIC GRAND PRIX Reykjavik Iceland by Einar Karlsson
--------------------------------------------------------------
Jonathan Tisdall who had lead the tournament found himself
half a point behind with one to go after wrecking a good
position in round 8 he recovered to defeat Johann Hjartasson
in the final round. The joint leaders both drew, Agdestein
briefly against Curt Hansen and Nikolic in a long game against
Eduardas Rozentalis. My thanks to Einar Karlsson for the games
and results from this event.
As usual number of Bronstein's games are worth looking at.
Reykjavik (Iceland) Reykjavik International, III 1996.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Agdestein, Simen g NOR 2585 +30 +18 + 7 + 2 =10 - 3 +16 +19 = 6 7.0 /9 2728
2 Nikolic, Predrag g BIH 2645 +20 +22 +19 - 1 +32 =10 + 7 + 3 = 9 7.0 /9 2698
3 Tisdall, Jonathan D g NOR 2510 +31 +32 +12 =15 +13 + 1 =10 - 2 +16 7.0 /9 2715
4 Borge, Nikolaj m DEN 2455 +64 = 9 = 5 -40 +43 +32 +13 =10 +19 6.5 /9 2555
5 Van der Sterren, Paul g NED 2535 +49 =38 = 4 +28 =40 =21 =14 +23 +12 6.5 /9 2517
6 Hansen, Curt g DEN 2615 =42 +54 =24 =18 +25 =13 =15 +22 = 1 6.0 /9 2546
7 Hector, Jonny g SWE 2520 +58 +63 - 1 =23 +38 +40 - 2 +14 =10 6.0 /9 2515
8 Petursson, Margeir g ISL 2585 +27 =14 +38 -10 +41 =17 -19 +24 +21 6.0 /9 2532
9 Rozentalis, Eduardas g LTU 2605 +33 = 4 =14 +41 =17 =19 =11 +38 = 2 6.0 /9 2556
10 Stefansson, Hannes g ISL 2540 +59 +28 =13 + 8 = 1 = 2 = 3 = 4 = 7 6.0 /9 2605
11 Bronstein, David I g RUS 2455 +37 =15 =34 -32 +63 +28 = 9 -12 +31 5.5 /9 2451
12 Conquest, Stuart g ENG 2540 +35 +21 - 3 +24 -14 +34 =17 +11 - 5 5.5 /9 2498
13 Djurhuus, Rune m NOR 2505 +40 +52 =10 +16 - 3 = 6 - 4 +33 =17 5.5 /9 2492
14 Gretarsson, Helgi Ass g ISL 2450 +50 = 8 = 9 +20 +12 =15 = 5 - 7 =18 5.5 /9 2553
15 Gulko, Boris F g USA 2615 +51 =11 +17 = 3 =19 =14 = 6 -16 +38 5.5 /9 2545
16 Hjartarson, Johann g ISL 2570 +43 =24 +25 -13 +31 +18 - 1 +15 - 3 5.5 /9 2499
17 Olafsson, Helgi g ISL 2485 +44 +36 -15 +34 = 9 = 8 =12 =18 =13 5.5 /9 2508
18 Thorhallsson, Throstur m ISL 2445 +57 - 1 +43 = 6 +23 -16 +27 =17 =14 5.5 /9 2474
19 Gausel, Einar g NOR 2515 +55 +23 - 2 +27 =15 = 9 + 8 - 1 - 4 5.0 /9 2506
20 Halldorsson, Bragi ISL 2265 - 2 +64 +46 -14 =24 +45 -38 =36 +40 5.0 /9 2290
21 Lyrberg, Patrik m SWE 2425 +61 -12 =31 +58 +42 = 5 -22 +30 - 8 5.0 /9 2385
22 Raetsky, Alexander m RUS 2485 +39 - 2 -41 +54 =27 +42 +21 - 6 =23 5.0 /9 2360
23 Ulfarsson, Magnus Orn ISL 2290 +47 -19 +37 = 7 -18 +54 +44 - 5 =22 5.0 /9 2355
24 Van der Werf, Mark m NED 2400 +48 =16 = 6 -12 =20 =33 +40 - 8 +32 5.0 /9 2420
25 Yoos, John C USA 2345 =62 +56 -16 +33 - 6 -27 +60 =40 +42 5.0 /9 2299
26 Andreasen, Per DEN 2325 -36 +39 =44 -31 -37 +48 +55 =35 =30 4.5 /9 2162
27 De Kleuver, Esther wm NED 2210 - 8 +61 +47 -19 =22 +25 -18 =34 =28 4.5 /9 2352
28 Gretarsson, Andri A f ISL 2330 +46 -10 +35 - 5 +30 -11 -33 +53 =27 4.5 /9 2264
29 Gulko,A ---- -52 -44 =50 +57 +53 =31 -30 +54 =35 4.5 /9 2068
30 Gunnarsson, Arinbjorn ISL 2220 - 1 =57 =49 +46 -28 +52 +29 -21 =26 4.5 /9 2240
31 Gunnarsson, Jon Viktor ISL 2180 - 3 +53 =21 +26 -16 =29 =34 +41 -11 4.5 /9 2366
32 Jonasson, Benedikt f ISL 2280 +45 - 3 +52 +11 - 2 - 4 =53 +44 -24 4.5 /9 2345
33 Karason, Askell O ISL 2230 - 9 +50 =36 -25 +56 =24 +28 -13 =34 4.5 /9 2310
34 Olsen, Heini FAI 2325 =56 +62 =11 -17 +35 -12 =31 =27 =33 4.5 /9 2273
35 Pinkus, Lutz GER 2185 -12 +60 -28 +47 -34 =36 +45 =26 =29 4.5 /9 2154
36 Thorarinsson, Pall A ISL 2065 +26 -17 =33 -42 =58 =35 +51 =20 =41 4.5 /9 2272
37 Thorsson, Olafur ISL 2160 -11 +51 -23 =45 +26 -38 -41 +60 +53 4.5 /9 2242
38 Vidarsson, Jon G f ISL 2340 +60 = 5 - 8 +44 - 7 +37 +20 - 9 -15 4.5 /9 2394
39 Werner, Bernd-Michael GER 2165 -22 -26 -53 -56 +64 +59 =47 +50 +48 4.5 /9 2263
64 players competed.
9) GM Shirov defeats Ferret 2-0 in Internet Chess Club Match by Eric Peterson
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grandmaster Alexei Shirov, playing from Spain, defeated the computer program
"Ferret", playing from Seattle, in a 2-game match on the Internet Chess Club
on March 13. GM Shirov is currently ranked #9 in the world on the FIDE rating
list. Ferret is the 1995 World Amateur Microcomputer Champion. The silicon
was confident after defeating GM Boris Gulko 2-0 in an Internet Chess Club
match on January 28 (see article in Inside Chess, volume 9, issue 4, page 17).
The match used a time control of Game-in-30-minutes.
Both games featured the Ruy Lopez opening, and were surpisingly similar, even
though Shirov had White in Game 1, and Black in Game 2. Shirov displayed
classic "anti-computer" strategy by locking the center early. Then he
organized his pieces for a mating attack against the computer's king. The
Grandmaster sacrificed a knight and opened the g-file in both games, which
quickly led to the destruction of the computer's castled king position.
In Game 1, Ferret resigned when faced with a mate-in-5, and in Game 2 it
resigned after being forced to give up its queen to stop mate.
GM Shirov told the ICC audience after the match: "Actually I played pure
anti-computer chess. Nothing to do with real chess." The games testify to
the fact that Shirov does know how to play against computers!
10) 22nd National Women `A' Chess Championship, Salem, INDIA
--------------------------------------------------------
Report by Arvind Aaron
March 3-17, 1996. Sponsored by Golden Squares, Salem.
Untitled Mrunalini Kunte (born Dec 23, 1973) of Pune,
representing Maharashtra State
was the surprise winner in the 22nd National Women Championship
which concluded in Salem, a town 300 km south west of Madras in
the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Several-time champion IWM Bhagyashree Thipsay tied for first with Mrunalini
but was placed second on the tie-break. Significantly, all the players
were defeated atleast once and at the end of the penultimate round,
no less than five players had chances of finishing outright first!
Defending champion IWM Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman of Madras and
IWM Nisha Mohota could not take part as the event clashed
with their school final examinations.
The top four will represent India in the next Olympiad.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 Points Place
1. Anupama Gokhale wm 2200 * 0 0 0 = 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 5.5 7
2. Saheli Dhar wf 2205 1 * = 0 0 = 0 1 1 1 0 1 6.0 6
3. Bhagyashree Thipsay wm 2190 1 = * = = 1 0 = 1 = 1 1 7.5 2
4. Safira Shanaz 2040 1 1 = * 0 = 1 0 0 1 = 1 6.5 5
5. Saritha M.Reddy wm 2090 = 1 = 1 * = 1 = 1 = = 0 7.0 3
6. Pallavi G.Shah 2050 0 = 0 = = * 1 1 1 1 = 1 7.0 4
7. Sai Meera,M 2045 0 1 1 0 0 0 * 1 0 0 0 = 3.5 11
8. Kiran Agrawal wf 2040 0 0 = 1 = 0 0 * 1 1 0 = 4.5 9
9. Bindu K.Saritha wf 2100 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 * 0 0 = 3.5 10
10. S.Meenakshi 2070 0 0 = 0 = 0 1 0 1 * = 1 4.5 8
11. Mrunalini Kunte 2115 1 1 0 = = = 1 1 1 = * = 7.5 1
12. Pushpalata Mangal 2085 0 0 0 0 1 0 = = = 0 = * 3.0 12
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
11) Belgrade Yugometal - Women's Tournament.
---------------------------------------
After 8 rounds
1. Chiburdanidze, Maia (GM) g GEO 2515 18 17.01.61 6.5
2. Cramling, Pia (GM) g SWE 2525 43 23.04.63 6
3. Galliamova-Ivanchuk, Alisa (IM) g UKR 2480 30 18.01.72 5.5
4. Ioseliani, Nana (IM) g GEO 2485 28 12.02.62 5
5. Maric, Alisa (IM) g YUG 2435 59 10.01.70 4.5
6. Gaponenko, Inna g UKR 2390 53 22.06.76 4 *
Matveeva, Svetlana g RUS 2445 29 04.07.69 4
8. Skripchenko, Almira g MDA 2390 36 17.02.76 3.5
9. Bojkovic, Natasa g YUG 2400 41 03.09.71 3
10. Gaponenko, Inna g UKR 2390 53 22.06.76 2.5
Peng, Zhaoqin (IM) g NED 2410 55 08.05.68 2.5
12. Vuksanovic, Sanja m YUG 2285 41 . . 1
* The meaning of my notes here are unclear to me so maybe this is
just the wrong player!
12) MASTERS CLASSIC TESTING GROUND FOR TOP CHESSERS by Bobby Ang
-------------------------------------------------------------
The Philippine Chess Team has lately been experiencing a revival of
interest. It will be recalled that in the 1994 Moscow Olympiad it had been
a strong contender for a top ten placing before a disastrous last round loss
pushed the team back to 22nd place. More recently it earned a berth in the
World Team Championships by winning the Asian Team Championships over China,
Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, India, etc..
In a bid to improve its placing in the world hierarchy the Philippine Chess
Federation is trying to organize the strongest possible team for the Yerevan
Olympiad. GMs Eugene Torre and Rogelio Antonio have been seeded to its
Team, to be joined by the top two placers in two elimination tournaments to
be organized by the Federation.
The Far East Bank Masters Classic "Part I" started last Tuesday, 12 March
1996 at the Center Mall of the Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan, Metro
Manila. A very strong cast showed up to compete for the two slots up for
grabs : 5 IMs, 4 FMs and 16 National Masters. ELO-rating wise the favorite
was IM Nelson Mariano (2510), but no one can discount the chances of
GM-candidates Barcenilla and Donguines (the hero of its Moscow Olympiad
campaign), nor can the qualifications of former Philippine-team members IM
Ricardo de Guzman (former Asian Junior Champ), IM Barlo Nadera, FM Chito
Garma (who has over-fulfilled his IM norms and should soon be confirmed),NM
Bong Villamayor, NM Petronio Roca and NM Mirabeau Maga be overlooked.
The Tournament is a 9-round Swiss. Following are the games from the first
round of the tournament. Take note of the upset scored by Richard Bitoon
over IM Nelson Mariano. The rest of the games will be posted as soon as
available.
13) Malaysia-India Chess Match by SS Quah
-------------------------------------
A 12 round 36 game Scheveningen-style match was played in Kuala
Lumpur from Feb 28 to Mar 8. The sponsors were Tan & Tan Development
Berhad and Ipoh Garden , two companies where Dato' Tan Chin Nam,
the honorary life president of the Malaysian Chess Federation,
has substantial shareholdings. Dato' Tan was a former Fide
vice-president in the mid-80s and a prime mover behind the second USSR vs
Rest of the World match in London.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MALAYSIA-INDIA MATCH (Feb/Mar96) A1 A2 A3 B1 B2 B3 PTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A1 Mas, Hafizulhelmi f MAS 2290 xxxx xxxx xxxx 10== =00= ==== 5.0 2329
A2 Ooi Chern Ee MAS 2220 xxxx xxxx xxxx 0=00 =01= 11=1 6.0 2386
A3 Mok Tze-Meng MAS 2240 xxxx xxxx xxxx 100= 0=00 =0=0 3.0 2193
B1 Ravi, Lanka m IND 2390 01== 1=11 011= xxxx xxxx xxxx 8.0 2375
B2 Mithrakanth, Poorna Sharma m IND 2360 =11= =10= 1=11 xxxx xxxx xxxx 8.5 2408
B3 Murugan, Krishnamoorthy m IND 2410 =0== 00=0 =1=1 xxxx xxxx xxxx 5.5 2221
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14) 5th annual ZSG/Computerij Weekend Tournament March 8-10 by Henri Spijkerman
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
GUREVICH WINS 5TH ZSG/COMPUTERIJ-TOURNAMENT
Mikhail Gurevich convincingly won the 5th annual weekend-tournament
in Zwolle, The Netherlands. The 'Belgian' grandmaster started
with 5 points out of 5 rounds, personally dealing with a few of his
rivals like 1995-winner Dimitri Reinderman and Chinese IGM Ronguang
Ye along the way.
In the last round a draw quick draw against Chuchelov sufficed for an
unshared win.
Final Rankings ZSG/Computerij Open Weekend-Tournament
8-10 March 1996 - Group A (73 players)
No. Name Score WP SB rat. TPR
------------------------------------------------------------
1. Gurevich, M. 5.5 22.5 20.00 2590 2752
2. Reinderman, D. 5.0 23.5 18.00 2495 2543
Chuchelov, V 5.0 22.0 17.00 2510 2590
Miezis, N. 5.0 20.5 16.50 2515 2416
5. Kovalev, A 4.5 24.5 17.00 2495 2480
Siebrecht, S. 4.5 22.0 16.25 2395 2189
Schebler, G. 4.5 19.5 13.50 2420 2356
Clemens, A. 4.5 17.0 11.50 2151 2259
9. Mossakovski, F. 4.0 24.5 15.50 2200 2401
Ye, R. 4.0 24.5 14.00 2475 2427
Hausrath, D. 4.0 21.0 11.50 2390 2262
Jonkman, H. 4.0 20.5 11.00 2325 2280
Van Wessel, R. 4.0 20.0 11.00 2325 2145
Hoogendoorn, J. 4.0 19.5 11.00 2335 2228
Hendriks, W. 4.0 19.0 12.25 2425 2194
Cornelisse, J.J.A. 4.0 18.0 11.00 1936 2179
17. Habibi, A. 3.5 23.0 11.75 2405 2150
Jonker, M. 3.5 22.0 10.00 2300 2262
Van Gelder, B. 3.5 21.5 12.25 2041 2312
Marks, H. 3.5 21.0 11.00 2049 2253
Lindeman, J.W. 3.5 19.5 8.50 1909 2121
Berendsen, R. 3.5 19.0 10.75 1928 2015
Donk, M. 3.5 19.0 9.75 2340 2056
Oudhof, J. 3.5 18.0 9.25 2033 2015
Plomp, M. 3.5 18.0 8.50 1835 2106
Middelburg, T. 3.5 17.5 9.00 1994 2071
Bundgen, A. 3.5 17.5 7.75 2106 2040
15) Komputer Korner by Al Tomalty
-----------------------------
You can contact the author Al Tomalty at TOMALA@tc.gc.ca with any
queries and comments about this article. He produces Komputer Korner
four times a year, the articles belong to him and appear in at
least one Canadian Magazine.
M-Chess Pro 5, Chess Genius 4, Rebel 7 and Bookup for Windows
-------------------------------------------------------------
M-Chess Pro 5
-------------
Pursuant to it's victory at the 1995 World Micro Computer Chess Championship,(See
EP 135) MCPRO 5 is now out for $200 or $100 for the upgrade. Traditionally,
features have always been a weak feature of Mchess but that has been corrected
for the 5th edition. Along with a world champion playing program, you now also
get a package full of nifty features. The improvements are
1) The opening library has been expanded from 350000 to 400000 moves.
2) A new book learning feature allows the program to instantly replay previously
played moves in a position that it has seen before.
3) Games are classified by opening name and ECO code
4) The program will resign if it's situation is hopeless and the human has at
least 1 minute left on his/her clock.
5) You now can offer a draw to the program.
6) An undocumented feature is that the program recognizes minimum materiel needed
to mate and will declare a draw if both sides are below the minimum.
7) You can resign and the program will rate your game and adjust your rating.
8) The text is able to be selected in 7 languages.
9) There is an analysis feature that enables computer analysis of a game at any
time control that you set. You get the evaluation of the position from White's
perspective at each ply before the move that was actually played , the ply depth,
and a one lin e alternative variation at each ply if the computer has found a
better move. To read this file, you have to either print it or output it to a
text file. The text file then has to be read from outside MCP5 by a text
reader/editor. The whole procedure involves you playing a game and then choosing
"log analysis" and then "analyze game".
10) You can now print a user book up to 98 ply( 49 moves).
11) The opening name is now displayed.
12) Fischer time controls have been added.
13) An auto cycle feature allows the program to play both sides and to start new
games without human intervention.
14) Archived positions can be viewed in CA1.4 or Bookup.
15) There are now 20 installations( equivalent to 20 copies of the program).
16) There is an archive game feature where you can read PGN file formats( the
format of the Internet).
You can copy the PGN file of games that you have downloaded from the Internet and
put it into a MCP5 archive file. You can then add to this file 1 game at a time
with header info by date, player names, site and result fields. You can even have
the program analyze the whole archive at once with the same features as in no.9
above.
There are a few faults. These are
A) The opening lines in the openings editor have to be put in twice (once from
white's point of view and once from black's).
B) The piece graphics need improving.
C) Only 1 size of board is available.
D) The next best moves feature needs a minimum evaluation window so that when the
next best feature is activated, the program will not play a vastly inferior move
to the previous one.
E) the data base functions are rudimentary.
F) The rate players game feature only allows 1 player to be rated.
G) The mouse will only work if you start the program in DOS mode.
H) No on screen help
All in all, this is a very impressive piece of chess software with the
best opening editor on the market(See EP#135) I would score it 9/10 on this
feature. It is also the strongest playing program (See EP # 135 for it's World
micro victory) with 10/10 on this feature. It's new archive feature acts as a
rudimentary data base but unfortunately has no search engine (3/10 on this
feature). Therefore, overall it rates a 22/30.
I have decided to rate the playing programs on the 3 features of:
1) strength
2) DB capabilities
3) opening/user book editor features.
These are by far the most important features and most of the other minor features
are incorporated in most progra ms. Every now and then a new feature is so nifty
that it will warrant a bonus point . An example would be for a program to
incorporate a rate your play feature for more than 1 player based on results of
games.
Chess Genius 4
--------------
Chess Genius 4 (CG4) for Windows is now out. It will not work with DOS
alone. Upgrade price is approx. $100. A word of warning about Chess Genius3 . The
merge book feature was documented but never actually worked in CG3. It works in
CG4. The new feature s are:
1) user opening books can now be merged but curiously, this feature is not
documented. A word of advice when merging books: Always load the larger book
first and then activate the merge process.
2) Game details can be entered and are stored as game header info.
3) CG4 has a search engine which will search databases for colours, sites, game
results, game length, year, and ECO code. The searches are much slower than the
databases CB5,CA 1.4 or Nic3.
4) Computer analysis can be added as a text comment when activating the analyze
game feature.
5) Text comments can now be added to the moves.
6) An analyze database (DB) command will allow the program to analyze every game
of the DB without human intervention.
7) CG4 can read and write games in PGN format (Internet).
8) It works with a TASC Smartboard.
9) Fischer time controls are now available.
10) There are an unlimited no. of installs but the program disk is required to be
inserted at irregular intervals.
11) The maximum no. of move alternatives showing up on the screen in the opening
books has been increased to 20. The program will actually edit an unlimited no.
but only the first 20 move alternatives will show up.
12) There are now 15 icon buttons that enable 27 different commands when using
both left and right mouse buttons.
13) The chessboard can be expanded to a number of different sizes.
14.) The opening book is now much quicker when editing, and when you are making
moves on the screen, there is now no delay.
And now for faults:
1) The icons should give a self description as soon as the mouse passes over
them.
2) The program comes only in English and German
3) The figurine notation has been dropped for the opening book editor and the
move search information screen.
4) There should be an icon function for go to move.
Even though I rate it's openings book editor a 7/10, it has a number of
things that could be improved.
5) A 29 move limit is not enough
6) The editor does not allow pawn promotions. This seems to be a particularly
difficult thing to program because the chess tree within CA1.4 doesn't allow them
either.
7) Only 4 evaluation symbols are allowed. Richard Lang, the programmer doesn't
realize that us humans also want to have evaluations on the opening moves in the
editor. Thus, a minimum of 7 symbols are needed. 1 for the = sign and 2 each for
the followin g signs from white and black's perspective +/=/=, +/=, and +/-.
8) The editor does not show what line(s) the transpositions come from , but this
is a common omission from all the opening editors.
9) The user book name still does not show on the screen
10) The merge book feature should have a work % "thermometer".
11) In CG3, one could click on the book move in the window to force a move but
this feature has been taken out.
12) When you are saving a user book, all the entries in the directory window are
greyed out, even though they are accessible.
Despite the above faults in the openings editor, it is still the one I
use in constructing and maintaining my electronic repertoire and I rate it a
7/10. As far as playing strength is concerned, it gets a 9/10. It's DB feature
rates a 6/10 for an overall rating of 22/30.
Rebel 7
-------
And now for the review of Rebel 7 which costs the same as the other 2
programs and is written for Windows 3.1/95 and DOS. Overall it's rating is also
22/30 ( 5/10 for opening editor, 8/10 for DB and 9/10 for playing program).
Rebel 7 didn't enter the World Micro but in tests against humans and other
computers, it has shown that it is just as strong as the above 2 programs. It has
a functional data base with a search engine, sort feature, and add and delete
game function. It can search on names, colour, text fields, date, score, exact
moves, and position. Instead of stats, you get what is known as overviews.
These are in 6 different types and can be written to a text file and printed.
1) Overview of 3 types of ELO ratings for all players (start ELO, av. of
opponents, and new ELO.)
2) Top 40 based on % of certain tournaments/matches
3) Top 40 ELO
4) Individual data sets of tournaments or
5) matches
6) overview of usage of book openings by players.
Conversion programs from Chessbase to Rebel 7, Nicbase to Rebel 7, and
Rebel 7 to Nicbase are available. Among all the industry standard features, Rebel
7 has the ability to include the no. of transpositions available for both sides.
The degree of select ivity can be set from complete brute force to complete
selectivity. It also shows you how many selectivity variations are chosen and the
% of the total. It has PGN import-export facility as well as analysis of EPD
files. It connects to both the PC auto board and the Auto 232 board. 5 different
playing styles are possible along with the usual piece, colour choices, and time
levels. A combination feature can be set to search mainly for combos. although
this weakens the program in normal game mode.
Faults: Apart from the opening editor drawbacks See EP # 135,
I have found the following:
1) You can't save files to floppies from within the program.
2) The piece graphics are not quite up to the best programs
3) The manual states that its opening books contain 700000 plies when in fact the
files themselves reveal only 280000 bytes. The add-on opening books for Rebel 7
are also a bit misleading. It turns out that the 15000000 moves that were quoted
are distributed in several opening book packages. These packages total no
greater than 4000000 moves for any 1 entire opening system. Thus the true maximum
no of add-on opening moves supplied by Rebel 7 is 4000000 and not 15000000 as
previously shown in the chart i n EP 135.
Bookup for Windows
-------------------
Bookup for Windows is the world's only stand-a-lone opening book editor.
This in itself is a huge drawback for us patzers.. (See below) Last time I gave
the DOS version 8 a scathingly bad review but all my objections (except for the
lack of a strong playing program to evaluate positions) have been overcome in
the new Windows version.
It has amazing features such as
1) Automatic file save (No need to save file).
2) Automatic candidate move save feature ( All you do is mouse in the moves)
3) Instantaneous candidate move save ( No time is spent waiting)
4) 9 Informant style move evaluations
5) Unlimited no. of candidate moves allowed
6) Screen shows which book is open
7) Ability to view multi books on the screen at the same time
8) Ability to take a file of PGN formatted games and strip away a fixed no. of
opening moves of these games to create an opening book by itself in an automated
process
9) Ability to combine different opening books
10) Ability to prune a book automatically
11) Fast forward button to next branching or fast backward to previous branching
12) ability to export/import position to either Chess Genius, Mchess Pro, Hiarcs,
Zarkov or Wchess. All of these programs except Wchess will place their
annotations in the Bookup file.
It also has other standard features of opening editors such as:
1) print opening book
2) print diagram
3) Depth of each candidate move
4) comments in individual move windows
5) computer plays one or both sides out of the book
6) add ECO opening code to each position.
7) Add on opening books totalling 40000 moves are available
8) Bookup has a unique way of putting in the move evaluation for each candidate.
You play the move and then choose a rate symbol.. By taking back the move you can
then see the symbol which has been saved automatically.
All of these features do not come without a price however. Upgrade price
for previous DOS users is $39 U.S. but new Canadian buyers can expect to pay
around $250 Can. Apparently the Internet version is available for free download.
The diacritics and backsolving features are essentially useless and each unique
position in Bookup databases takes up 40Bytes instead of the standard 2 Bytes.
Bookup is the best opening book editor for titled players but for us patzers who
want unbiased help with the evaluati on of a move, it is of little use. It is too
much trouble to load the Bookup position in an outside playing program just to
see the playing program evaluation. I also wish it also had a large editable ECO
opening book add on.
Another feature that I would like to see in all of the opening editors (
only Rebel 7 has this ability) is the ability to convert other opening book files
to it's own format. In the coming months, I hope to rate Fritz4, CM5000, and
Hiarcs 4
The following chart won't improve your chess but it will give you an idea
of what exactly is meant by the annotation symbols that GM's use.
Komputer Korner Annotation Table.
Evaluation symbol % score for white % of a pawn ahead No. of tempos ahead
= or =/( 50 .00 0
+/=/= or ( 56 .16 0.5
+/= 62 .33 1
+/- 76 .67 2
+ - 90 1.0 3
+/-+/- >99 > 1.33 4 or more
The difference between the = sign and the=/ (sign in row 1 is that the (
symbol represents a more dynamic position with more winning chances for both
sides. In row 2, the ( symbol means the same thing as per the above with the
exception that white has s lightly more winning chances than black.
Unfortunately, Sahovski Informator insists on using the =/( symbol for a material
inequality position where there is sufficient compensation. Unfortunately that
does not tell us what the winning chances are for both sides.
Actually, in practice, it has come to mean that it is a passive equality where a
draw is the most likely outcome, which leaves a hole in the symbol annotations.
There is no generally accepted symbol for the saying" both sides have equal
chances". The ( sy mbol can't be used for this because it does not represent an
equality (See Axiom No. 3 of Al Tomalty's 10 Commandments of Opening Theory,
available from a Crowther's The Week in Chess back issue on the Internet.). I
propose that the =/( symbol be used in these cases.
This then differentiates between a dynamic equality where both sides have chances
to win, and the = symbol by itself which should mean that a draw is the likely
outcome. The interpretation used by Sahovski Informator is thus misleading and
the situation i s not resolved by the <> symbol that Informator uses for the term
"counterplay". The reason is we don't know how much counterplay there is in the
particular position. If the counterplay symbol was used only in the cases where
both sides had equal winning chances, then we wouldn't need the =/( symbol.
Unfortunately that isn't the case and we are left with a misleading counterplay
symbol and a misleading compensation for material symbol. This has persisted for
30 years without anything being done to correc t it. Shame on Informator!!!
In a forthcoming book about piece sacrifices in the opening, I state that
I have found only 6 positions in chess opening theory where one side has 3 pawns
or greater material difference but the other side has enough positional
compensation so that the p osition is stable and unclear. In all other positions,
positional compensation can at most amount to 2 pawns in the opening. Thus the
CG4 contempt factor should be increased to a maximum of 2 pawns. Of course in the
late middlegame and endgame it is possi ble to dream up positions where a queen
might be equal to a minor piece especially when advanced passed pawns are
concerned, but that is not our concern here. The above chart assumes that the
positional compensation for the inferior side's pawn/ material disadvantage has
already been factored in.
There are many positions in bishop or rook endgames where one side is 1 or 2
pawns up and cannot win. Sometimes it is because of positional compensation for
the other side and sometimes in opposite colour bishop endings it is because of
square colour cont rol. I had Knut Neven search his 450000 game DB for winning
%'s of opposite colour bishops. You will be surprised to know that 40% of all
opposite colour bishop endings are won. The no. of pawns for each side was not
taken into account.. Of course, some o f these are because of an advantage of 2
or 3 or more pawns but of course this does not completely explain the discrepancy
between this figure of 40 % wins and the figure quoted by most GM commentators of
5% wins! In Beliavsky's book on "Winning Endgame Technique", he quotes some
Russian research on the results of rook and 4 pawns versus rook and 3 pawns with
the side with 4 pawns having the outside passed pawn on either the rook , knight,
bishop, or central file. Their results stated that the winning % differed in a
range from 60% to 80% depending on which file the passed pawn was on. I had Knut
Neven check this out on his 450000 game DB. The results were surprising and
contradictory to the Russian results. Knut found no difference between what file
the passed pawn was on and the stronger side's winning chances. In every case,
the winning % was approximately 77%, thus contradicting the Russian results. I
would appreciate it if any readers could conduct the same experiment and report
on the findings t o me at the CFC. Note: You should have a DB of at least 100000
IM and GM games. I have many important ideas for other searches but unfortunately
do not have the time to carry them out so I am asking for reader input.
Stop the Presses: ChessBase for the Macintosh computers is now out. It has the
exact same features as Chessbase for Windows