Computer Chess -- Yesterday's Challenge

It may surprise you to learn that it's more difficult for a computer to play poker, perhaps the world's most popular card game, than chess, the pastime of deep thinkers.

Unlike chess, poker deals with tricky matters such as uncertainty, probability, guesswork and deception - human wiles that a chess-playing robot, such as the one that beat world champion Garry Kasparov in 1997, doesn't need to consider.

As a result, computer experts say, poker is more like real life - with all its subtleties and complications - than chess is, with its fixed rules and vast but finite possibilities.

"Chess might be a better test of raw computer power," said Christian Lebiere, a psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. But computer poker programs "are indeed more like human problem-solving."

Read "Computers find poker, like real life, a tougher challenge than chess" at The Mercury News.

A Perfect Pair

I bet you didn't know that GM Maurice Ashley's sister Alicia is a professional boxer. They would undoubtedly be prohibitive favorites for the Sibling Doubles Chessboxing Championship.

Here is an excerpt from a recent interview with Alicia Ashley:

ESB: Your other brother, Maurice Ashley, is the first black grandmaster in chess. Who is better, you at Chess or him at boxing?

Alicia: (Laughing) Probably equally horrible. (laughing) I would say, me, because I at least know the moves. (Laughing) He doesn't know boxing at all; I don't even think he knows what a jab is.

ESB: Does he ever come to your fights to cheer you on?

Alicia: Only a couple of my amateur fights, the one or two at the Garden he has been to. All my pro fights have been away, so he hasn't been to my pro fights. We are really trying to get a pro fight in New York, cause just the people at the gym would be a huge crowd.

ESB: Did you hear about the new sport of ChessBoxing in Europe?

Alicia: (laughing) I have never heard of that.

ESB: Yeah, it's like alternating rounds and you can win by checkmate or knockout.

Alicia: (laughing) I don't think they have much to do with themselves over there.

ESB: You would never compete in something like that if Maurice trained you?

Alicia: (laughing) No, I think they would checkmate me, although if we boxed first?

ESB: (Laughing) Yeah, I mean, there is a lot of strategy involved in that. Would your parents rather have had another chess player in the family or another boxer?

Alicia: My mom, she has never seen me boxing; actually, she has never seen me in karate, either, but she is very proud of me and what I have done. So they are happy, you know. She is a world champion here, and he is a grand master there, so they are happy in that sense.

ESB: Which boxer do you think would make a good chess player with the right training and why?

Alicia: Mayweather because I think he uses strategy a lot. When he went in to fight Gatti, people expected him to run around and he didn't. He comes out and surprises you, and now people know he is not just a mover and he can stand there and fight. So he employs strategy and that is what you need in chess.

Reubens-Landey standings after Round 3

#	Name	ID	Rtng	Post	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Tot
1	Jason M Rihel	12551205	1903	1918	B---	W10	W4	3.0
2	Brian D Salomon	12685114	2020	2033	D9	W7	W5	2.5
3	Bryant C Vernon	12537474	1909	1921	H---	W9	W10	2.5
4	Farzad Abdi	12868372	1982	1981	W11	W6	L1	2.0
5	Simon K Warfield	12625572	2179	2170	H---	W11	L2	1.5
6	Natasha Christiansen	11366805	1872	1860	B---	L4	D8	1.5
7	Daniel Schmidt	12603571	1824	1828	H---	L2	W11	1.5
8	Jonathan M Lee	12742928	1707	1713	H---	H---	D6	1.5
9	Philip A Nutzman	12842960	1865	1861	D2	L3	H---	1.0
10	Robert J Oresick	12659519	1608	1599	B---	L1	L3	1.0
11	Lior Rozhansky	12825910	1769	1751	L4	L5	L7	0.0

Tentative Round 4 Pairings

Salomon - Rihel
Abdi - Vernon
Warfield - Lee
Christiansen - Schmidt
Nutzman - Oresick
Rozhansky (1 pt. bye)

Still more drinking chess

From Liquor Snob:

On paper, Power Hour doesn't really seem like it's that big of a deal. You take a shot of beer every minute for an hour. Sounds straightforward enough, especially for the drunkards in our audience....

In practice, [however], the whole Power Hour thing is like trying to play chess while riding a rhino - or that's what it seems like about halfway through.

Yet another twelve step program

Spending 16 hours a day on CTS? Have so many turn-based games going that you can't keep count any more? Still dreaming about chess?

You might be suffering from the little understood affliction of board game addiction. Fear not, there are people available to help. Board Gamers Anonymous (BGA) is an organization committed to helping board game addicts and their families.

"Most people are shocked when they hear about our group," states David, the founding member of the Newark chapter of BGA, "most people have never heard of board game addiction, but I can assure you it is a very real problem."

No doubt Tempo will eventually find his way to the Amsterdam chapter.

Passerby

Hey, get out of the way! I'm trying to get a shot of the chess set.

Chess Poetry IX

"A Game of Chess"

The cafe revels in the smell of things sweet
Of coffee and pastries and other such treats
And the man bathed in the window light
With a glow in his eyes quite dark
And a twist of the lips quite stark
Over squares of black and squares of white
He beckons with a smile like a ghost wise
Whilst the man by the clock just lingers and sighs

Read more...

Chess Plumbing

Link

On the one hand

My interest was piqued by a post at The 64 Square Jungle about the plight of NM Alexander Stamnov. Chessdad64 reports:

National Master Alexander Stamnov, a virtual fixture on the Chicago area chess scene, has been confined for over three months at a detention facility in El Paso, Texas on immigration violations... Alex ... has been one of the most active tournament players in Illinois and the country -- 323 events since 1998, he has been a mainstay at local chess clubs and the North Avenue Chess Pavilion over the years.

Tomorrow evening, many members of the Illinois chess community will join together for a benefit that will include GM Simuls and a buffet dinner, with the proceeds going to assist Alex.... Those supporting this cause include GM Dmitry Gurevich, GM Nikola Mitkov, GM Vladimir Georgiev, IM Jan van de Mortel, chess organizer Zack Fishman, and many others as well.

My initial thoughts were along these lines -- Is he being held improperly? If not (i.e., if he illegally entered the country or overstayed his visa), why all the concern?

An anonymous commenter offered the following:

Stamnov entered the country legally. He should have applied for political asylum within one year; he did not. Were he to return to (former Yugoslav) Macedonia, it would not be good for his health.

One side of my brain says, "Hey, the rules are the rules", while the other says, "Surely a refugee deserves a political asylum hearing even if he's 7 years late in asking for it." What do you think?

Before the days of punch cards

Seoul Hero's Nathan Bauman has posted an interesting piece about the first analog chess "computer," which was invented around the turn of the century by the Spanish inventor Torres y Quevedo.

According to Nathan:

The post contains all the pictographic evidence I can find on the internet for the first two chess computers, including a new color photograph showing the workings of the first machine in more detail than was the case with the only other photograph of this machine. I think it's kind of sad how unknown this machine is, considering how far ahead of its day it was when it was invented.

Remember when...

...all the excitement was about the 10,000th visit to BCC Weblog?

50,000 Baby!!

Reubens-Landey standings after Round 2

2.0 Abdi, Farzad (1982)
2.0 Rihel, Jason (1903)

1.5 Salomon, Brian (2020)
1.5 Vernon, Bryant (1909)

1.0 Warfield, Simon (2179)
1.0 Christiansen, Natasha (1872)
1.0 Lee, Jonathan (1707)
1.0 Oresick, Robert (1608)

0.5 Nutzman, Philip (1865)
0.5 Schmidt, Daniel (1824)

0.0 Rozhansky, Lior (1769)

Tentative pairings for Round 3:

Rihel - Abdi
Salomon - Vernon
Warfield - Christiansen
Lee - Oresick
Schmidt - Rozhansky
Nutzman (1/2 pt bye)

"...like fight club, except with more bishops"

whiffer likes to play a variant called Full Impact Chess.

...its just like normal chess except when you lose a piece you were going to use or otherwise didnt want to lose, you punch your opponent. the best part is, most people dont know theyre playing full impact chess until that first hit.

Virtual Chess Babe Championship

Follow all the action at the Sims Bachelor Chess Competition:

• Chess Championship
  
• Round 1 - Angelina vs. Becky
• Round 1 - Cecilie vs. Cassidy
• Round 1 - Eva vs. Daniella
• Round 1 - Teresa vs. Mira
  
• Round 2
  
• Round 3 - Eva vs. Cassidy

Fritzky

Over at Yahoo! Chess there is another man vs. machine competition taking place, one that has very little to do with chess.

Like any web community, Yahoo! Chess has an Instant-Message window, where the chatter alternates between chess nerds flirting and homophobic racists spouting names at Bush-whacking foreigners. That is, until about a year ago, when the streets of our cyber neighborhood -- like those of any thriving economy -- attracted the online equivalent of hookers. In order to drive traffic to their pornographic web sites, these clever bots engage players with flirtatious chatter crafted to simulate genuine chess-playing hotties.

Read "Return of the Cyber Street Walkers" at Who Has Time For This?.

Mill Valley shoots down chess board

The Mill Valley (CA) City Council voted 3-1 to reject the proposal to install a chess board in its town center plaza. Apparently the Council was persuaded by "well thought out" arguments like this:

...others feared giant tour busses would inundate the town, and the resulting traffic would put the children at risk.

{turn on sarcasm} I know I would have been one of the first to book my seat for the cross-country tour bus trip to see the giant chess board. {turn off sarcasm} Idiots!!

Despite the setback, there are always rays of hope. Colonie, NY resident Denis Burke's campaign to have chess tables installed across the Capital District has had some early success.

Related Posts: Size doesn't matter - Save the Mill Valley Chess Board!!

...but hopefully, not a mirage

Maverick Philosopher explains that chess is an oasis.

Keep down the racket

Having previously reviewed chess playing among the NBA set, the Sun Star next takes a look at tennis players who have caught Caissa's bug.

Chess boards you can't misplace

Chinese archaeologists have found two ancient chess boards engraved on the Great Wall.

The two boards, one for Chinese chess and the other for the ancient game "Tiger Eats Sheep," were engraved on a stone in front of a Great Wall beacon tower possibly in the Song Dynasty (960-1279)...

Tiger Eats Sheep ... I think that might have been the original name of the Trompowsky Attack.

But women's billiards gets higher TV ratings

"Whoever called snooker 'chess with balls' was rude, but right." - Clive James

Hat Tip: Fustar