In Praise of the Machine? - Thoughts From an Aspiring Woodpusher...

Back in the early 80s I had, as a trainer, a Fidelity Chess Challenger 7 dedicated computer. A little bit of research seemed to show that it was rated, depending on the level, anywhere between 1100 and 1900. I figure 1100 was the 5 second response time and 1900 was the 24 hour response time. Tournament mode probably put the machine around 1350, and I think I can verify that based on the memory of my games with it vis-a-vis my rating at the time.

I think it could be agreed that one of the best ways to improve your chess is to play, and these days we have a wide range of options open to us.

From a machine perspective, its safe to say that the vast majority of commonly available programs out there can completely destroy a player like me, and I think that that may be true of most of us now. I was flabbergasted to see that some of these program's ratings were estimated to be above 3000. Wasn't 3000 supposed to be God's rating?

So, in installing chess engines on my computers, both for analysis as well as practice play, I wasn't all that worried about getting the "strongest engine." Oh, getting the strongest engine makes a lot of sense from an analysis perspective, I agree with that, but from a playing perspective, not so much, I thought. From a playing and practicing perspective it seems to me that you want stronger opposition, certainly, but you don't want opposition that you'll never win against. That gets discouraging. What I found interesting is that the chess engines I started trying - GNUChess, FairyMax V4.8, Scidlet V4.2.2 (Yes, I'm a Free Software Linux Geek. Moving on...) didn't seem to have "level" switches that I could see. There didn't seem to be an elegant way of hobbling the program. Everyone seemed to simply assume you'd want it playing at God strength all the time. Running the engines through Xboard, I managed to specify the depth level the engines would use. I found I could beat FairyMax at a depth level of 2, but am still working on a depth level of 3. Of course, these types of engines have a default depth level of 17, I think! FairyMax also had the advantage of not pegging my CPU.

What's your favorite program?

Computers, especially 30 years ago, were big practice deals because you could have an opponent anytime you wanted. These days another great option that is available is, of course, online play.

I'm divided when it comes to online play. Overwhelmingly my experience - and I can't claim much - is with FICS, the Free Internet Chess Server. I find most games online are played very, very quickly. I've never been a big speed chess player. OTB, it becomes a race to see if you can keep alive for longer than your opponent's flag stays up. Online you add issues of mouse clicks and lag into the mix. I've just not lept into it.

On the other hand, just like many things these days, I think a significant portion of the future of chess is online, and I'd love to see the US Chess community figure out a way of doing "official games" online. From what I understand, the USCF is trying to do this again. Their track record to date has not been good at this type of thing...and that discussion opens up whole 'nother can of worms, I'm sure!

What does everyone here use for online play, and what do you think are its best advantages?

Last, but certainly not least for members of the BCC, there is the option of challenging and practicing with your fellow club members! The value of this option cannot be discounted. Take advantage of it! Remember the Club is open Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for open house if you can make it. You may not find Bobby Fisher, but you'll probably find someone who can give you a challenging and enjoyable game.

-Doc Kinne

BCC Member, USCF #12186200

Automatic Membership Email Update

In our effort to retain our members, the Boylston Chess Club has as of this week instituted an automatic e-mail notification of when your membership expires. If your membership expired sometime within the last year or so, you may have gotten an e-mail earlier this week.

The e-mailing program was written by me, Jason Rihel, and it depends on the accuracy of our records and the accuracy of my code. This means that there may be glitches in the coming days that, despite my many test runs, may have been missed. If you receive a renewal reminder and you think it is in error, please e-mail the club. This especially may have happened if you renewed recently and our record-keeping has not caught up, but we also may have made typos into our database.

Also, if you want to be sure to get a reminder when your membership expires, please e-mail us updated address information. Then humans will intervene over our computer overlords.

Doc Kinne's Story, Part III

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet...

Some things are different in this new 21st century world of chess!

We live in an age where everything must be done yesterday. In my day-to-day life as an astronomical technologist I contribute to such a situation, but its ramifications can still boggle my mind.

Part and parcel with me getting back into chess, and because the BCC really does need Tournament Directors (all the activity you see at the BCC really is on the backs of 2-3 TDs. While, obviously, they do a wonderful job, at one point they're going to get tired, or life will call them away to other things. We need to recruit and train the next generations of Directors and Organizers), I decided to renew my USCF Tournament Director certification. During the July $10 Open I introduced myself to Bernardo and offered to help out in the future.

Back in the 80s when I directed tournaments with Joe Ball (who is still, to this day, organizing and directing tournaments in central NY! Some of us truly get to be fixtures, and I don't just mean Viktor Korchnoi!), we paired tournaments with cards filled out for each player.

Remember these?

I still distinctly remember Joe laying out the cards for a round in score groups, quickly swap! swap!-ing them around to get the needed color allocations, filling out the pairings on a sheet by hand, and putting them on the wall for us. Afterwards Joe would fill out the tournament report by hand, mail it into the Federation, and a couple of months later the new rating would make itself known on our "Chess Life" mailing label.

Today, its all done by computer program.

I really didn't get to see the pairing process. The July $10 Open had just over 50 participants, which edged it into a Category C Tournament class. Bernardo had his hands full, and I didn't want to bother him.

However, when the tournament was over and most everyone had gone, I watched, and Bernardo explained, while he entered in the remaining data and sent the tournament to the Federation. The form was filled out online and sent over the wire. "That's it," Bernardo said. "That's all there is to it."

"You mean its rated? Now?" I said.

"Yes," he replied. I was somewhat flabbergasted. However, upon getting home, I got onto the USCF website and found my section of the tournament, and my new rating, right there!

It's an amazing world we live in. But I still want my flying car! And my Moonbase!

Moonbase Alpha

---Doc Kinne, USCF: 12186200

Simon Warfield is the 2011 BCF U2200 Champion

Simon Warfield won the 2011 Reubens Landey tournament, making him the U2200 BCF Champion. He had 4 of 4 points - he mated Ted Cross with about 2 seconds on his clock after he broke a very tense, seemingly drawn position in the rook and pawns endgame.

Simon has won the Reubens Landey and title in 2011, 2008, 2004, 2002, 2000.

His rating moved to 2192 after this tournament. He has come close to achieving master status over the years. Oddly, his highest rating - 2200 (P5) - came as his first rating after playing in the 1994 New England Masters as "unrated."

Congratulations Simon.

Doc Kinne's Story, Part II

Less Powerful Than (Any) Locomotive...

So, 30 July was my first competitive Chess Tournament in 11 years.

My score ended up being 0-4.

But really it was less horrible than it sounds. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!


* * *

The July $10 Open was meant simply as a re-injection into competitive chess for me. I'd not overly prepared for it, so I didn't go in with any inflated expectations.

In round 1 I was against a 1571 rated player, 388 points higher than I am. Statistically I stood a 9% chance of winning against him.

I was proud of the game. At the end, both of our clocks had less than one minute remaining left. My opponent was impressed as well.

The 2nd round got away from me. Don't know really what happened yet, but at 1609 I had a 6.5% statistical chance of winning the game. It was more than just statistics this time, though. I didn't like how I played.

My third round opponent was rated 1474 giving me a 15% statistical chance of winning. I fought him down to a Rook-and-Pawn endgame. What killed me were two connected passed pawns on the a and b files, despite me being a pawn up in material. I was proud of this one as well.

The biggest disappointment, of course, was the 4th round. Playing a 1098 I had a 64% statistical chance of beating him. I overplayed a Queenside attack with a Knight that had forking chances against his Queenside Rook and Queen. He managed to squirm out of it, but it left him physically shaking. I wasn't able to recover and he gained an attack in the center that finally won him the game. Both of us remarked that the complications during our attacks overtaxed either of our abilities to comfortably calculate them.

I'm not disappointed. Thirty-three years ago, the beginnings of a wonderful sport for me started out with a 4 round Swiss where I also got a 0-4 score. This tournament was a reboot. Whose to say it won't go the same way this time as well.

--Doc Kinne, USCF: 12186200

BCC Members Picnic!

Please Plan to join us at the First Annual Boylston Chess Foundation Summer Picnic!

DATE: Sunday, August 21
TIME: Noon to 4:00 PM
WHERE: Danehy Park, Cambridge


View Larger Map

(The map shows walking directions from Alewife-- about a 15 minute walk)


CHESS: Free Simul by SM Charles Riordan & Lots of Blitz!
PARKING: Park at Lot off Sherman St. Also parking available via access road behind the Fresh Pond Cinemas. Also a 15-20 minute walk from the Red Line Alewife station

We will have access to grills and will provide burgers and hot dogs, including vegan options!

THIS EVENT IS FOR BCF MEMBERS & FAMILY ONLY

We will send out additional reminders, but please consider RSVPing so we can get a reasonable head count for food.

Doc Kinne's Story, Part I

I Was a Child Chess Player...

Hi Folks!

I'm Doc Kinne, one of the newest members of the Boylston Chess Club. I'm a member of what I think might be a pretty big group of middle-aged resurrected woodpushers. What I'd like to do is blog about my return to competitive chess every so often. As I write this right now, I'm a Class E player with my rating being the worst that its been since I started chess 33 years ago. The BCC July $10 Open on the 30th were the first rated games I'd played in almost exactly 11 years. I'll be writing about my tournaments, progress, and what I'm doing in order to try to improve my game, as well as some of the interesting differences I see between the chess world of the 1980s when I started and the new world I'm reintroducing myself to. I think that it could be perhaps inspiring to the other lower mid-class (rating-wise, that is!) folks trying to battle up, or at least semi-entertaining.

I started playing when I was 13 back in 1978. Burger King was giving out paper Chess/Checker sets to kids under 12 at that point. I'm a very small guy and at age 13 I looked like I was around 9. They gave me a set as a matter of course. I learned the rules on the way home, taught my Mom, and we played our first game that night. Due to several medical problems as a kid, I never really participated in sports (although I truly enjoy telling the truth that my High School letter is in, yes, basketball! I just never quite mention I was the team manager). Here, in chess, I saw something where size didn't matter.

I joined the United States Chess Federation and went to my first rated tournament later that year, a four round Swiss, the monthly Onondaga County Open in Syracuse, NY.

I was utterly slaughtered.

Interestingly enough at the same site a scholastic tournament was going on. As the day ended and I'd lost 0-4 my Dad came to pick me up. As we were leaving, the Tournament Director of the scholastic tournament, Joe Ball, came up to us and said, "Listen, he entered the wrong tournament. He's got some potential, I think. After every game that he lost he sat down and went over it, and then he tried again, all day. But he was outclassed. Have him come back next month to the scholastic tournament. He'll do better." He was right. I gained a friend and a mentor. Over the next five years I slowly climbed from a rating of 1215 to a high of 1419, about average for US tournament players of that day. At one point I won the Onondaga County Championship for my age group.



Joe taught me how to direct tournaments and I was his Assistant Director for a number of monthly tournaments.

Some of my best memories as a kid involve going into a "training week" before a tournament where I would play 1 game against the chess computer per day under tournament conditions (clocked, keeping score, etc). It's those sessions, I think, that inched my rating up.

What really harmed my progress as a player was...college. I could no longer get to tournaments, and I had other things to do. That continued after I got my first job, although I was active during 1992-1993. I competed in one Syracuse tournament in 1996. Then I was finally active again between August-November of 1999 where my rating crashed from 1262-1179, the lowest it had ever been. While in my last tournament I came in dead last, I was able to do interestingly well every once in a while, such as coming in 6th out of a field of 21 in the NYS Amateur Team Tournament in the Open Section in 1999, my second-to-last tournament. Why did I quit after a bad tournament after doing reasonably well in the NYS Amateur Team? I seem to remember a strong problem with getting beat by people smaller than I was. :-)

Although its been three years since Bobby Fisher left us (some may successfully argue he left us 36 years ago...) he's still bringing people to chess, myself included. Last month I found myself reading Brady's new book, Endgame and something sparked in me.




I found myself installing chess engines on my computers, rejoining the USCF after years, and yes, investigating the Boyslton Chess Club. I was amazed to find that BCC was about as active as the Marshall in NYC and had a wide range of members. I'd been used to one tournament a month in Syracuse. BCC seems to offer more than one per week at times!

So, is it possible for a busy, middle-aged boy to reclaim a measure of the glory he had as a high schooler? Come find out as I try to step back into a world I'd known years ago and see both how I've changed, how its changed, and how we might be able to meet in the middle.

--Doc Kinne, USCF: 12186200

Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 later this week.

Boylston Chess Club's "getting to 2000" students publish in Chess Horizons

In the winter of 2010, Carey Theil led a Tuesday night "Making it to Expert" course for A-level players.

One of the instructive problems discussed led to some of the participants to write an article. That article is now available in the latest issue of Chess Horizons.

Check out this article by Ross Eldridge, Gregory Koch, Jason Rihel, and Carey Theil, entitled "Heroic King, Super Bishop", about an interesting endgame from the 2010 US Chess League Championships.

Early Bird Quad/Regular Quad This week!

The Boylston Chess Club has several events planned this week!

Early Bird Quad, Wednesday, August 3rd

Players organized into 4-player sections
3 Rounds (everyone in the quad plays everyone else)
Time Control: Game in 30 minutes
Entry fee $17 for Boylston Chess Foundation members, others $27
Prizes: $50 First place (guaranteed) for each quad
Registration: 5:45 to 6:00 Rounds: 6:00, rest ASAP

Thursday Night Swiss Starts Thursday, August 4th

4 Rounds (Swiss System Pairings)
2 Sections: Open and Under 1800 (Minimum 6 players to have an Open section.
Time Control: 40 moves in 90 minutes, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game
Entry fee: $17 to Boylston Chess Foundation members, others $27
Prizes: $240 based on 20 entries. Both sections $80 for 1st, $40 for 2nd
Registration: 6:30 to 6:55PM
Round 1 begins at 7PM

Quads, August 6th
Players organized into 4-player quads

3 Rounds (everyone in the quad plays everyone else)
Time Control: Game in 60 minutes
Entry fee $17 for Boylston Chess Foundation members, others $27
Prizes: $50 First place (guaranteed) for each quad
Registration: 9:15 to 9:55
Rounds: 10:00, 12:40, 3:00

$10 Open on Saturday

For those concerned about the typo in the $10 calendar notice:

If you want the $10 rate for the $10 Open on Saturday 7/30, you have until Thursday night to pay in advance by Paypal or by mail (we must get it before the event).

Sign up now and sign up often! The $10 Open is one of the cheapest and most popular chess events in New England.

US Chess League schedule announced!

Breaking news-- the USCL is back with the 2011 schedule.

This schedule is a special treat for local fans, as the Boston Blitz play the 2010 Champion New England Nor'easters on Opening Day, August 29th! They play a second time on 9/26.

Fans of the USCL will remember the dramatic conclusion the last time the Blitz and Nor'easters squared off. After an undefeated season, New England was on the verge of elimination in the Semi-Finals when Jorge Sammour-Hasbun blundered into Robert Hungaski's middle-of-the-board checkmate, securing the drawn match. Draw odds were in New England's favor, and they went on to win over Miami in the Final.

In fact, New England went undefeated all season, but in two matches they could not overcome the Boston Blitz, earning only a draw. This re-match will be one to watch.

Stay tuned for more details. Rumors are swirling that the Boston Blitz will actually be playing in Rhode Island this year, but no confirmation yet. The New England Nor'easters are likely to play again here at the Boylston Chess Club, but the details still need worked out.

Also not finalized-- the team rosters for both the Blitz and the Nor'easters are still in the works and are not due for a few weeks yet.

See the schedule here:

http://www.uschessleague.com/index.html

Esserman- Dispatch from Spain

IM Marc Esserman sends us this entertaining game from his recent tournament in Spain.

[Site "Montcada, Spain"]
[White "Esserman"]
[Black "Capellades"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C64"]
[WhiteElo "2439"]
[BlackElo "2222"]
[EventDate "2011.06.27"]
[SourceDate "2011.06.27"]

Annotations by IM Esserman
1. e4 e5

Hello everyone from Barcelona, Spain. I have been hoping to send a
Morra Gambit game back home but unfortunately, my opponents have played 1...
e5 seven games in a row! However, the opportunity finally presented itself to
play a Morra Gambit like gambit in this last game. After seven straight e5's,
you have to take your chances.

2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 Qf6



5. d4 exd4 6. e5 Qg6 (6... Nxe5 7. Qe2 wins a piece, as defending the knight via d6 loses the king.) 7. O-O


Perhaps if more sicilians had cropped up in Europe, I would have
played the more standard 7. cxd4!

7... dxc3

Not quite dxc3 in the Morra gambit, but it will do!

8. Nxc3 White's attack may be even more serious than in the morra gambit... Nge7 9. Re1 O-O (9... a6 10. Bd3 Qh5 11. Re4 Ng6 12. g4 Qh3 13. Bf1 wins the queen in amusing fashion)

10. Bd3 Qh5 (10... f5 11. exf6 Qxf6 12. Ne4 Qf5 will not save black after 13. Bg5 Kh8 14. Nf6 and the queen is again trapped, this time in the center of the board!)

The movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer" teaches us not to bring our queen out too early, although the boy playing Josh in the park does not listen, much to the chagrin of his serious coach (and neither, for that matter, does Billy Collins, with his famous e4 e5 Qh5!?!?! on move two, or what he likes to call "Queen to Rook Five, how long can you stay alive, catdog!"

11. Ne4 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Qxe5 13. Ng5 (The queen is getting tired.) Qf6 14. Bxh7+ Kh8 15. Bd3

Giving the f2 pawn, but with mate on h7.

15...g6 (15... Bxf2+ 16. Kh1 g6 17. Rf1 Qb6 18. Qf3 Bh4 19. Qh3) (15... Qxf2+ 16. Kh1 Qh4 17. g3 Qh6 18. Nxf7+) 16. Ne4 Qb6 17. Qf3 Kg7 18. Nxc5 Qxc5 19. Be3 Qd5 20. Qf4

Black's dark squares will prove critical, in addition to his lack of development brought about by not watching "Searching For Bobby Fischer".

20...Ng8 21. Rad1


21...f6 22. Bxg6 Qg5 23. Qxg5 fxg5

Finally the queen retires, but her career has been a failure.

24. Bc2 g4 25. Rd5 d6 26. Rg5+ Kf6 27. Rg6+ Kf7 28. Bd4 Bf5 29. Rg7#


Hopefully I will have more entertaining dxc3 games to post! 1-0

Seacoast Fishing

In the 1980's, the Batsford publishing house used varying numbers of diagonal stripes on the front lower left corner of books to indicate the intended audience. 1 stripe = Popular; 2 stripes = Competitive; 3 stripes = Master (Adidas in German).

For our club, those 3 levels could perhaps similarly loosely be designated as Weaver Adams (under 1800), Reubens-Landey (1800-2199), and Club Championship (2200+). Here's some solidly Weaver Adams category material, so the strong players are forewarned to lace up their Adidas sneakers and run screaming.

In June, I went to Relyea Chess' Seacoast Open in Portsmouth, NH, despite the fast G/65 time control (+5 second delay for digital clocks). Arriving at and leaving from the parking lot alongside eventual tournament co-winner, GM Alexander Ivanov, it was almost as if the Chess Force was with me. Unfortunately, those parking lot coincidences didn't bring me a great tournament result, but I did get into time trouble.
:-)

In round one as Black against Mike Parsons, I won a pawn and achieved some pressure, but I felt Mike was providing unexpectedly tough resistance for someone rated 400 points lower than I. He refused to collapse, and we both ended up in time trouble, struggling to avoid losing on time.

We both finished with incomplete scoresheets, and although right after the game I recorded the final position using piece-on-square notes like Kg8, I subsequently discovered that I had been so fried that I'd recorded two pieces on the same square. Anyway, my best reconstruction of events follows, which I am reasonably sure is what actually happened at the end of our game.

After 35 Kh4

Frustrated by my inability to force capitulation earlier and, as noted, concerned about possibly losing on time, I decided to pull back and try to force issues on my end of the board. I remember thinking that in our mutual time pressure I might be able to bamboozle Mike into exchanging queens, when in the simplified position the 5 second delay should allow an easier conversion of my extra pawn. That is why I played:

37...Qh6??

bamboozling MYSELF pretty effectively. I'm pretty sure Mike was even more time-pressed than I, so after:

36 g5 Qh7 37 Qe6+? (37 Qc8+ Kf7 38 g6+ forking Black's king and queen wins; 37 Qc8+ being a longer move for the queen, and thus harder to see when you think your flag is imminently going to fall, may explain Mike's choice of 37 Qe6+?) Kh8 38 g6 Qg8 39 Qxg8+ Kxg8 40 Kg5 Kh8

Mike finally lost the thread with:

41 h6?? gxh6 42 Kxh6 e4 0-1

One of the things I dislike about time-crammed tournament schedules is the greatly reduced chances to chat with your opponent after the game. In the Batman movie directed by Tim Burton (bear with me, dear reader), there is a scene where Batman is preparing to raise Vicki Vale and himself up to the top of a building using a hydraulic bat-something-or-other. He asks her how much she weighs, to which she responds, "108." The hydraulic device apparently has more trouble with their combined weight than Batman expected it to, and he remarks, "You weigh a little more than a hundred and eight." (Thanks, IMDb).

Mike, you played a lot better than your rating of 1333!


In round 3 I had Black against unrated Dakota Smith. I once again fell into time pressure, but was pushing forward for checkmate from a position at least like the following with respect to the salient features of the position. It may even have been the exact position, but it just doesn't feel 100% familiar.

Some time earlier I was already watching for stalemate possibilities, but as the clock relentlessly ticked down I had shifted into "If he moves the rook along the 1st rank, I will play h2 mate. If he moves the rook off the 1st rank, I will play 1...Re1 mate."

Clearly 1...h2 is mate regardless of what White plays, but if this really was the position, with my clock ticking down, I might not have noticed that.

So when Dakota played:

1 Rc3!

moving his rook off the first rank, I slammed out:

1...Re1 most-definitely-NOT-mate???

Through my earplugs I eventually became aware that something was wrong, and took back my illegal move. I saw 1...Rxc3 stalemate, so instead played:

1...Kf3

before abruptly realizing I had already touched the rook, and immediately offered a draw because of the stalemate described, which was accepted.

Dakota offered to let me make the king move, but I stressed to him that it is touch move. I wasn't sure if, as a new player, he knew that.

While writing this blog entry, I realized that instead of 1...Rxc3?? stalemate, there is actually 1...Rf3!! winning. To avoid 2...h2 mate, White must play 2 Rxf3+, after which 2...Kxf3 3 Kh2 Kf2 4 Kxh3 g1=Q (or g1=R) wins without further ado.


I am sure the Reubens-Landey regulars are quivering in fear at the prospect of facing me, seeing these game fragments of mine.  Vive the Weaver Adams one-stripers!

Weaver Adams winners: Ken Ho, Mike Griffin, and Khikmet Sadydov

Ken Ho, Mike Griffin and Khikmet Sadykov each completed the Weaver Adams tournament with 3 of 4 points and so became BCC U1800 co-champions for 2011.



That means they will have their names added to the coveted Weaver Adams Trophy designed by Mike Griffin.

And it means they move on to the Reubens Landey, the U2200 championship which begins on Monday, July 11.

There were 10 players in this year's Weaver Adams:
[double click for better legibility]

____________________________________________

BCC members who are rated between 1800 and U2200 are invited to play in the Reubens Landey, the winner of which becomes the U2200 club champion, and is invited to play with the masters in the annual BCC championship in September.

Reubens/Landey BCF Qualifier

• Mon, July 11, 6:30pm – 11:00pm
• Boylston Chess Club (map)
• 4 Rounds Swiss System
  
• Time Control 40 moves in 90 minutes, then rest of the game in 20 minutes
  
• Open to BCF members rated 1800-2200 (June supplement)
• Entry fee: $20
• Winner receives free entry into the BCF Championship beginning on 9/12.
  
• Registration: 6:15 to 6:55
• Round 1 begins at 7:00 PM

Rybka banned from computer champs; stripped of all its titles

In shocking chess news-- Rybka, the famous computer program that has dominated the top of the computer chess championships for years, has been stripped of its titles and banned from future competitions.

The problem stems from the complex question of whether Rybka's programming was taken from other, older software-- in short, whether Ryba's basic functions were stolen off other programs.

On the one hand, the fact that Rybka beats other programs means it must be at least a little different than other engines. On the other hand, this could be just a matter of a few tweaks here and there without any substantially new ideas.

The whole issue of the 'copyright' and 'ownership' of source code is a murky one -- very often, free programs already exist whose main purpose is to be modified, tinkered, and enhanced. Stripping Rybka of the titles, at this point, does not appear to be any kind of legal determination about whether Rybka was stolen from others. Instead, Rybka is in violation of the Computer Championship rules, which requires entrants to be unique creations and any adaptations of other's code must be disclosed.

I don't expect this to go away anytime soon, however! Rybka is a commerical success, while the programs it supposedly is borrowed from, Crafty and Fruit, among others, are not. Like I said, the world of computer program property rights is a murky one, but I wouldn't be surprised, with real dollars on the line, for this issue to make it to court in some form.

At any rate, Rybka isn't considered the strongest program anymore. After trying to find a good upgrade engine to my older copy of Fritz, I discovered Houdini may be the best engine around. A free computer program, I put it to work on some positions I thought Fritz was handling badly-- and I was blown away with the speed and the accuracy Houdini possessed.

But don't expect Houdini to appear at the computer championships anytime soon-- it is also considered a derivative work. Too bad that the strongest computer program may not be called the champion. But that doesn't mean we can't use it to improve our analysis.

One last thought-- my favorite comment about this issue:

"Humans have been using computers to cheat at chess, so it is only natural that computers would start using humans to cheat at chess."

For more detailed discussions about this issue, try this link:

http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/rybka-disqualified-and-banned-from-world-computer-chess-championships/

Grand Prix- Halfway point Leaders

35 players participated in the 6th Grand Prix event at the Boylston Chess Club, shuffling the leaderboard at the halfway point. (Click to enlarge).

In the U2400 section, Chris Chase has reclaimed the lead with 7.5 points. Tian Rossi, who has only played in two Grand Prix events is still in the lead in the U2200 section with 7.5 points. However, Jason Rihel, in the U2000 category, has 9.5 points and would overtake Chris and Tian if other contenders rise up. Indeed, at this time Terrance Fricker and Harold Dondis trail the U2400 and U2200 leaders by only 1.5 points and would claim those prizes if they can get ahead.

Robert Holmgren appears to have an insurmountable lead in the U1800 category, with 17 points. However, Mike Griffin is hanging tough with 10.5 points, and the current leaders of the U1600 and U1200 categories could also overtake Robert in some circumstances.

Just like at the top, the bottom has lots of action still in play. The U1600 section is a tie between David Martin and Mark Neale, with 11 points each, but Steve Stepak is on pace with 10 points. The U1400 section is still wide open! At just 3.5 points, Allen Wang is in the lead, but lots of players (including several in the U1200 category) are waiting just behind with 2-3 points. One breakout event from any of them would boost them ahead.

Finally, Thomas DeMartino has taken a huge lead in the U1200 section, with 14.5 points. He was only under 1200 for the briefest of moments at the start of the year-- he has soared +600 points in six months and is now over 1800. One of the quirks of a year-long grand prix event like this-- your starting rating category may not reflect your rating at the end of the year!

With over 80 players participating in at least one Grand Prix, we at the BCC are pleased with this event and hope you are, too.

New England Nor'easter Robert Hungaski 1st at New York International

New England Nor'easter Board 1 star IM Robert Hungaski, who trekked weekly to the Boylston Chess Club during the Nor'easter's championship run, secured his second GM norm by storming to clear first in the New York International.

Details can be found at:
http://main.uschess.org/content/view/11266/632

Great job!

Grand Prix #6 This Saturday, June 25

Just a friendly reminder that our 6th Grand Prix event is this Saturday, June 25th at the Boylston Chess Club.

This is the cheapest chess tournament around, at only $7.00 for members and $10.00 for non-members. Four rated games available for less than $2.00 a game-- you can't even get a deal like that from the Harvard Square blitz hustlers!

If you are planning to go to the World Open, this would be a great warm-up. There is also still plenty of opportunity in each rating class to catch the leaders and claim the year-end prizes. Don't miss out.

Esserman in Barcelona, Spain

Marc's next European event is in Spain, where he will be 17th on the wallchart:

http://chess-results.com/tnr45000.aspx?lan=2

This event is coming on the heels of his Italian event, where he finished with 6 points in a big logjam for 3rd place with several IMs and GMs. That result was good enough for a 2500+ performance rating and a handful of rating points edging Marc close to the 2460 mark. Those who watched the live games knows that Marc is playing very dynamic chess right now (lots of exchange sacs in 9 rounds!), and he had several chances in the Italian tournament to fight for a 1st-2nd place performance. Also, by our count, he is 7/8 with the Black pieces during this trip.

Watch Esserman LIVE

IM Marc Esserman is ranked 26th on the wall chart of the Forni di Sopra tournament in Italy. You can watch his progress LIVE here:

http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=2308

Ignoring the fact he is in the Italian Alps, Marc has started the tournament with the Black side of a French Defense.

They will be broadcasting the games LIVE all week, so stay tuned for Part II of Marc's European Adventure, especially when that Medias Kings elite tournament spits out 3-GM draws, as you know it will eventually.

Stepak on Tal

Steve Stepak wrote this appreciation of Mikhail Tal.

[editor's note: To read it more clearly, please click on each column once to separate it and then once again to enlarge it.]

Esserman in Europe

Bolyston Board and Boston Blitz member IM Marc Esserman is chesstouring Europe this summer. We will try to follow him via the Interwebs.

His first leg was to the International Chess Festival in Wunsiedel, Germany. After winning his first 4 rounds and taking the sole lead ahead of three GMs, the Germans started to notice:

(See halfway down the page under US-Boy Esserman)
http://www.wunsiedel-schachfestival.de/

In the final three rounds against the strongest tournament participants, Marc managed 3 draws, enough for 2nd place and an 11 point ELO rating gain, pushing Marc over the 2450 milestone. Only IM Stopa was able to pull ahead and take clear first place.

You can see Marc in the winner's circle to the left in this picture:



You can see the crosstables here:

http://www.wunsiedel-schachfestival.de/meisterturnier/turnier_index_meister.htm

If you are trying to navigate the crosstable, the format is pairing #,color,score. So for example, "43w1" means the player faced #43 with the White (weiss) pieces and score 1 point. The "s" means the player had black (schwarz).

Good luck to Marc on this tour. We'll have to ask him later how many Smith-Morras appeared in Wunsiedel!

Slideshow of 80th Mass Open photos (5/29/11)

Enjoy.

Steven Winer lecture, Wednesday June 8th, 7PM

The Boylston Chess Club Presents
The 2011 Master Lecture Series


Wednesday, June 8th, 7PM


Senior Master Steven Winer

“Learning from Your Chess Mistakes”



At a rating of 2437, Senior Master Steven Winer is currently ranked #87 in the United States. In 1999, Steven won the Denker Tournament of High School Champions, and he has been chess champion of Vermont many, many times. He was also a member of the inaugural US Chess League Boston Blitz team back in 2005-2006. Steven will lecture on practical examples of how to turn those painful losses into future sparkling victories.

A simultaneous exhibition will promptly follow the lecture (at least 6 players).


WHERE: Boylston Chess Club, 240 Elm St. Room B9, Somerville (Davis Sq. T stop)
ADMISSION: Lecture: FREE for Boylston members, $10.00 for non-members.
Simul: $5.00 for members, $10.00 for non-members.

Caption Contest from the 2011 Mass Open

Channeling Glickman's original version of the chess blog, I present the following photo caption contest. The photo is of Carissa Shiwe Yip at this weekend's 2011 Mass Open Championship. The photo was taken by Tony Cortizas, Jr. and is my favorite of the bunch he took from this event. More photos to come in a follow-up report on the tournament.

Weaver Adams -- U1800 Boylston Chess Club Championship -- Mon June 6

It's Adams time again -- Weaver Adams 2011

The Weaver Adams Qualifer is the first part of the Boylston Chess Club championship cycle.

You may play if you are rated under 1800 in the June 2011 supplement and a BCF member (you can join or renew at the start of the tournament.) The prize is the championship title and entry into the Reubens Landey

Players rated between 1800 and 2200 in the June supplement may play in the Reubens Landey (U2200 championship) in July. The prize is the U2200 championship title and entry into the BCC Championship.

Players rated 2200 and above in the June supplement will be invited to play in the BCC Championship.

..................

The winner of the Weaver Adams tournament will have his name added to the trophy Mike Griffin created:

..................................................

Mon, June 6
6:30 pm – 11:00 pm

• 1 Section for Boylston Chess Foundation members

(of course you may join or renew at registration)
rated under 1800 (June supplement)

• 4 Rounds (Swiss System Pairings)

• Time Control: 90 minutes for 40 moves, then 20 minutes for the rest of the game

• Entry Fee: $20

Winner receives free entry into the Reubens/Landey U2200 - 1800 BCF Championship beginning on July 12

• Registration: 6:30 – 6:55 PM

• Round 1 begins at 7:00

..................................................

Weaver Warren Adams was born on April 28, 1901 in Dedham, Massachusetts. An American chess master, he participated in the U.S. Championship in 1936, 1940, 1944, 1946 and 1948. He won the Massachusetts State Championship in 1937, 1938, 1941 and 1945. In 1939, he wrote a book entitled "White to Play and Win." After publication he played in the U.S. Open at Dallas. He did not win a single game as White (3 losses and 1 draw) and won all his games (4 games) as Black! Weaver Adams won the 49th U.S. Open, held in Baltimore, in 1948. He also wrote "Simple Chess", "How to Play Chess", and "Absolute Chess." He passed away in Cedar Grove, New Jersey in 1963.

..............

Below is a photograph taken in Hastings on 28 December 1950. Lord Dunsany (standing on the right) is watching the first-round game between Alan Phillips and Weaver Adams.

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Chess Fever and The Great Chess Movie

The Boylston Chess Club library has recently acquired a DVD transfer of Chess Fever, a 1920s silent film starring Capablanca, and The Great Chess Movie, a documentary that interviews Fischer, Korchnoi, Karpov, etc.

While the Great Chess Movie is fine and interesting, the real gem is Chess Fever. This silent film is hilarious, and a "chess widow's" chance encounter with the World Champion Capablanca ends the film with a funny surprise.

Read more about chess fever here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015673/

and more about the Great Chess Movie here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Chess_Movie

I share a birthday with Karpov, May 23rd

Clearly, this explains nothing. However, the day I was born, Karpov was celebrating his first birthday as the World Champion.....


http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7240

$10 Open Advanced Entries

The following players have already paid their $10 to play in this weekend's $10 Open. Have you? Prepare for the Mass Open Championships by playing at the Boylston!

Player Rating
Steve Winer 2435
Christopher Gu 2205
Henry Terrie 2200
Patrick Sciacca 2160
Michelle Chen 1944
Steven Stepak 1642
Rohan Shankar 1547
John Swartz 1420
Sean Barkowsky 1351
Sandeep Shankar 1180
Arthur Tang 1073
Pho Vo 789
Sang Nguyen Unr

Without playing a single game, Hikaru #6.....

Hikaru Nakamura has leapt into the #6 spot in the FIDE live rankings. Kamsky's defeat of Topalov pushed Hikaru into the #7 spot. Now, Ivanchuk's stumble at the Capa Memorial in Cuba has allowed Hikaru to slip into the #6 spot.

This week will be a major determinant of Hikaru's place in the top 10, as he plays an important match with Ponomariov in Saint Louis. Even a small plus score should propel Hikaru into the #5 spot. If he can gain 8 rating points, he would roll ahead of Krammnik (!) for the #4 spot in the world. A absolultely horrible result could drop him back to #9-10.

Stay tuned. The Saint Louis Chess Club is covering this important match, certainly the strongest top 10 GM matchup on US soil with a serious time control in a very long time. Should be exciting, as both these players are known for uncompromising chess (unlike the dullsville Grischuk-Krammnik Candidates Match this week.)

Please support the innovative Saint Louis Chess Club! Check out the action here (the live game link is on the right):

http://saintlouischessclub.org/nakamura-v-ponomariov-korchnoi-v-finegold

Grand Prix-- Current Leaderboard

The 5th Grand Prix ended this weekend with 30 players taking advantage of the cheap, high quality chess. Some of the leaders cemented their lead, while other players have jumped into the lead for the first time (Click to view a larger version).

Current leaderboard (not all players in the running are shown to make a slightly easier read.)


Keep this in mind -- you don't have to play all the Grand Prix events to be among the leaders. Many players have only played in 2 or 3 of the 5 events and are sitting on the first prize. Strong players over 2000+ especially have ample opportunity to rack up points and catch the leaders.

How do you like the Grand Prix format so far?

May 18th- Denys Shmelov Lecture at the Boylston

The Boylston Chess Club Presents
The 2011 Master Lecture Series

Wednesday, May 18th, 7PM
Senior Master Denys Shmelov
On
“Prophylaxis in Chess”

Senior Master Denys Shmelov is one of the strongest players in the area, winning the Massachusetts State title in 2008. His 2500+ rating puts him safely in the top 100 ranked players in the United States. He is also a regular and former all-star on the Boston Blitz, and he recently earned a GM-norm at the 2011 Berkeley International. His lecture will cover the important topic of prophylaxis, providing examples of quiet defensive moves that clamp down on the opponent’s counterplay before pressing a more ambitious attack.

A simultaneous exhibition will promptly follow the lecture, (at least 6 players).

WHERE: Boylston Chess Club, 240 Elm St. Room B9, Somerville (Davis Sq. T stop)
ADMISSION: Lecture: FREE for Boylston members, $10.00 for non-members.
Simul: $5.00 for members, $10.00 for non-members.

Grand Prix #5 THIS WEEKEND, May 14

Attention-- Because of the Mass Open State Championships at the end of this month, we have placed our 5th Grand Prix event on this upcoming Saturday. The entry fee is a low, low, low $10 for non-members; $7 for members.

Check out where you are in the standings: (click on chart image below to expand).

As you can see, it is still very close in all of the sections.

Remember, unforced half point byes don't count to your totals, and U1800 sections only count to the U1800 and lower prizes.

If the Grand Prix ended today, here would be the winners in each section:

U2400 -- Eric Godin , 4.5 points
U2200 -- Tian Rossi, 5.5 points
U2000 -- Jason Rihel, 5.5 points
U1800 -- Robert Holmgren, 11 points
U1600 -- Mark Neale, 6.5 points
U1400 -- Vladlen Khachaturyan, 3 points
U1200 -- Thomas Demartino, 8.5 points

Luckily, the Grand Prix doesn't end today -- it ends in December -- so everyone has plenty of time to catch the leaders in all of the sections.

One note about ranking-- all the prizes are equal in value, so the leaders are arranged to maximize winners with the highest possible scores.

For example, Tian Rossi and I are technically in 1st place for the U2400 prize, but we also can receive the U2200 or the U2000 prize. Since Eric Godin, at 4.5 points, is the 3rd highest score, he gets the U2400 prize while we get the lower prizes. If, however, an U2000 player had more points than Eric, say, 5 points, they would be awarded the U2000 prize, and Tian and I would get U2400 and U2000 slots.

Andrew Liu Ties for 2nd in K-6 National Championships

Boylston Chess Club player Andrew Liu visited Texas and gave a strong showing at the K-6 National Championships, tying for 2nd place! With 4 wins and 2 draws, Andrew's rating has soared over the 2000 mark . I played him only a few months ago, when our ratings were more even, and I was happy to make a draw.

With this strong showing at a National tournament, Andrew is clearly making great strides in his chess play in a very short timespan. Great job!

Breaking news-- Kamsky defeats Topalov in 1st Candidate Match

With Kamsky's victory over Topalov, he not only propels himself into the Top 15 FIDE live ratings, he also edges Nakamura into the Number 7 spot, just 2 points shy of being a top 5 player in the world. We are close to having two Americans in the Top 10; any ideas if that has ever happened before (Seriwan and Kamsky, for example?)

Coffee House Chess is Good Too

Steve Stepak offered this example of a coffeehouse Catalan.

[ Editor's note: I tried to scan and insert his comments, but couldn't get a sharp image large enough. Please double-click on each section to read a legible version. ]

Queen to Play to play at Kendall Square Cinema, May 6th

Yet another chess film coming to the Boston area! "Queen to Play" (originally, 'Joueuse'), will be showing at the Kendall Square Cinema starting May 6th. Starring Kevin Kline ('A Fish Called Wanda')
and the lovely Sandrine Bonnaire ('Vagabond')
'Queen to Play' is about a French maid who learns the game of chess, which transforms her life.

It is rare to have chess treated so seriously by the movie industry, so I highly recommend everyone go see this film. From the trailer, it looks great.

You can watch the trailer here:

http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/queentoplay/

(Yes, there are subtitles, get over it and go see and support a thoughtful movie about chess!)