Human versus Machine

[Lyudmil Tsvetkov]

And this is the place to thank Louis once again, as otherwise this game would not have been possible.

[tpoppins]

both Stockfish and Komodo like a line like 1. d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 g6!(this is the trick,
definitely strongest continuation) 5. e3 Bg4!(again, best) 6. h3(that is how top engines play) Bg4 7. Qf3(bishop pair lacking,
but the queen is very displaced here) e6

That's two illegal moves in a seven-move sequence.

[tpoppins]

[Lyudmil Tsvetkov]

both Stockfish and Komodo like a line like 1. d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 g6!(this is the trick,
definitely strongest continuation) 5. e3 Bg4!(again, best) 6. h3(that is how top engines play) Bg4 7. Qf3(bishop pair lacking,
but the queen is very displaced here) e6

That's two illegal moves in a seven-move sequence.

Is not it obvious that it is 6...Bf3?

[Lyudmil Tsvetkov]

haha, Tim, very funny.

There will be Part III, but I don't know when and that will certainly not be
the topic.

Below a real review, by a real reader, who has read the book and understands chess, not just playing around with computers and fully trusts them.
That is what MarshallArts posts on Rybka forum:

The exhortation not to buy his books is very mean-spirited and basically unfounded. I can understand if someone does not like the playing conditions which these games were conducted under, but the criticism is going too far.

His books are quite good actually. I only skimmed through the Secret of Chess, but the newer human vs machine game books seem packed with good and crisp explanations that can help elevate a reader's play even against other human players. The games themselves are H vs M masterpieces, regardless of whatever handicaps were used by the author. A very high level understanding of chess transpires when looking at these well commented games. I was positively surprised by the quality of
these games and their annotations.



http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforu ... ?tid=32312

So that, basically, Tim, I would say, read the book, learn better chess, and then post such hilarious edited screenshots.

[Lyudmil Tsvetkov]

Probably I should not be posting this, the other thread running now on the main forum might be sufficient, but, as I am too emotional, I was just surprised to find another 1 star review, again without a verified purchase, on Amazon, this time about Part I of 'Human versus Machine':
https://www.amazon.com/Human-Versus-Mac ... l+tsvetkov

I might be overreacting, but I simply wonder why a book about beating the top engines, i.e., doing something close to the unimaginable, should receive bad reviews?
Of course, almost nothing in the review is true, obviously the reviewer simply did not read the book and has a grudge on me, it might very well be one and the same person posting under different names, but it still hurts.

I would be glad, if someone on this forum, who has read the book and has a different opinion, could help a bit and share his thoughts on Amazon.

Why are people so grudgy?

[Lyudmil Tsvetkov]

I simply don't know what to say.
Obviously, I have angered beyond repair some person with my posts about
the books I have published, so that he has resorted to the meanest action possible, posting a 1-star review on Amazon, not once, but twice, for both parts of 'Human versus Machine', without even having read the book:

https://www.amazon.com/Human-Versus-Mac ... l+tsvetkov

https://www.amazon.com/Human-Versus-Mac ... 0RCGK15NE9

It is the very same person, Serverless, who probably has accounts on all main computer chess forums.

Why are people so mean?

I have put an awful lot of effort into writing these books and get almost nothing in return, and still people resort to unimaginable dirty tricks to
deprive me of even the slightest consolation to see my books if not assessed, than at least not denigrated.

What a pity.

[Lyudmil Tsvetkov]

And, of course, nothing about the book is true, that is what hurts most.

As long as mean persons are more active than good ones, the wrong will prevail, naturally.

[Lyudmil Tsvetkov]

Part III is out: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077PN5QT8/re ... 584&sr=1-8

This will be the last part of the series, for the time being.

I would not like that this turns into a boring book,
the purpose has never been to publish as many games as possible,
but just to demonstrate the possibility to win against the top engines,
and cover the most common winning options.

I can play more games in the future, so there might be 4th part, but this will be only in a couple of years, when much stronger engines appear.
It does not make sense to repeat one and the same stuff. When much stronger engines appear, and people say again, well, it might have been possible to beat the tops couple of years ago, that crazy guy Lyudmil used to do it, but not now anymore, then I will play some games to renew my
collection.

I would like to thank all those on this forum, who, by chance or willingly, have bought different of my books. Thanks a lot! You have helped me to at least keep part of my face and hope in what I am doing.

The third part features handicap wins. All the credit goes to Larry Kaufman(thanks, Larry, for all those Komodo handicap matches), as, whenever Komodo would play a match against some human, I would try my hand with
precisely the same imbalance against the tops.
It proved that handicap games are a great fun, one of the most interesting things in chess, and also are very helpful to your tactical training, for the reason that materially imbalanced positions increase the necessity for more calculations.

I would also like to thank the mods here for their patience and understanding.

[Lyudmil Tsvetkov]

I forgot to say that, this time around, all diagrams are accompanied by fens, so it will be possible to check the lines with your engines.