Testing Selective Search - Computer Chess Fun Olympiad 2010

[Spacious_Mind]

As we can see Phil made mincemeat out of Lizzy
based upon this game i am comfortable guesstimating Phil to be about 2700+ Elo


Regards From Phil and Lizzy:


Steve

I see a future World Champion!

Interesting! I tried Chessmaster personalities in the past against compies, but always thought the personalities were a lot stronger than the indicated rating in CM because of hardware. If Lizzy really does play around 1422 then that makes them interesting

regards and good luck !! (thinking he might need luck today ) regards

Nick

[Steve B]

Interesting! I tried Chessmaster personalities in the past against compies, but always thought the personalities were a lot stronger than the indicated rating in CM because of hardware. If Lizzy really does play around 1422 then that makes them interesting

regards and good luck !! (thinking he might need luck today ) regards

Nick

Thanks Nick
as to the CM Personalities...
i am no expert by any means regarding this but i do notice that the personalities are a bit unrealistic in two ways
1) they play the FULL book lines many plies deep just as if the Full CM engine were playing
(perhaps there is a way to modify this..i never tried to though)
this generally leaves the personalities in a superior position against the lower rated dedicated's which run out of book much earlier or the oldies fall way behind in time if they do manage to come up with a book move as the CM replies instantly
2)they artificially drop pieces ...i guess this is how they get the lower rating..but its not really natural play
even a 1400 Dedicated machine is not going to simply hang a piece in one ply(as Lizzy did in the above game)

anyway PC Engines are not really my area of interest but i do occasionally dabble in this sort of thing

7 Hrs to Game Time Regards
Steve

[Spacious_Mind]

Interesting! I tried Chessmaster personalities in the past against compies, but always thought the personalities were a lot stronger than the indicated rating in CM because of hardware. If Lizzy really does play around 1422 then that makes them interesting

regards and good luck !! (thinking he might need luck today ) regards

Nick

Thanks Nick
as to the CM Personalities...
i am no expert by any means regarding this but i do notice that the personalities are a bit unrealistic in two ways
1) they play the FULL book lines many plies deep just as if the Full CM engine were playing
(perhaps there is a way to modify this..i never tried to though)
this generally leaves the personalities in a superior position against the lower rated dedicated's which run out of book much earlier or the oldies fall way behind in time if they do manage to come up with a book move as the CM replies instantly
2)they artificially drop pieces ...i guess this is how they get the lower rating..but its not really natural play
even a 1400 Dedicated machine is not going to simply hang a piece in one ply(as Lizzy did in the above game)

anyway PC Engines are not really my area of interest but i do occasionally dabble in this sort of thing

7 Hrs to Game Time Regards
Steve

I observed recently some games in Chessgate between not sure if it was Shredder 11 or 12 (since I dont have either) where the Shredder personality was dropped down to around 2000 elo playing a game against a 2000 elo dedicated. I think the match ended about 2-2 or something. So that made it interesting because the games were compeititive and you could not detect the artifically dropped game play. Perhaps it is done similar to this tournament where the search is reduced accordingly. Anyway I might have to buy Shredder to check this out myself.

regards

Nick

[pgeorges]

Hi Nick,

Thank you very much for this tournament. Reading some computer's names makes feel very happy (a bit nostalgic also ...). Those things are certainly more important for me than working on optimizations on 8-cores PC.

The soul of computer chess is here

Pascal Georges

[Spacious_Mind]

Hi Nick,

Thank you very much for this tournament. Reading some computer's names makes feel very happy (a bit nostalgic also ...). Those things are certainly more important for me than working on optimizations on 8-cores PC.

The soul of computer chess is here

Pascal Georges

Hi Pascal,

Thank you very much for your kind words. I think that these old programs should not be forgotten. Although I also love playing with the best modern engines, I do however keep being drawn to the old programs and computers. I just think these old classics have so much more personality and are more human since they will also make mistakes from time to time

Best regards

Nick

[Steve B]

Hi Nick

do you know if Kurts buy/sell forum has closed down?
when i try to visit the forum ,i get an announcement that the service is no longer available?

Regards
Steve

[Spacious_Mind]

Hi Steve,

Yes I think it is. Most of the members from there now are at Info.

You might want to look there for people selling from their collections. They post buy and sell items in the Forum quite often.

regards
Nick

[Steve B]

Hi Steve,

Yes I think it is.

i am sorry to hear that
the end of an era


Sad Regards
Steve

[Spacious_Mind]

I just finished Round 1 of Group B and here are the Results:



In the last minute I had to switch Typhoon1.0.0-r358-b1_ja with Philou 3.0.0 because Typhoon unfortunately only starts playing with 6 Ply. Again, there were lots of good games but unfortunately DOS/Windows invariably ended up on the losing end of many of these games. This DOS/Windows team does however play quite strong so it will be interesting to see how they finish in this Group.

Here is an example of Bringer 1.9 playing Mystery Engine B which is on of the today's strongest Modern Engines in the World:

[Event "Chess Computer Olympiad 2010 - Group B"]
[Site "Hoover, Alabama, USA"]
[Date "2009.12.30"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Mystery Engine B, 5 Ply"]
[Black "Bringer 1.9, 5 Ply"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B84"]
[WhiteElo "1800"]
[BlackElo "1800"]
[Annotator "Mind,Spacious"]
[PlyCount "171"]
[EventDate "2009.12.30"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "16"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. Be3 Qc7 8. Qd2 {Bringer 1.9 out of book} e5 {Mystery Engine B out of book} 9. Nf3 Qc6 10. Bd3 Be7 11. O-O O-O 12. Ng5 Nbd7 13. Nd5 Bd8 14. h3 h6 15. Nb4 Qa4 16. b3 Qa5 17. Nf3 Nc5 18. Bxc5 Qxc5 19. c4 b5 20. Rac1 Ba5 21. a3 Qb6 22. Rfd1 bxc4 23. Rxc4 Be6 24. Rc3 Bxb4 25. axb4 Qxb4 26. Rc6 Qb7 27. Rxd6 Ne8 28. Rxe6 fxe6 29. Nxe5 Nf6 30. Qc2 Rac8 31. Bc4 Rfe8 32. Rd6 Nxe4 33. Rd7 Qa8 34. f3 Rc5 35. Nd3 Qc6 36. Rd4 Ng5 37. Nxc5 Qxc5 38. Qf2 a5 39. Rd7 Qf5 40. Qd4 Qg6 41. Kh2 Nf7 42. f4 Qf5 43. Bd3 Qf6 44. Qe4 Rd8 45. Rc7 Qd4 46. Qxd4 Rxd4 47. Bg6 Nd6 48. Rd7 Kf8 49. g4 Rd2+ 50. Kg1 Rd5 51. Kg2 Nb5 52. Rf7+ Kg8 53. Re7 Rd8 54. Rxe6 Nd4

[d]3r2k1/6p1/4R1Bp/p7/3n1PP1/1P5P/6K1/8 w - - 0 55

This was a tough struggle. Finally after 54. Rxe6, Modern Engine B manages to go a pawn ahead. But, Bringer 1.9 just did not want to give in. Some great defense in the next moves ensures that Bringer 1.9 holds on to a very good draw.

55. Rb6 Ne2 56. f5 Nf4+ 57. Kg3 Nxg6 58. fxg6 Rd3+ 59. Kf4 Kf8 60. h4 Ke7 61. Ke5 Re3+ 62. Kf5 Rf3+ 63. Ke4 Rg3 64. Kf5 Rf3+ 65. Ke4 Rg3 66. Kf4 Rd3 67. Ke5 Re3+ 68. Kd5 Rd3+ 69. Kc5 Rg3 70. Rb7+ Kf6 71. h5 Rxg4 72. Kc6 Rg3 73. Kd6 Re3 74. Rb5 Rg3 75. Rxa5 Rxb3 76. Ra7 Rg3 77. Kc6 Kg5 78. Rxg7 Kxh5 79. Kc5 Rxg6 80. Rxg6 Kxg6 81. Kd4 h5 82. Ke4 h4 83. Kf4 Kh5 84. Kf3 h3 85. Kg3 h2 86. Kxh2
1/2-1/2

Here is a game between Deuterium and Nova Chess 1.12. Nova Chess 1.12 by Thomas Starke (1996) looks like this:



[Event "Chess Computer Olympiad 2010 - Group B"]
[Site "Hoover, Alabama, USA"]
[Date "2009.12.30"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Deuterium v09.01.26.492, 5 Ply"]
[Black "Nova Chess, 5 Ply"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D21"]
[WhiteElo "1800"]
[BlackElo "1800"]
[Annotator "Mind,Spacious"]
[PlyCount "166"]
[EventDate "2009.12.30"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "16"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 {Nova Chess out of book} e6 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 b5 {Deuterium v09.01.26.492 out of book} 5. Nc3 Ba6 6. Ne5 Nd7 7. Nc6 Qc8 8. d5 exd5 9. Qd4 Nb6 10. Nxd5 Nxd5 11. Qxd5 Nf6 12. Qe5+ Kd7 13. Nd4 Bb4+ 14. Bd2 Bxd2+ 15. Kxd2 Qb7 16. Ke1 Kc8 17. a4 b4 18. Qe7 Qd5 19. Qxb4 c5 20. Qa5 Bb7 21. Nb5 Qe5 22. Rd1 Kb8 23. Rd8+ Rxd8 24. Qxd8+ Bc8 25. Nd6 Qe6 26. Bxc4 Qd7 27. Qf8 Qc7 28. Nxc8 Qxc8 29. Qxg7 Qc6 30. Qf8+ Kb7 31. Qxf7+ Kb8 32. Qf8+ Kc7 33. Qe7+ Kb8 34. Bb5 Qb6 35. Bd3 a6 36. Kf1 Qxb2 37. Kg1 Qa1+ 38. Bf1 Qc3 39.
Qd6+ Kb7 40. a5 Qb2 41. Qxc5 Qxf2+ 42. Kxf2 Ne4+ 43. Ke1 Nxc5 44. Be2 Kc7 45. Rf1 Kd6 46. Rf6+ Ke5 47. Rc6 Nb7 48. Bxa6 Nd6 49. Rb6 h5 50. Kd1 Rg8 51. g3 Ra8 52. Kd2 Ne4+ 53. Ke2 Nc5 54. Bc4 Rxa5 55. Rh6 Kf5 56. Rxh5+ Kg4 57. Rh4+ Kg5 58. Rf4 Kh6 59. e4 Nd7 60. Bd5 Ra3 61. Rf5 Rc3 62. Kd2 Ra3 63. Be6 Nb8 64. g4 Rh3 65. g5+ Kg6 66. Bf7+ Kg7 67. Rf2 Nc6 68. Be6 Rh5 69. Bd5 Nb4 70. h4 Rxh4 71. Rf5 Nxd5 72. exd5 Kg6 73. Re5 Rg4 74. Ke3 Rxg5 75. Rxg5+ Kxg5

[d]8/8/8/3P2k1/8/4K3/8/8 w - - 0 76

Deuterium had a commanding lead, but then really struggled to win the game. The next move 76. d6? was a catastrophe. This led to a draw. 76. Kd4! would have won the game easiliy! Although the plies needed to win are slightly more than 5 Ply, most engines I am sure even with 5 Ply would have played Kd4!. This might suggest (especially considering how Deuterium struggled to win this game) that improvements in the endgame need to be made in future versions. The game from Deuterium up to the endgame looked good.

76. d6? Kf6 77. Kd4 Ke6 78. Kc5 Kd7 79. Kd5 Kd8 80. Ke6 Ke8 81. Kf6 Kd7 82. Ke5 Kd8 83. Kd5
Kd7 1/2-1/2



For this match I also made some last minute changes, replacing Atari Colossus X with Atari Gnuchess 3.1 (John Stanback) which was a Shareware program for Atari ST written in 1994. Colossus X is too weak (not up to the Standard of Colossus 4) and it would have been an uneccessary handicap to the Atari ST Team. Gandalf 4.32 was thrown out of the tournament for wanting to play 6 ply moves and was replaced by Anechka 008.

According to the rules where I used C64 1 MHz as the base, the Atari ST (8Mhz) games should be played at 28.1/8 seconds per move. Since this is not possible all the Atari ST programs except for GNUChess (playing at 5 ply) played at 30 seconds per move giving them a 6.25% advantage. But I think that is close enough

These games were soooooo tough. There was a point where I thought the games would never end. I had a series of games that ended after 69, 92, 65, 102, 101, 98 and 66 moves. I must admit I felt drained after manually inputting all these moves

But the games were wonderful. Here are a couple of games from this match starting with Atari ST - Player 2150 against Yace 099.56. Atari ST - Player 2150 is possibly the weakest member of the Atari Team. But this game it should have won:

[Event "Chess Computer Olympiad 2010 - Group B"]
[Site "Hoover, Alabama, USA"]
[Date "2009.12.30"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Atari ST - Player 2150, 30s"]
[Black "Yace 099.56, 5 Ply"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B14"]
[WhiteElo "1800"]
[BlackElo "1800"]
[Annotator "Mind,Spacious"]
[PlyCount "202"]
[EventDate "2009.12.30"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "16"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nf3 Bb4 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Bd2 Nc6 9. Bb5 {Yace 099.56 out of book} O-O {Atari ST - Player 2150 out of book} 10. O-O Be7 11. Rc1 Bf6 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Ne4 Rb8 14. Nxf6+ Nxf6 15. Qc2 Ba6 16. Rfe1 Qd5 17. b3 Bb7 18. Qc5 Qxc5 19. Rxc5 Rbd8 20. Ra5 c5 21. Ne5 a6 22. Rxc5 Ne4 23. Rc2 Rxd4 24. Be3 Rd5 25. Bf4 Nc5 26. Rec1 Rfd8 27. Kf1 Rd1+ 28. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 29. Ke2 Rd5 30. b4 Nd7 31. Nd3 Rd4 32. f3 e5 33. Be3 Rd6 34. Rc7 e4 35. Nc5 exf3+ 36. Kf2 Bc6 37. Bf4 Rg6 38. gxf3 Nf8 39. Nxa6 Bd5 40. b5 Bxa2 41. Be3 Bd5 42. b6 Rf6 43. f4 Rh6 44. Kg3 Re6 45. Kf2 Rh6 46. Kg1 Rg6+ 47. Kf1 Re6 48. Nb4 Be4 49. Kf2 Re8 50. Kg3 Ne6 51. Rc4 Bb7 52. f5 Nf8 53. Kf2 Be4 54. Rc5 Nd7 55. Rc7 Ne5 56. Ke2 Ng4 57. h4 f6 58. Rc5 Bxf5 59. Nd5 Be4 60. Nc7 Re7 61. Ra5 Bb7 62. Ra3 Re4 63. h5 Re5 64. h6 g5 65. Kd2 Kf7 66. Bd4 Re4 67. Kd3 Re7 68. Ra7 Be4+ 69. Kc4 Nxh6 70. Nd5 Nf5

[d]8/R3rk1p/1P3p2/3N1np1/2KBb3/8/8/8 w - - 0 71

The above position is after 70 moves of really interesting chess. The game looks lost for Yace. But in the next moves Chess Player 2150 totally misjudges the danger of Black's connected passed pawns.

71. Nxe7 Nd6+ 72. Kb4 Nb7 73. Nf5 Ke6 74. Ng7+ Kd7 75. Bxf6 g4 76. Nh5 Kc6 77. Ng3 Bg6 78. Bd4 h5 79. Ne2 h4 80. Ra3 h3 81. Nf4 h2 82. Rc3+ Kd6 83. Be5+ Kxe5 84. Nxg6+ Kf6 85. Rc6+ Kg5 86. Rc1 Kxg6 87. Ka4 g3 88. Kb4 g2 89. Rc6+ Kf5 90. Rc8 g1=Q 91. Rf8+ Ke4 92. Re8+ Kd3 93. Kb5 Nd6+ 94. Ka5 Qxb6+ 95. Kxb6 Nxe8 96.
Kc6 h1=Q+ 97. Kd7 Kd4 98. Kxe8 Qh7 99. Kd8 Kd5 100. Kc8 Kc6 101. Kd8 Qd7# 0-1

The other game between these two was also won by Yace after 102 moves !

Here is another game this time between Atari ST - Chess Champion 2175 and The Crazy Bishop v0052:

[Event "Chess Computer Olympiad 2010 - Group B"]
[Site "Hoover, Alabama, USA"]
[Date "2009.12.30"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Atari ST - Chess Champion 2175, 30s"]
[Black "The Crazy Bishop v0052, 5 Ply"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C10"]
[WhiteElo "1800"]
[BlackElo "1800"]
[Annotator "Mind,Spacious"]
[PlyCount "195"]
[EventDate "2009.12.30"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "16"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. Bg5 h6 {Atari ST - Chess Champion 2175 out of book} 8. Bxf6 {The Crazy Bishop v0052 out of book} Qxf6 9. Bb5+ c6 10. Bd3 Bd6 11. O-O O-O 12.
Re1 c5 13. Bc4 cxd4 14. Nxd4 Rd8 15. c3 Bc5 16. Qe2 Bxd4 17. cxd4 Rxd4 18. Rad1 Rd7 19. Bb5 Rxd1 20. Rxd1 e5 21. Qe4 Qg5 22. Bc4 Kf8 23. Qd5 Qe7 24. Qd8+ Qxd8 25. Rxd8+ Ke7 26. Rg8 g6 27. Bd5 Rb8 28. b3 b6 29. Rh8 h5 30. Rg8 h4 31. h3 a6 32. Kh2 b5 33. b4 f6 34. Rxg6 Bf5 35. Rg7+ Kd6 36. Bb7 Bd7 37. Be4 Be6 38. Rh7 Bxa2 39. Rxh4 Bd5 40. Bxd5 Kxd5 41. Rh6 Rb6 42. Rh7 Rc6 43. Rh6 Ke6 44. Rh7 Rc4 45. Ra7 Rxb4 46. Rxa6+ Kf5 47. Rb6 Rb2 48. g4+ Kg6 49. Kg3 Rb3+ 50. Kg2 Kg5 51. Rb7 f5 52. Rg7+ Kf6 53. Rc7 Ra3 54. Rc6+ Kg5 55. gxf5 Kxf5 56. Rb6 Ra5 57. Rb8 e4 58. Rf8+ Ke5 59. Re8+ Kd4 60. Rd8+ Ke5 61. Re8+ Kf4 62. Rf8+ Kg5 63. Rg8+ Kf6 64. Rf8+ Ke6 65. Re8+ Kd5 66. Rd8+ Kc4 67. Rc8+ Kd4 68. Rd8+ Kc4 69. Rc8+ Kd5 70. Rd8+ Kc5 71. Rc8+ Kd6 72. Rd8+ Kc7 73. Rd4 Ra4 74. Rd5 Kc6 75. Re5 Rc4 76. Re8 b4 77. Rc8+ Kd5 78. Rd8+ Ke5 79. Re8+ Kd4 80. Rb8 Kc3 81. h4 b3 82. h5 b2 83. h6 Rc7

[d]1R6/2r5/7P/8/4p3/2k5/1p3PK1/8 w - - 0 84

I thought this position was interesting. From here Champion 2175 played 84. f3? which may not have been as good as 84. f4!. Now the question is can White still get a draw after 84. f4! ? I think it might still be possible.

In the game after 84. f3? e3! wins the game which TCB missed.

84. f3? Kc2? 85. fxe4 b1=Q 86. Rxb1 Kxb1 87. e5 Rh7 88. Kf3 Rxh6 89. Ke4 Kc2 90. Kd5 Kd3 91. e6 Rh5+ 92. Kd6 Rh6 93. Kd5 Rh5+ 94. Kd6 Kd4 95. e7 Rh6+ 96. Kd7 Rh7 97. Kd8 Rxe7 98. Kxe7 1/2-1/2



I also had to be a little creative in this last match. The Dedicated Computers had some level problems, which I solved as follows:

Turbostar 432 should be 56.1/4 spm but plays at 60 spm = +6.25%
Risc 2500 should be 16 spm & plays at 16 spm = no change
Turboking should be 45 spm but plays at 30 spm = -33.3%
Corona should be 45 spm but plays at 60 spm = +25%
Brute Force should be 22.5 spm but plays at 15 spm = -33.3%
Travel Champion 2080 sb 32.14 spm but plays at 30 spm = -6.66%

spm = seconds per move.

Therefore a slight overall handicap for Team Saitek/SciSys - Switzerland. But, this could be a good thing for ELO comparison purposes. At 30 seconds per move all the dedicated are currently approximately rated as follows:

Turbostar = ELO 1745
Risc 2500 = ELO 2245
Turbokng = ELO 1884
Corona = ELO 1890
Brute Force = ELO 2108
TC 2080 = ELO 1939

I really think that Turbostar rating is too low therefore for the games at 60 seconds per move I will guess at ELO 1850. Corona playing at 60 seconds per move should also play at around ELO 1950.

The person I had bought the Turboking from had kindly penciled some evaluations which might be interesting. Turboking after 12 hours (43,200 seconds) of analysis searched 12.424.000 positions which equals to an average 287.59 positions per second. Since both Turboking and Corona are really pretty much the same, Turboking searches about 8628 positions in 30 seconds and Corona 17256 positions in 60 seconds.

Another observation to note is that TK, TS & also Corona at 60 seconds per move rarely reached 5 ply and mostly stayed in 4 Ply which seems to indicated that the search methods where different with the old SciSys and Saitek when compared to the Mephisto's that played in Group A.

Travel Champion 2080 averages about 1000 nodes per second.

Here is the game between Bruja 1.9 and SciSys Turbostar 432:

[Event "Chess Computer Olympiad 2010 - Group B"]
[Site "Hoover, Alabama, USA"]
[Date "2010.01.01"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Bruja 1.9, 5 Ply"]
[Black "SciSys Turbostar 432, 60S(B6)."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "1800"]
[BlackElo "1800"]
[Annotator "Mind,Spacious"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2010.01.01"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "16"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 h6 {Bruja 1.9 out of book} 6.
Bxf6 Qxf6 7. c5 {SciSys Turbostar 432 out of book} Be7 8. e3 O-O 9. Bd3 b6 10. cxb6 axb6 11. Ne5 Bd6 12. Ng4 Qe7 13. Qf3 Nd7 14. h3 f5 15. Nh2 f4 16. Ng4 fxe3 17. Qxe3 e5 18. dxe5 Nxe5 19. Nxe5 Qxe5 20. Qxe5 Bxe5 21. Ke2 Bb7 22. Rhe1 Bd4 23. f3 Rfe8+ 24. Kd2 Rxe1 25. Kxe1 Kf7 26. Kd2 b5 27. g3 Kf6 28. h4 b4 29. Nd1 Ra5 30. f4 Ra7 31. g4 g5 32. fxg5+ hxg5 33. h5 Bc8 34. Be2 Ke5 35. Ke1 Kf4 36. Nf2 Bxf2+ 37. Kxf2 Bxg4 38. Bxg4 Kxg4 39. h6 Kh5 40. h7 Rxh7 41. Rh1+ Kg6 42. Rxh7 Kxh7

[d]8/7k/2p5/3p2p1/1p6/8/PP3K2/8 w - - 0 43

This is another interesting endgame position. Bruja correctly plays next 43. a4! which should still even though the position looks lost be a draw. But, then instead of running the a-pawn then plays 44. Ke3?? which of course lost the game.

43. a4! c5 44. Ke3?? d4+ 45. Kd3 g4 46. Ke4 g3 47. Kf3 d3 48. b3 g2 49.
Kf2 d2 50. Ke2 g1=Q {Bruja 1.9 resigns} 0-1

In the next game BBChess hammers Travel Champion 2080 after a mistake on move 21.

[Event "Chess Computer Olympiad 2010 - Group B"]
[Site "Hoover, Alabama, USA"]
[Date "2010.01.02"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Saitek Travel Champion 2080, 30S."]
[Black "BBChess 1.3b, 5 Ply"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C09"]
[WhiteElo "1800"]
[BlackElo "1800"]
[Annotator "Mind,Spacious"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "2010.01.02"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "16"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 exd5 5. Ngf3 Nc6 {Saitek Travel Champion 2080 out of book} 6. Qe2+ {BBChess 1.3b out of book} Be7 7. dxc5 Nf6 8. Qb5 Nd7 9. Nb3 a6 10. Qd3 Nxc5 11. Nxc5 Bxc5 12. Bg5 Be7 13. Bd2 O-O 14. O-O-O Bf6 15. Be3 Be6 16. Be2 Qa5 17. a3 Rfc8 18. Rhe1 Ne5 19. Nxe5 Bxe5 20. f4 Bc3

[d]r1r3k1/1p3ppp/p3b3/q2p4/5P2/P1bQB3/1PP1B1PP/2KRR3 w - - 0 21

In this position TC 2080 has a slight advantage but makes a horrible mistake with the next move and BBChess takes care of business quickly.

21. bxc3?? Rxc3 22. Qd2 Qxa3+ 23. Kb1 d4 24. Bc4 Bxc4 25. Qxc3 dxc3 26. Rd8+ Rxd8 27. g3 Qb2# 0-1

After this game I thought that perhaps TC 2080 might not be up to the challenge of this competition. But the next game showed otherwise:

[Event "Chess Computer Olympiad 2010 - Group B"]
[Site "Hoover, Alabama, USA"]
[Date "2010.01.02"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "BBChess 1.3b, 5 Ply"]
[Black "Saitek Travel Champion 2080, 30S."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A34"]
[WhiteElo "1800"]
[BlackElo "1800"]
[Annotator "Mind,Spacious"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "2010.01.02"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "16"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. O-O {Saitek Travel Champion 2080 out of book} g6 7. Nc3 Bg7 {BBChess 1.3b out of book} 8. Ng5 e6 9. e4 Ndb4

[d]r1bqk2r/pp3pbp/2n1p1p1/2p3N1/1n2P3/2N3P1/PP1P1PBP/R1BQ1RK1 w kq - 0 10

BBChess played a horrible opening and already looks in trouble.

10. d3? Nxd3 11. Qg4 Nce5 12. Qd1 O-O 13. Be3 Nc4 14. Qg4 Nxe3 15. fxe3 Nxb2 16. Rac1 Qd2 17. Nb5 Nd3 18. Rcd1 Qxe3+ 19. Kh1 Nf2+ 20. Rxf2 Qxf2 21. Rf1 Qxa2 22. Nd6 f5 23. exf5 exf5 24. Qh3 h6 25. Rd1 Be6 26. Nxe6 Qe2 27. Rc1 Qxe6 28. Nxb7 Rac8 29. Rd1 Qe2 30. Rc1 c4 31. Bd5+ Kh7 32. Rb1 c3 33. Rc1 Qd2 34. Qf1 Qxd5+ 35. Qg2 Qe5 36. h3 Rc7 37. g4 Qe3 38. Rc2 Rd7 39. Nd6 Rxd6 40. Qf1 fxg4 41. Qg1 Qf3+ 42. Rg2 Rd1 43. Qxd1 Qxd1+ 44. Rg1 Qf3+ 45. Rg2 gxh3 46. Kh2 Qxg2# 0-1

Here are the stadings after 1 Round in Group B:



I have a feeling that this group will be really close in the end.

Here is the schedule for Round 2 in Group B:



Best regards

Nick

[Steve B]

Hi Nick

no updates on Group B?
only 5 more moves and the MDC (and you)take over the Forum game
depending on the next few moves i think you couldnt ask for a better position for the MDC
nice and open...lots of tactical possibilities

Steve