16 January 2011

Rybka @ Mainz

Following up More on Chess960 Engines, here are a few more posts from Rybkaforum.net related to the Livingston chess960 events at Mainz.

There is more about engines and chess960 at TalkChess.com :: Search, but the search is awkward and produces too many irrelevant results. Maybe I just need to spend more time on it, if only I had more time to spend...

4 comments:

HarryO said...

Eh Mark
Thanks for doing the summaries of Rybka. Can we do some summaries on Nakamura's Chess960 games one day?

In an alternative reality where Chess960 is being played (Planet Earth960?), Nakamura would probably be the best chess player in the world. The reason is his incredible ability to absorb specific complexity very quickly.

On another topic, the part I don't get on the argument about how Chess960 under utilizes the minds's memory skills, is that anyone can actually believe that argument....

Carlsen is bored with Chess I tell you. His memory is phenomenal but he is bored with SP518. If he were to play 960, his memory would constantly be enlivened. This is because despite that we may get to play any chess960 position only a couple of times in our competitive life, for someone with excellent memory, they will go into the chess960 game with an advantage over someone who does not. This is because they will remember the specific ideas from the position from the last time they played it.

If they have an edge in these specifics about the position over their opponent, they are more likely to get a better position. Thus Chess960 encourages those with excellent memory and excellent experience (the veteran 960 players with experience and excellent memory ability will balance out the youthful agile mind as happens in SP518).

Chess960 destroys nothing and it actually extends what Chess can offer. The longer we wait to implement Chess960 in our major competitions, the longer we will have to wait for this phenomenon to emerge and to see it with our own eyes.

Chess960 is holistic chess (Full Chess!?)

:-)

Cheers
Harry

Mark Weeks said...

Harry - Nakamura? Good idea! In the meantime you can use the search box on the right to find many posts where he's been mentioned. - Mark

HarryO said...

Hi Mark
Check out Nakamura's games at Wijk aan Zee 2011. From a Chess960 point of view they are highly instructive. The guy is amazing. There are many examples but Nepomniachtchi,Ian (2733) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2751) round 11 is a typical example of a Chess960 thinker that is Hikaru (and for that matter Ian as well!)

Nak has had to absorb vast amounts of opening theory lately to make it to the top like he is now doing. As yet these robotic memory skills do not appear to be destroying his creativity. His opening systems are still not as voluminous as Carlsen's or Anand's, but they may not need to be with his raw creativity.

Best wishes to Nakamura that he rises to the top of Chess and then explains to the world the benefits of Chess960 following in Bobby's footsteps.

Time will tell.
Cheers

HarryO said...

Eh Mark
Great news that an American Nakamura has won Wilk aan See Tata Steel for 2011! He is also the winner of the Finet 2008 Chess960 GM tournament and I'm sure a great ambassador for Chess960 as Bobby Fischer was. Note that the top three players at Tata Steel Nakamura, Anand and Aronian (excluding Carlsen tied for third) have all played Chess960 at top GM level.

Even more amazing is that the winner of Tata Steel group-B David Navara is also a Chess960 player at GM tournament level!

I've spread the word at Chess.com as far as I can.

Let's give it a go.
Cheers