On Oct 9, 12:56 pm, Mike Murray wrote:

C'mon bot, White's fourth is the main line in the Center Game.

This looks suspiciously like an assumption that a
line's having been named equates to it being good.


It was played at one time

Indeed, this comment speaks volumes. At one time,
surgeons did not wash their hands.


or another, often more than once, by Paulsen

So then, a famous player has played a poor opening
line.


Tarrasch, Chigorin, Maroczy, Marshall, Spielmann, Tartakower, and
more recently Shabalov and Judith Polgar.

So then, if famous players have blundered, then
it is "good" for everyone to blunder; if famous
players once played an inferior opening move, we
should all endorse it; and if famous players have
ever resigned prematurely, then should we not all
make a practice of it? I find that sort of logic
appalling. How about this: what strong player,
today, plays this line as his main weapon? If
somebody can reach the top with that sort of
handicap, we should all be very impressed.


Take a look at some of the games at GetClub.
When I play the Ruy Lopez, for instance, I get a
good position as White which I can work with to
try and build some sort of decisive edge, and then
convert and win. Yet this slop -- especially the
Qe3 move -- yields nothing; zero. Objectively,
the White Queen stands better on her home
square, d1, than on e3 -- except for purposes of
landing a tricky cheap shot very early on.

Black has every reason to try and win after such
inferior moves. It reminds me a bit of the Grob, or
the Orangutan; good for a laugh or two, perhaps.
Certainly a good choice where two players have
secretly agreed in advance to draw their game, as
it gives the joke away to those in the know" while
not being quite so obvious as to attract due
attention.

Another thing it might be good for is where it is
deemed "necessary" to surprise an unwary
opponent, as for example after a loss as White
where no suitable improvement has yet been
found; the point is, the enemy's minions will very
likely suddenly turn their efforts to this unfamiliar
line, while neglecting the real defense
(I am here referring to match play). This idea can
be seen in the famous Fischer/Spassky match,
where GM Fischer threw in an Alekhine's Defense,
among other things, while carefully avoiding any
"discussion" of his published bust to the King's
Gambit.

Here's the real point: the programmers have
apparently added on a bonus to the position score
after early Queen forays, spite checks like ...Bb4+,
and Knight invasions like ...Ng4. (You may have
noted that White chose Bd2 -- a hideous-looking
move that prevents spite checks.) At about move
twelve, White had yet to develop either Knight --
these are tell-tale signs of a misbegotten eval.
function.

In strong chess programs, with no openings book
loaded from which to fetch moves by rote, you will
often notice a decided tendency to favor development
over cheap shot potential; in particular, you will note
how it is best to develop the Knights early, as Black
did in this game. To oversimplify a bit: weak players
like to move the Queen out early; strong ones prefer
to develop their Knights. (You may notice that once
I run out of book, I tend to play moves like ...Qa5 a
lot. LOL)


-- help bot

On Oct 9, 1:39 pm, Taylor Kingston wrote:

4.Qd4-e3 was also a favorite of Winawer's.


How well did he do playing that?


-- help bot

On Oct 9, 2:20 pm, Kenneth Sloan wrote:

So...it's just the same as it's always been?

No, actually, it is better now. Now there are so few
players at GetClub that when one of my games gets
locked up, Sanny quickly and efficiently responds
here. The trouble seems to have something to do
with my frequent disconnects, in conjunction with
the program allegedly "seeing" checkmate coming
but being directed not to resign until point x. If my
game is disconnected after it detects an oncoming
checkmate, when I reconnect it doesn't seem to
want to play a move. or resign. After several tries
or after several hours and a retry, the problem
vanishes.

When I play humans, I feel a bit awkward because
I am so used to playing the GetClub program, with its
crazy idio-sync-ricies (I can't spell that word to save
my life!).

The new Web site format has some logic flaws,
such as when I reconnect during play it asks me
TWICE what level I want to play, when in fact I have
no choice at all, according to Sanny. When I go to
start a new game, there are not one but TWO screens
where you are asked to choose your level. What may
happen if you choose one level on the first screen and
then change your mind for the second one I do not
know; maybe I will try it; I want to play against the
Advance level at ten seconds per move!


-- help bot

Sanny wrote:
*any* points after a full night of tussling with the
Master level! (Now that's a tough opponent.) This
is why I normally play the three weaker levels, so I
can finish a game or two in one sitting.

-- help bot

Instead of playing with Master level you should play with Normal
Level. Master takes 5-10 min/move while Normal takes just 2-3 min /
move.

Want to bet?

--
Kenneth Sloan
Computer and Information Sciences +1-205-932-2213
University of Alabama at Birmingham FAX +1-205-934-5473
Birmingham, AL 35294-1170 http://www.cis.uab.edu/sloan/

new Web site format has some logic flaws,
such as when I reconnect during play it asks me
TWICE what level I want to play, when in fact I have
no choice at all, according to Sanny. When I go to
start a new game, there are not one but TWO screens
where you are asked to choose your level. What may
happen if you choose one level on the first screen and
then change your mind for the second one I do not
know; maybe I will try it; I want to play against the
Advance level at ten seconds per move!

-- help bot

First time is just for display there arte 5 levels. You can click any
of them to reach where you can play with computer. It is only inside
the Applet you can choose the levels.

I saw you lost a game with Easy Level. While your position was strong.
Was the game not recorded properly?

Bye
Sanny

Play Chess at: http://www.GetClub.com/Chess.html

On Oct 10, 12:16 pm, Sanny wrote:


I saw you lost a game with Easy Level. While your position was strong.
Was the game not recorded properly?


As far as I can tell, the program "resigned me"
while it had the move and was thinking. As you
can see, I was clearly winning, as usual, and
it is impossible for me to accidentally click the
"resigns" button because it only appears when
it is *my turn* to move. I had a disconnect here,
and when I reconnected it started thinking and
then POOF, it jumped to the game-replay screen.
This hasn't happened in a very long time.


-- help bot

help bot wrote:
On Oct 10, 12:16 pm, Sanny wrote:


I saw you lost a game with Easy Level. While your position was strong.
Was the game not recorded properly?


As far as I can tell, the program "resigned me"
while it had the move and was thinking. As you
can see, I was clearly winning, as usual, and
it is impossible for me to accidentally click the
"resigns" button because it only appears when
it is *my turn* to move. I had a disconnect here,
and when I reconnected it started thinking and
then POOF, it jumped to the game-replay screen.
This hasn't happened in a very long time.


With this program, EVERYTHING takes a very long time.


--
Kenneth Sloan
Computer and Information Sciences +1-205-932-2213
University of Alabama at Birmingham FAX +1-205-934-5473
Birmingham, AL 35294-1170 http://www.cis.uab.edu/sloan/

On Oct 11, 4:53 pm, Kenneth Sloan wrote:

With this program, EVERYTHING takes a very long time.


Not necessarily.


Beginner level -- Rybka

1. g4 e5

2. f3 Qh4++


Easy level -- Rybka

1. g4 e5

2. g5 Qxg5

3. f3 Qg3++


Rybka -- Normal level

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 f6

3. Nxe5 fxe5

4. Qh5+ Ke7

5. Qxe5+ Ke6


-- help bot

On Oct 11, 6:19 pm, help bot wrote:
On Oct 11, 4:53 pm, Kenneth Sloan wrote:

With this program, EVERYTHING takes a very long time.

Not necessarily.

Easy level -- Rybka

1. g4 e5

2. g5 Qxg5

3. f3 Qg3++

Followed instantly by 4.hxg3 +-. Preferable seems 3...Qh4#.

On Oct 11, 5:26 pm, Taylor Kingston wrote:

Easy level -- Rybka

1. g4 e5

2. g5 Qxg5

3. f3 Qg3++

Followed instantly by 4.hxg3 +-. Preferable seems 3...Qh4#.


I have been known to occasionally lose in blindfold
competition. Note that even here, there are still
drawing chances; have you seen GetClub's endgame?

I expect Rook odds would be about right for Rybka,
except on GetClub's higher levels. Removing White's
QR, I would bet on Rybka to beat the Beginner level.
Now, Queen odds might be overdoing it. A little.


-- help bot