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Subject: Bruce Moreland on computer chess

Author: Ricardo Gibert

Date: 06:37:49 05/22/00

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On May 22, 2000 at 01:59:12, Bruce Moreland wrote:

>On May 21, 2000 at 22:59:20, Michael Neish wrote:
>
>>
>>>There are a couple of obvious things.
>>>
>>>1.  Bg4 is silly.  After f3, it has to retreat.
>>
>>Thanks for the reply.  Do you think Fritz played that move because it thought
>>that f3, driving the Bishop away, would weaken White's Pawn structure?  If so,
>>it would have considered it a worthwhile sortie.
>>
>>About locked positions -- there are certain themes that seem to recur in
>>positions of this kind.  The sort of locked positions one gets coming out of
>>certain openings seem to be very similar to each other (and long lasting),
>>similar and long-lasting enough that I think one could check for the occurrence
>>of these structures before entering Search(), in PreEval() and change some
>>parameters accordingly, such as command of space, King Safety bonuses for the
>>proximity of the enemy's Pawns, mobility factors for Bishops blocked behind
>>their own locked Pawns, etc.  It seems a very simple idea -- do you think it
>>would work?  I'm trying to do something along these lines (for simpler
>>positions, mind you), but it's too early to tell whether they have a net
>>positive effect.
>>
>>>2.  after f4, black needs to play ef, rather than allowing the pawn to be
>>>pushed to f5.  After f5, white has lots of space on the kingside, and the pawn
>>>roller is hard to stop.  Black, meanwhile, has a locked center to play with and
>>>has a hard time defending on the kingside with so little space there.
>>
>>Seems very sensible.  But after f5 can Black still hold the game?  If so, how?
>>
>>Cheers,
>>
>>Mike.
>
>After 13. f5 black is dicked, because all the eventual open lines are going to
>come at a time of white's choosing, and they will all favor white.  After that
>move, black is the golf ball, it is teed up, and white is Tiger Woods.


You have a knack for describing and explaining things very well. I'm not the
only one note this. Have you considered writing a book on computer chess? I
would certainly buy such a book.


>
>I think black played without plan starting with 9. ... Bg4.  Perhaps it got
>confused because it didn't see a good pawn break, and perhaps it didn't help
>that white's structural king safety look poor.
>
>What is black trying to do?  Black wants to take advantage of the fact that
>white's king hasn't castled.  But black doesn't do this, black fiddles around
>and lets white get a hammer lock on the k-side, the center, and the q-side.  You
>can't do that and win.
>
>I think the game is lost for black after 13. f5.
>
>Around move 12 or so black needs to break the position open and make white think
>about his king safety.  Black doesn't do this, and instead fritters around
>during the crucial moment during which white can remove black's potential ... f5
>pawn break.  I think 12. ... b6 was a complete stinker since f4 is coming.
>Black needs to deal with this, since black absolutely cannot allow f4 followed
>by f5.
>
>Assuming that 12. ... b6 is played, Bob has suggested 13. ... exf4 in response
>to 13. f4.  Mine won't play 13. ... exf4, because it is frightened about the
>open lines into its own position.  If it was forced to deal with this position,
>it would mess up and lose quickly.  Perhaps it's a bad plan anyway, because
>white might be able to consolidate his center and his king, but perhaps black
>can get in ... f5 and do some chopping.  Regardless, mine won't let the g-file
>open into its king like this, and I think that's a rational fear, in the general
>case, for a program, so I'm not coming down on it harshly.  It'd be a matter of
>choosing which way it wants to screw itself up, and I don't mind that it would
>pick the wrong one.
>
>I hold out more hope for the possibility of avoiding the position by avoiding
>12. ... b6.  I had the idea that 12. ... Ne8, intending to meet 13. f4 by 13.
>... f5, could be the way to go.  I set up the position before black's 12th move
>and I was happy that mine would adopt this plan.  That's how I want it to play,
>even if the plan is bad.  I want it to understand that you do not let a human
>play f4 and f5 against you when you are castled k-side and there is an e4/e5
>ram.  Fritz could use this knowledge too, I think.
>
>This game isn't particularly hard to improve upon because anything has to be
>better than what happened in the game, and that is important to remember when
>deciding whether you should declare yourself to be smarter than Fritz.  But I
>think this plan would help prevent black from getting so badly attacked, and
>might cause white to regret his king safety choices.
>
>I am about a 2000 USCF player so take what I say with a grain of salt.
>
>bruce



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