Author: Christian Kongsted.
Date: 06:21:07 08/20/03
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Thanks for your interesting comments on the book 'How to Use Computers to Improve Your Chess" First of all, I am sorry that you felt that too little space was dedicated to the subject of opening books. I can only say that when you have 192 pages and want to cover several aspects of computer chess, you need to give some issues more priority than others. In general, my point of view is that computer opening books is an area of computer chess where there is room for improvement. I don't mean to criticize or provoke anyone here or devalue some of the good work which is being done by creators of the opening books. It is just a statement - a point of view. But let me answer point by point: 1. Note that I am speaking about computer programs in general, not only about the absolute top. I am aware that years have been invested in the opening books of the absolute top programs (e.g. I know Dan Wulff personally, and I believe he has done a great job with the Gandalf book, which has taken many years to develop) 2. In my book (on p. 82) I include a well-known example from the Blitz world champions between Fritz and Nimzo, in which both computers are following a game from the database, which was entered erroneously in the original source (TWIC). If you tell me that you are not working like this Jeroen, I naturally believe it, but apparently other people are. 3. "The opening book operators are not necessarily strong players and thus might be having trouble identifying which lines are viable and which are not." Although there are some good exceptions, I believe this statement to be true. 4. "Generally, strong players do not have to fear the opening book of the computer." I also stand by that statement, although it may of course seem slightly provoking to some people. My general point of view is that a 2600-grandmaster can make much better preparations than a weaker player and he knows much more about the current trends and evaluations of opening theory. If he plays his normal lines against the program, he should not fear the opening book (note however, that he may still have good reasons to fear or at least respect the engine!) I agree that a single-game preparation with a sharp off-beat variation is a very strong weapon for the opening book operator, and I am sure that this can be used to a good effect. Thanks for your point of view and for your recommendation, even though you do not agree with me in all the points mentioned above. Christian Kongsted On August 20, 2003 at 05:18:18, Jeroen Noomen wrote: >Hi all, > >I have just completed reading Christian Kongsted's book >'How to use computers to improve your chess'. I must say that >I like this book. It gives a lot of valuable information, not >only for those who want to improve his/her playing strength, >his/her chances of beating the silicon beast, but also for >programmers. > >Kongsted gives a lot of interesting positions in which computer >programs are not able to come up with the right evaluation. So I >think it is a very interesting manual for programmers as well. > >Of course I was very interested in what the book would say about >the program's opening books. Unfortunately this topic gets less >than two pages, so I was a bit disappointed by this fact. Also I >don't agree with Kongsted's evaluation of the opening books of >modern top programs. Let me quote some of them: > >1. Opening books are often made as the last thing before a release. > >This is not true. People like Alex Kure, Sandro Necchi, Dan Wulff >and me spent the whole year to improve it and to adjust it. Hundreds >of hours are spent to test the book and adjust it. > >2. The opening books are made by the programmer himself or a chess >player who enters suggested lines from theory books or databases, >without checking the lines. > >Also not true. As everybody knows here, all the book expert do a lot >of testing, improving chess theory themselves, adding variations >and improvements. Kongsted's statement might be true for a lot of >programmers, but certainly not for the top products. > >3. The opening book operators are not necessarily strong players >and thus might be having trouble identifying which lines are viable >and which are not. > >My current rating is around 2200, but I can give a lot of examples >that proves the opposite of the above statement. And I think again >that the top products have these topic lines covered very well. >I only want to point out the games Anand - Rebel (1st tournament >game), Rebel - Scherbakov (offbeat line that brought Rebel a >brilliant victory) or Chess Tiger - Fritz from the tournament in >Leiden this year, where I improved theory and crushed a line that >was thought to be quite good for black. > >4. Generally, strong players do not have to fear the openingbook >of the computer. > >Well, I think they should, especially when guys like Alex, Sandro >or me are preparing the book for some opponent! From my own >examples: The book preparations for Rebel against John van der Wiel >were quite successfull, helping to win the match 3,5-2,5. And John >stated after the match that it was much more difficult to get anti >computer positions against Rebel in this match. Which I took as a >compliment for myself :-). >Furthermore, the best books contain very sharp offbeat lines, when >used against strong opponents can turn into a deadly weapon. F.e. >Cock de Gorter - who made books for The King amongst others - is >very good at this. In the AEGON tournaments De Gorter often managed >to take strong players by surprise by those offbeat lines, with >good success as well. > >All in all the information about the opening books of the current >top programs is quite meagre, with only two pages and IMO the >conclusions of Christian are too one-sided and not in accordance >with the real situation. > >But overall I like this book and it contains a lot of interesting >information for all who wants to improve playing chess or who wants >to write a chess program. I can recommend it for everybody in this >forum here. Good job, Christian! > >Best wishes, Jeroen
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