Computer Chess Club Archives


Search

Terms

Messages

Subject: Re: New York 1924

Author: Mark Ryan

Date: 15:25:01 05/22/05

Go up one level in this thread


On May 22, 2005 at 02:40:51, John Merlino wrote:

>On May 21, 2005 at 21:30:37, Mark Ryan wrote:
>
>>On May 20, 2005 at 21:11:03, John Merlino wrote:
>>
>>>On May 20, 2005 at 19:12:00, Mark Ryan wrote:
>>>
>>>>On May 20, 2005 at 17:40:02, jim r uselton wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>Let's say a person has access to a time machine and grabs his shredder 7 and
>>>>>goes back to the year 1924. Let's say,For the sake of argument, he talks his way
>>>>>in to the great New York Tournament. This guy doesn't know much chess so he lets
>>>>>his Shredder do all the playing. My question is---where do you think he would
>>>>>finish, first---fourth---last?
>>>>>
>>>>>Thanks for your input!
>>>>>     Jim
>>>>
>>>>I think Shredder 7 would win the tournament.  However, I have always thought
>>>>that Emanuel Lasker would have a good chance against even a strong computer
>>>>program because:
>>>>
>>>>1.  Capablanca once described Lasker as the best tactician;
>>>>2.  Lasker almost never blundered;
>>>>3.  Lasker had superb control of his nerves;
>>>>4.  Lasker was a great defensive player;
>>>>
>>>>All of the above qualities go a long way to neutralizing the computer's
>>>>advantages against human beings.  Moreover, to exploit the computer's weakness:
>>>>
>>>>5.  Lasker had a profound ability to make moves that other players
>>>>mis-evaluated.  I believe it is a misconception that Lasker deliberately played
>>>>weak moves that he knew would trouble his particular opponent.  I don't think
>>>>Lasker deliberately played a weak move in his whole life.  He played moves that
>>>>he knew were good, but that his opponent would mistakenly imagine were bad.  The
>>>>classic example is 12.f5 against Capablanca in 1914 (St. Petersburg), which the
>>>>great Cuban insisted for years afterwards was a weak move, but which is now
>>>>generally accepted as being a good move.
>>>>
>>>>I think Lasker, more than any other player, would have some chance of finding
>>>>such a move against a program.  (But I think we should let him play a full match
>>>>against the computer, and not just one game :)
>>>>
>>>>Mark
>>>
>>>FYI, here are the Lasker personality settings in CM 9000 (my apologies if people
>>>expect a different format for this, I'm just typing them as I see them).
>>>
>>>All settings are default except:
>>>Attacker/Defender = 30
>>>Material/Positional = -25
>>>Contempt for Draw = 1.0
>>>Control of Center = 105
>>>King Safety = 90
>>>Passed Pawns = 110
>>>Queen Value = 8.7
>>>Knight Value = 3.3
>>>
>>>Playing style description: Of all the Chessmaster 9000 opponents, the
>>>Lasker-style will more often play the opponent as much or more than the board.
>>>This personality is a fabulous defensive player and fine tactician, equally at
>>>home in open or closed positions.
>>>
>>>Enjoy!
>>>
>>>jm
>>
>>I think we could add "ruthless" to the list.  I just played Chessmaster 9000
>>Lasker, and he forced to me resign in 16 moves.  :)
>>
>>Mark
>
>Well, I just played the Lasker personality, and after 19 moves found myself in
>this very unenviable position:
>
>[D]5rk1/ppp2rb1/3pp1n1/7q/3nPB2/P1NP2R1/1PPQ1RPP/6K1 w - - 0 20
>
>I resigned three moves later.... :-)
>
>jm

It's good to know I'm not the only one.  And I must remember to proofread my
messages before I send them:  "he forced to me resign" should of course be "he
forced me to resign".

Mark




This page took 0 seconds to execute

Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700

Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.