Author: Jeroen van Dorp
Date: 17:02:14 04/01/01
As you are aware of the fact I know nothing about chess programming, I wonder if the following behaviour has something to do with the way a chess engine is programmed. It's this position: [D]8/kp6/4p3/p2p1p2/P1nP1P2/2PK2R1/7q/1Q6 w - - 0 1 This is the way I assessed the situation: Black threatens mate at d2 in the next move. White has to counter this by neutralizing the threat and simultaniously defend its rook. So the most logical way is playing 1. Qe1 I guess I'm thinking like a null-move searcher. So I asked Fritz 6 and it came up with the same solution until after some time it found the escape route for white to a draw/stalemate, namely 1. Qxb7+ Kxb7 2.Rg7+. My question is: did Fritz start off with pondering over Qe1 because it is a "null-mover" or am I just talking nonsense and has this nothing to do with programming techniques? The background is of course searching for or construction of positions like this to fool real people and computer programs alike. Thanks for the (expert) advice. J. btw the position comes from Murej-Pawlenko (Moscow 1961) and you can find it in the "Chess Endgames" book from Laszlo Polgar (pos 894, p.171)
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