Author: Sune Larsson
Date: 06:08:35 07/25/01
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On July 25, 2001 at 08:45:46, Jeroen van Dorp wrote: >>There have been some negative voices heard about this program. > >Like about Shredder, Junior.... :) > > >>Statements >>like "just pushing wood around with no plan" etc. > >Sounds like a computer to me. > > >>Also the results haven't >>been too good. A lot of effort has been put down to test different settings >>in CM8, with some fruitful results. My question is if anybody has done the >>same with Nimzo 8? A while ago I read some suggestions of changing the >>"Middlegame mobility" from default 24 to 48 - and the "Endgame mobility" >>from 10 to 20. But I'm not sure about the results. > > >The tweaking of **these** values definitely made Nimzo more succesfull in blitz >and other short time control games. >In longer time controls there's nothing wrong with Nimzo 8, and it is something >of an Angstgegner for Fritz 6 in a lot of S(low)TC games. >Fritz 6 lost a lot of games from Nimzo 8 when I played it at tournament level >(40/2h) > > >>Then there are other >>parameters in Nimzo like "Weight king safety", "Weight pawn structure", >>"Futility cutoff", the different "Piece values" and also the styles of >>"Solid", "Aggressive", "Offensive" and "Allround". >>If not an absolute top program, at least it should be possible to make >>the playing style interesting and attractive. > > >It depends on what you're looking for. > >Of course these are **great** values to chance, especially those regarding king >safety and pawn structures. However you must change the values quite a bit. My >rule of thumb is at least 15%. >Also piece values can help you let Nimzo play more risky, especially by lowering >queen value. >I think these high values are certainly 33% of the "boring" play. > >But only change them if you want Nimzo to play oddball lines or risky, not to >make it stronger in "Computer Chess Only" games. > > >A bit of a problem with Nimzo 8 is it's dull opening book. I think this book is >nice for people who don't want to stray from regular opening theory. It's ...... > efficient. >There are hardly any oddball variations. Maybe it's a reaction to earlier books >of Nimzo (befor 7.32, like 98 and 99) which could have some nice screwups >inside. > >A lot of CC games (correspondence) with a lot of gambits can help out, but >that's just your own taste. > >However, if you're looking for optimized parameters, decide >if you want to play it yourself (FAT pluses to mobility, lower king safety with >at least 20%, lower pawn structure solidness equally, and lower the value of at >least the queen to around 1100 or so); >if you want to play Blitz in computer only games: (mobility changes as mentioned >above only) >if you want STC computer only (keep the default settings) > >That's my advice, but YMMV. > >I could look up an occasional game with the sliders wildly adapted, I can >remember a rook sack in a game against me, but I have to look that up at home. > > >>Any comments are welcome. > >To be honest, you got some, and from your reaction not all were equally welcome >:)) > >J. Right, all comments are welcome - but some are more welcome than others...;) Thanks especially to yours. Very interesting. I noticed that almost all CM8 personalities that have shown good results also have a much higher King Safety value, 140-170 instead of default 100. Could this also be a good possibility for Nimzo 8? Though I see that you suggest a lower value for Nimzo (with at least 20%). How do you think a lower KS value would affect Nimzo's play? For sure I will try some of your suggestions, but I also noticed that the settings in Fritz are restored back to default, when closing and reopening the program?! Sune
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