Author: Vincent Lejeune
Date: 12:44:37 05/14/02
found here : http://www.kasparov.com/serve/templates/folders/show.asp?p_docID=21410&p_docLang=EN Post-match interview with GM Ilya Smirin "I also see room for improvement in the computer’s way of thinking in closed position, which is quite primitive and naive, while his level of play in open positions is simply outstanding!" Congratulations on winning the contest! It’s been almost a week since the end of your match versus the best chess engines and I want to ask are you satisfied with the final result? I think the outcome of the match reflected more or less accurately it’s character. I mean I won two games, one of which (second encounter with Tiger) I had a quite dubious position at some stage and then managed to outplay the program in tactical complications. I saved one objectively lost position versus Hiarcs, and was saved in one lost position versus Junior. But I spoiled at least two winning positions myself, so I feel in this sense we are even! And if you ask me whether I am satisfied with my result in general, the answer would be yes, I am! Before the match I was expecting the worst and suspected that what happened to Gulko might happen to me as well (ed. - I will remind you that Gulko lost to the computers 5-3), mainly due to very little experience I have accumulated in the computer chess in the past. The last time I played computers was back in 1995-1996. But I grew confident as the contest was in progress, and frankly speaking, I think the outcome could be even more convincing when I look at it now! Somehow it seemed to me that the computers are stronger when I was analyzing Gulko’s games. Smirin - Computers 5:3 Were you surprised by the level of your computer opponents? As a matter of fact I was! This match has revealed (or emphasized?!) that chess programs have extremely strong and extremely weak sides. I was expecting more "stable" performance, if I may call it this way. Some aspects of chess program’s play are still calling for serious improvement; such as it’s incapability to carry out a long-term plan, even if this plan is simple enough (ed - see Smirin-Hiarcs game). I also see room for improvement in the computer’s way of thinking in closed position, which is quite primitive and naive, while his level of play in open positions is simply outstanding! Did you manage to impose on the computers the character of play you intended to in your pre-match preparation? How do you explain the fact that with white, you were dominating over the computers scoring two wins and spoiling another winning position, while with black you seemed to have certain problems? Is the color of the pieces that significant versus computers? I will start to answer this series of questions from the last one! Yes, it makes a huge difference to play with computer with black or white! With white it is much easier to drag it into kind of positions you want to without taking too many risks, while with black you have to go intentionally for much worse position (which you assume is suitable to play versus computer) and try to outplay the program in it. I don’t like this strategy and didn’t use it in my match sticking to my original opening schemes such as King’s Indian Defense versus d4 and going for 1...e5 versus 1.e4, which I had prepared. For some reason, in none of the games the programs opted for the main lines, so I didn’t face too many problems in the opening. Did you feel an additional psychological tension during the contest? Do you feel exhausted after the match? Well, even though we played only four games per week, which helped me to pull myself together between the games, it wasn’t so easy psychologically. As a result, I lost concentration a few times during the match and it cost me at least 0.5 point (and it could be even more if the computer was more accurate!)! It’s just not so simple to play chess when you know that you have to avoid certain kind of positions, even if your intuition is telling you it’s objectively correct to go for them! However, I think I managed to withstand the pressure, and at the moment I’m full of energy and not tired at all! Do you feel you played different chess? In that sense, yes, I played a different kind of chess. I’ve got to admit that on one hand it was an extremely interesting experience for me and I kind of enjoyed it. But on the other hand there were a lot of elements inherent to "human” chess I missed in this contest: as I previously told you, I had to limit myself to certain way of thinking in order to avoid complications and sharp tactical struggle (even if it clearly favors you!), which made the games less attractive to the audience. The thing I missed the most in this contest is a clash of two intellects, two personalities, two energies which can be found only in "human" chess! What moment of the match do you remember the most? My white game versus Tiger, it’s no doubt about that one! It’s always nice to beat your opponent "on his field". I managed to find very nice combination, when in one of it’s main variations, black is left with a rook and two bishops versus a lonely knight of white, but he is helpless to stop the passed pawn! I guess it’s just about a time for you to get back to regular chess! Would you please tell us what are your plans for the immediate future? I’m going to participate in very strong round-robin tournament in Sarajevo between May16 to May 25 and afterwards to take part in FIDE Grand Prix in Moscow starting on June 2. I guess that’s about it at the moment. Thanks a lot for this interview and good luck in Sarajevo! Thanks! If the "chess programs" are looking for the rematch I’m available! See you around!
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