Author: Serge Desmarais
Date: 20:25:58 08/27/98
Go up one level in this thread
On August 24, 1998 at 13:43:45, Robert Henry Durrett wrote:
> John Watson, in his book Play the French, New Edition, © 1996, on page 160,
>gives: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 Qc7 8.Qxg7
>Rg8 9.Qxh7 cxd4 10.Ne2 Nbc6 11.f4 Bd7 12.Qd3 dxc3 and says this is "a position
>arising in the vast majority of 10.Ne2 games." In fact, this position occurs
>in many GM games.
>
>This is a tabiya {spelling varies} position in the French Winawer. Tabiya
>positions are, literally, the starting points for many grandmaster games. The
>players quickly move through the moves leading up to the tabyia position, using
>almost no time on their clocks. These positions are usually evaluated as equal
>or unclear. Typically, tabyia positions have GM advocates for both sides. In
>fact, it is not uncommon for a given GM to be willing to play from a tabyia
>position from either side. Also, tabyia positions occur in a large number of
>games, as any large database will show. As a rule, there is much written about
>a tabyia position in the chess literature. Also typically, a given tabyia will
>have many possible ideas or "ways to proceed" for both sides and discussions of
>these ideas are discussed in the literature.
>
>Indeed, tabyia positions are "special" in the world of serious chess players.
>Being, effectively, the starting positions of many games, they share something
>in common with the "initial position" which is on the chessboard prior to any
>moves being made in the game.
>
>To see the importance of tabyia positions in chess, it is only necessary to
>recognize that virtually every major opening variation, of which there are many,
>have their tabyia positions. Taken together as a set, they constitute the REAL
>"starting position" for serious chess.
>
>If the so-called "initial position" deserves to have it's own "opening book,"
>for whatever reason, then tabyia positions do too, for much the same reasons.
>Every "starting position" needs a book because the existing opening theory goes
>far beyond where chess engine's can go without a "book" for the tabyia.
>
>So, my question is: Do most chessplaying computer programs provide a "book" for
>each tabyia position? If not, why not?
Normally, these are very theoritical positions. The longest lines in the ECO.
That is why in Fritz 5, when you import new games in the tree, you can specify
ECO (last ECO known position for each games) PLUS N half-moves. So, if you have,
say, 10,000 games containing this "starting position", you can include the N
moves after that position from all the games in your book. Then, the more often
played will have a higher percentage of being played by Fritz, that also takes
the results of the games into account. (For example, if move Y lost 90% of the
time, it will never be played, even if it is found in 2,000 games...)
Serge Desmarais
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