Author: Jasmine Baer
Date: 15:02:22 04/18/05
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You have a dual Xeon and you are hovering in the mid- to high-2400s? Keys for better performance (talking 3+0 blitz time control)- 1. Opening book. It takes a lot of time and patience to build an openings book that works well for your engine. There will be lots of trial and error, and keep in mind, that you may find a line that works well for a while, and then someone will find a move that "busts" your "killer line." For example, The Marshall Attack for Black (a fun line in the Ruy Lopez - ECO C89, I believe) can be very successful for Black. However, if you try and play it against one of the book-making veterans on playchess.com, chances are you will lose. Why? Because they have played hundreds of games, keep them in a database, and can tell you which lines are most successful. For some, book-making is practically an obsession. But, if you have the time, and you are somewhat obsessive, opening book creation is a way you can achieve good scores. Check out Awesome - he runs a S-L-O-W (relatively) AMD box, but he is always in the high 2500s to 2600s because his book is extensive. Players like Solidius and The Nerevarine are always over 2600 - and they are on 1.7GHz Centrinos! It isn't luck - it is opening book preparation that allows them to give faster hardware fits. 2. Hardware. Obviously the faster your hardware the better. Seems like the AMD equivalent of an Intel chip may be more efficient for chess, but I see really good Intel players out on playchess.com. Hardware is the opposite of opening book work. It doesn't take lots of time to upgrade, but it takes lots of money. 3. Engine. The past few days I've been playing 300 games with one engine, then switching to another and playing 300 games, etc. Although my sample-size is small, I can say that for 3+0, with my opening book, and on my hardware, Shredder 8 and Shredder 9 are the best Elo-wise. Junior 9 is a close 2nd, with Fritz 8 (Bilbao) and Hiarcs 9 bringing up the rear. This may be different for other folks, but for me, the Shredders play best. I cannot draw any conclusions yet due to the small random sampling. However, after I play about 20000 games per engine, I may be able to make a more definitive statement. ;-)
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