Author: Joseph Ciarrochi
Date: 18:51:45 12/09/05
The main reason i use a chess engine is to help me learn how to play better. There is a good reason to prefer strong chess engines. The engines vary wildly in evaluating complex positions where there is no clear tactical shot. This means that the engine advice to you varies wildly. I think some of the really good engines (e.g., fritz 8) just give you bad advice sometimes. For example, the following opening is played at the highest levels and is recommended by GM roman D. He says black is about equal. the position is 1) e4, d6 2) d4 nf6 3) nc3 e5 4) dxe5 dxe5; 5) qxd8 kxd8, 6 bc4 be6 7) bxe6 fxe6 Both friz 8 and 9 think white has a strong advantage (and f9 reckons white is up by a full point). Rybka thinks the position is equal. I trust the human and i am now a bit more trusting of rybka. here is another position i think fritz gets totlally wrong. it is the french wing gambit, which i've been told by a good im is about equal (though other im's and gms say it is bad). 1) e4 e6, 2) nf3 d5, 3) e5 c5, 4)b4!? cxb4 5 a3 fritz 8 has black with a half point advantage, rybka again has them equal. My own experience is that it is about equal (but i am only 1800). When i play tournements with the engine playing itself, it comes out about equal. Rybka seems to be very good at giving positional advice and at identifying when "typical " positional defects are not defects at all. In the first position, black has doubled pawns and his king is stuck in the middle of the board. yet, rybka, i would argue, correctly sees the position as equal and that these defects are difficult to take advantage of. best Joseph
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