Author: Francis Monkman
Date: 03:31:16 05/26/99
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If there's any way you can sum up: "even 'resonant' and 'unresonant' >>>positions. Watching parallel searches, one can often deduce more about the >>>dynamics of a position from the relative behaviour of the lines, than from the >>>actual move chosen. Current searches obviously reveal information about the >>>dynamics of the position, but it seems to be wasted." without being excessively long. If not, I'll have to try and find this book...:) Jeremiah Well, first off, I'll suggest Suba's book anyway (pub. Pergamon Chess originally, so shouldn't be hard to find). I hope it's in print! You will probably have seen Dave's 'GM endorsement', mine was similarly received. There's also a new book, 'Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy' by Watson (Gambit 1998) that traces the evolution of these 'new' ideas, also quotes Suba and some of his games. The other useful reference (which Suba refers to as 'the only book on chess dynamics until now') is 'Dynamic Chess' by R.N. Coles. By some 'stroke of good fortune', I find this in my 'chess library' (all of about a dozen books) acquired in 71-2! (I think I nearly didn't buy it, as 'dynamic' seemed to smack strongly of 'snake-oil'!) Two points here. I'll deal with the 'dynamics observed in searches' one first. Do you have Fritz 5.32 or Chessbase? If so it's worth studying as many top-level games as possible with the aid of multiple-line analysis. Take the example where the top seven-or-so moves (that's the number of lines I generally keep open) appear to have equal or near-equal scores. If (let's say) six of these moves are tried, little or no change in the overall balance occurs. But with the 'good move', when played, something happens. The top-line reply may look good, even better than for the replys to some other just previously-made moves, but it will be immediately clear that something radical has affected the dynamic because all other replies look much worse (obviously I'm not referring to simple recaptures etc). Anyone using single-line analysis will fail to see this, as that line looks 'good'. Now, one could say that the searching program 'had this information', but chose to ignore it. There's undoubtedly enough happening there to be able to determine eg. quiet position, cruciality (ie tell the program to spend more time here, as things are obviously difficult!), any number of factors which, if registered, could perhaps contribute enormously to the way programs 'understand' the game in progress. I'm sure if you spend some time with multiple-line analysis, you'll begin to 'intuit' dynamic factors from the lines' relative performances. I even notice this with single- line when the program already exhibits 'signs of intelligence' -- I've always found Richard Lang's programs good for this, and I can very often spot when Genius x's position is beginning to 'crack', as the rhythm of the analysis takes on a slightly 'jittery' quality. I've seen this so many times that I've come to take the effect (as it were) for granted. I suppose this brings us to the topic of 'resonant' and 'unresonant' positions. I'm clearly not the only one to have sensed a link between music (or perhaps better, sound) and chess -- you may know that Smyslov (who is hot on this one) nearly became a singer with the Moscow Opera. When I first began to intuit the resonance (or lack of it) in *some* chess positions, I began to see, for example, how an opponent's position could be subjected to the 'correct pressure' to force it to go 'unresonant', and, while nothing might be apparently wrong for several ply, it would soon be found to be 'brittle' and easily cracked. Well, sounds crazy? I've talked to a couple of GMs in these terms and they understand perfectly! In fact, I'm quite sure that many of the finest players 'intuit' chess in these terms, amalysis being a *mere tool* used to support their game (and if I had this part too I'd probably be pretty good!). Harmonic analysis of chess positions? Chessboard FFTs?? So far, I've seen nothing in print on the topic of resonance in chess, although it's clearly linked to the dynamic approach (and perhaps especially, the concept of latent potential). Well, who knows... Francis PS How did the Latin final go?
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