AEGON 1997 breakdown of opponents from their webpage
Lonnie
THE PROGRAMMES
Fritz
Frans Morsch, the Netherlands
Pentium
Fritz is the reigning world champion in every category. This purely selective program
has little knowledge and therefore computes particularly deeply. It has now beaten
Anand and Kasparov, amongst others, at speed chess. The Slovenian team was brushed
aside by Fritz with a score of 8-2 in a training match. Grand Master Beljavsky scored
1-1 on the first board. Fritz lost ½-1½ to Anatoly Karpov in the opening round of the
1996 AEGON tournament. In 1995, the program won the world title in Hong Kong. In that
duel, Deep Blue lost its Queen within twenty moves and was therefore left without a
chance. The configuration used for AEGON 97 is more than twice as fast as in Hong
Kong, with the result that Fritz can examine more than 200,000 positions per second.
Under the name Quest and with 25% slower hardware, this program scored 4½ out of 6
last year with a TPR of 2,615.
Shredder
Stefan Meyer-Kahlen, Germany Pentium Pro
A "shredder" is a machine for breaking up scrap cars. This program has the same
annoying pretensions. In Paderborn in 1995, it scored 6 out of 11 to be placed only
two points behind the eventual winner. But in October 1996, it hit home, winning the
micro world title in Jakarta.
Cilkchess
Aske Plaat, the Netherlands; Don Dailey USA, et al.
Sillicon Graphics Origin 2000
Cilkchess is developed by Don Dailey, Chris Joerg, Larry Kaufman, Charles Leiserson
and Aske Plaat, of the Laboratory for Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology in Cambridge, USA. Cilkchess runs on Cilk, a freely available provably
efficient language for parallel computation, also developed at MIT. In this
tournament Cilkchess runs on a brand new machine of Boston University, a 32 processor
Sillicon Graphics Origin 2000 machine with 4 Gigabyte of memory. Cilkchess will be
able to search more than 2 million nodes per second on this machine. The program is
the 1996 Dutch Open Computer Chess Champion. More on Cilk and Cilkchess can be found
on the web at http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~cilk/
Ferret
Bruce Moreland, USA
Pentium Pro
The runner-up in the 1996 micro world championship in Jakarta. Ferret was the only
one there to beat Shredder, but, with 8½ out of 11, was half a point short of the
title. The speed chess micro world championship, played at the same time, was
certainly easy prey for Ferret with an exemplary score of 9 out of 9.
Zugzwang
Rainer Feldmann and Peter Mysliewicz, Germany
40 M604 Power PCs
The Return of Zugzwang. The University of Paderborn has not been idle. When it
competed a few years ago, Zugzwang was a danger to all the Grand Masters. Its
previous hardware, hundreds of PCs comparable with 386s, has now been replaced by
much faster processors.
Now
Mark Lefler, USA
Pentium
Now is an American amateur program developed by a security expert. Mark developed the
chess program purely as a hobby. He is also an accomplished conjurer. Now has been
competing in all manner of tournaments for years, with varying degrees of success.
Last year, Mark celebrated a resounding success: 4½ out of 6 with a TPR of 2,478.
Rebel
Ed Schröder and Jeroen Noomen, the Netherlands
Pentium Pro
Rebel was the first Dutch computer chess world champion five years ago. Rebel 8, the
commercial version, is at number one in the Swedish rating list at the time of
writing, with a rating of 2,473. Last year, the commercial version Rebel 7 scored 4½
out of 6 in the AEGON tournament, and the experimental version (Rebel AEGON) scored 4
out of 6 with a TPR of as much as 2,526. With a better machine and an accelerated
program, Rebel is probably more than three times faster than last year's commercial
version.
MChess Pro
Marty Hirsch, USA and Sandro Necchi, Italy
Pentium Pro
The 1995 micro-computer world champion and, for a long time, top of the Swedish
ratings. Forerunners of this program scored a TPR of 2,652 in 1995 and 2,433 in 1996.
It is an "intelligent" program with a relatively high level of knowledge. Necchi's
book of openings with 450,000 moves is considered to be very dangerous and has
certainly been responsible for a few extra ELO points.
Genius
Richard Lang, England and Cock de Gorter, the Netherlands
Pentium
Genius has played two rapid matches against Kasparov, one of which it won. Since
then, a completely new book of openings has been generated with about 224,000 moves.
Richard Lang has been the most successful programmer over the years. This program has
been considered as the best by many insiders for years. One of its most distinguished
wins in the AEGON tournament was a few years ago against John Nunn.
The King
Johan de Koning, Hans Kuijf and Cock de Gorter, the Netherlands
Pentium Pro
Johan de Koning's program is considerably better than its predecessor in positional
terms, without surrendering much in tactical terms. The King has been Dutch champion
on several occasions and, in 1995, became the computer speed chess world champion. In
1993, it almost won the AEGON tournament. In 1996, the program came second in the
Dutch open championship. But, most importantly, the program has many admirers because
it plays very cleverly and does not "sit on its pieces".
Nimzo
Dr. Christian Donninger, Austria
Pentium Pro
Nimzo is, without doubt, one of the very best programs around. It was a major
contender at the micro world championships in Paderborn in 1995, came second in the
speed chess world championship and just half a point short of the title in the micro
world championship. Starting out as one of the favorites for AEGON 96, it lived up to
expectations, ending up with 4½ out of 6 and a TPR of as much as 2,598.
Dark Thought
Ernst A. Heinz and Markus Gille, Germany
Digital Equipment Corporation Alpha 500 mhz
These researchers from the University of Karlsruhe were in the running right up to
the last moment at the strongly contested world championship in Paderborn. Dark
Thought ended up only one point behind the eventual winner. In Jakarta in 1996, it
took joint sixth place and, in last year's AEGON tournament, it scored 3½ out of 6.
The machine has been provided by Digital for the tournament and is the fastest
micro-computer in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records.
Chessica
Frans Morsch and Cock de Gorter, the Netherlands
Pentium
A competitor with more in common with the "Fritz" that played in Hong Kong than
today's Fritz. The book of openings adapted for the program is practically the same
as the one which was then jointly responsible for winning the world title. The
differences between the two are mostly in the area of operating capabilities - it
runs in Windows.
Virtual Chess
Marc François Baudot and Jean Christoph Weill, France
Pentium Pro
This program came third in the micro world championship in Paderborn. This clever
program with a good book of openings has been perfected over the years. On one
occasion, it just missed out on the world championship. In the last AEGON tournament,
it scored 3½ out of 6, worth a rating of 2,343. It finished the 1996 world
championship in Jakarta in joint sixth place.
WChess
Dave Kittinger, USA
Pentium
On this machine, the program examines more than 120,000 positions per second. In the
1995 world championship in Hong Kong, it took unbeaten sixth place and drew against
Deep Blue, amongst others. In the last two AEGON tournaments, it achieved the
splendid combined score of 9 out of 12. The typical feature of its playing style is
that the program is always in pursuit of its opponent's King, if necessary at the
expense of other pieces.
Kallisto
Bart Weststrate and Jan Louwman, the Netherlands
Pentium
Kallisto came second in the 1995 Dutch championship and third in 1996. This says a
great deal about the strength of the program -the Netherlands is considered to be the
strongest nation in the world when it comes to computer chess. In 1993, Kallisto won
the world speed chess title in Munich. In the 1996 AEGON tournament, it achieved a
TPR of 2,385 and 4 out of 6.
Hiarcs
Mark Uniacke, England
Pentium Pro
Hiarcs is a dangerous opponent for any Grand Master. In 1995, the program scored 5
out of 6 in the AEGON tournament with an ELO rating of 2,632 points; in 1996, the
score was 4 out of 6. Hiarcs was world champion micro in 1993.
CAPTURE
Sylvain Renard, France
Pentium Pro
Sylvain Renard is a French amateur programmer who returned home happy after AEGON
1995, where CAPTURE scored 3 out of 6. However, last year it leapt ahead with 4½ out
of 6 and joint fifth place.
Saitek Brute Force
Frans Morsch, the Netherlands
H8
This fast washing machine chip has been achieving ratings above 2,100 for years in
games against human opponents. Despite what its name suggests, this program does not
compute using the Brute Force method but in a purely selective way.
Junior
Shay Bushinsky, Israel
Pentium Pro
Played a match against Judith Polgar this year, which the machine lost 2-4. There are
many players in the world who would be very pleased to have done so well. This is an
amateur program.
Schach 3.0
Matthias Engelbach and Tom Kreitmair, Germany
Pentium
Schach 3.0 ended the world championship in Hong Kong in the middle group, but did
beat the subsequent winner. Provided another average performance in Jakarta and
finished the 1996 Dutch championship in fourth place. Analyzes 200,000 positions per
second.
Mephisto Genius
Richard Lang, England and Ossi Weiner, Germany
68030
A few years ago, this processor was far and away the fastest there was. This has not
been the case for some time now, but, as it managed ratings of 2,500 in its heyday
and has since been clearly improved, it is a formidable opponent for any human
contestant. For the chess fan - this chess computer has the same program that once
beat Gary Kasparov in London.
Cheiron
Ulf Lorentz, Germany
Pentium
Cheiron made an excellent impression in the micro world championship in Paderborn.
This program works at lightning speed, was developed at Paderborn University and is a
dangerous outsider. At last year's AEGON tournament, it scored 3 out of 6.
Mephisto Berlin Pro
Richard Lang, England
68020
A forerunner of Mephisto Berlin once drew against Rafael Vaganian. In both 1995 and
1996, it ended up with a score of 3 out of 6 in the AEGON tournament. It is like a
sports car in a field of Formula 1 racing cars. But a distinguished one - last year,
it managed a TPR of more than 2,200 points each time.
Isichess
Gert Isenberg, Germany
Pentium
Isichess made its AEGON debut in 1994 with a rating of around 2,000, a very promising
start for a beginner in an international tournament. In 1995 and 1996, it scored
2,375 and 2,305 respectively.
Mirage
Vladimir Rybinkin and Youri Chpeer, Russia
Pentium
This program is operated by the Kurchatov Institute, the Russian research center. The
presence of Russian programs at AEGON raises the international standing of the
tournament. Last year, this contender scored 2½ points out of 6 games.
Chess System Tal
Chris Whittington, England
Pentium Pro
Chess System Tal is a highly selective program, meaning that it performs rather
changeably. From time to time, it thrashes opponents convincingly while, on other
occasions, much less impressive results are achieved. The program can compute very
deeply.
R30 2.2
Johan de Koning and Cock de Gorter, the Netherlands
RISC
This contender may well look different but is in fact identical in terms of the
program and book of openings to The King AEGON, which almost won the tournament in
1993 with 5 out of 6 and 2,590 ELO points. It was only forced to concede a draw on
that occasion against David Bronstein and John Nunn. Take note - this is a completely
different program to the R40, which is also competing here, the book of openings is
different and the hardware is 25% slower than the R40. According to David Bronstein,
the thing plays like the Masters of last century. We look forward to seeing how well
this exciting machine scores in 1997.
Arthur
Walter Ravenek, the Netherlands
Power PC
Arthur finished the Dutch championship in 1994 with 5 out of 11. It took fourth place
in the 1995 Dutch championship and fifth place in 1996. Its results in the AEGON
tournament are also pretty good: in 1995, 4 out of 6 with a rating of 2,319 and, in
1996, 3½ points with a TPR of 2,303.
Centaur
Victor Vikhrev and Alexei Manjakhine, Russia
Pentium
Centaur originates from the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow. It is a completely unique
program. Despite the lightning speed of its hardware, it only examines 200 positions
per second. With a 50% score, it achieved a TPR of 2,266 last year.
Goldbar
Bart Goldhoorn, the Netherlands
Pentium
Goldbar is a Dutch amateur program. It scored 5½ out of 11 at the Dutch championship.
Hector
Maarten Bults, the Netherlands
Pentium
Amateur program which, in 1995, scored 3½ out of 6 and a rating of 2,393. A victory
against John Donaldson and a draw against Susan Polgar - what do you think of that?
Last year, however, it only managed 2½ out of 6. It remains to be seen whether
Maarten Bults can find his way back.
R40 2.5
Johan de Koning and Cock de Gorter, the Netherlands
RISC
In recent years, we have seen ever more contestants playing on a PC. However, this is
a Formula 1 chess computer, which makes it much more interesting for computer chess
fans. Last year, this machine scored 4 out of 6, achieving 2,352 ELO points.
Mephisto Milano Pro
Frans Morsch, the Netherlands
H7000
This chess computer plays with a completely new 32-bit single chip. Frans Morsch is
lavish in his praise - the machine is three times faster than the already well-known
H8. And that puts you at the speed of the fastest PCs of a few years ago. The program
has been specially redesigned for this chip.
Bionic
Hans Secelle and Alain van Hentenryck, Belgium
Pentium
Hans Secelle competed in the Dutch championship with Bionic, scoring 2½ out of 11.
Since then, the program has been dramatically improved, so it should score at least
2½ out of 6 at AEGON 97. Hans has declared that, if this is not the case, he will
abstain for a whole month, and Alain will concede that the Dutch are better
footballers! And what does "Bionic" stand for? "Believe It Or Not, It's Checkmate"!
Ant
Ton Vijlbrief, the Netherlands
Pentium
The Dutch program Ant achieved 6 out of 11 in the Dutch championship for computers
and 2½ out of 6 in last year's AEGON tournament.
Diep
Vincent Diepeveen, the Netherlands
Pentium
Diep scored 4 out of 6 last year (TPR 2,291) and 5 out of 11 in the 1996 Dutch
championship. The programmer plays in one of the teams in the Dutch Master class and
has a rating of 2,162.
Comet
Ulrich Türke, Germany
Pentium
The German amateur program Comet finished with 3 out of 6 and a TPR of as much as
2,364 in last year's tournament. In the world championship in Jakarta, it finished in
joint ninth place.
XXXX II
Martin Zentner, Germany
Pentium
An amateur program that, as far as the organizers are aware, has never played against
humans under tournament conditions. Because of an error in apportioning time, it
finished way down the list in Jakarta.
Dappet
Peter Kouwenhoven and Dap Hartmann, the Netherlands
Pentium Pro
The oldest program competing, it has been appearing at all manner of tournaments ever
since the early 1980s. The people working on it are still managing to make new
improvements. But as they are scientists, their priority is innovation rather than
achieving more and more points.
Nightmare
Joost Buys, the Netherlands
Pentium
This program finished the 1995 Dutch championship in joint seventh place. And
thirteenth place in 1996. In the last AEGON tournament, it scored 3½, or just above
50%; the relevant TPR was 2,326 (an excellent result!)
MacChess AEGON
Wim van Beusekom, the Netherlands
Power PC
As early as a year before winning seventh place in the 1996 Dutch championship, Wim
van Beusekom was demonstrating his serious intention to reach the sub-top class. We
consider it a must to give him a chance to show what his program can achieve against
human players under tournament conditions.
Raja
Valavan Manohararajah, Canada
This Canadian programmer came from nowhere to the Dutch open championship. Its debut
in the tournament arena delivered fifteenth place with 5 out of 11, reason enough to
give it a chance to compete against human opponents.
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The GM's
GM David Bronstein
Legendary Grand Master David Bronstein missed winning the world title in 1951 by the
smallest possible margin, when he drew 12-12 against world champion Botwinnik. This
engaging showman is considered to be one of the ten greatest chess players of all
time. He beat the chess computer with classics such as the Evans gambit and King's
gambit, which had been considered impossible in the chess and computer worlds until
then. One of the few who was not surprised by this feat was Anatoly Karpov. Despite
his advanced age, Bronstein is still an extremely strong player, according to Karpov.
David Bronstein has already won the AEGON tournament twice in his own inimitable
manner (1992 and 1993).
GM Larry Christiansen
Larry Christiansen has been one of the strongest players in the United States for
years. In 1994, he shared second place in the American championship with Yasser
Seirawan. This performance can be considered even more illustrious given the many
former Russian top players in the USA. Christiansen lives in Cologne, where he plays
in the German Federal League in a team with other strong international Grand Masters.
In 1994, "Big Larry" won the AEGON tournament together with John Nunn; he finished
last year's tournament in joint fifth place.
GM Roberto Cifuentes Parada
Roberto Cifuentes was born in Chili but has lived for several years in the
Netherlands. He is now one of the Netherlands' top players, well-known for his
positional style. He captained the Dutch ladies' team at the Moscow Olympiad in 1994.
He also trains the celebrated Polgar sisters, who achieved a breakthrough in the
ladies' game. Cifuentes regularly scores well in the AEGON tournament - he scored 4½
out of 6 in both 1995 and 1996.
GM Yona Kosashvili
Israeli Grand Master Yona Kosashvili is quietly on his way to the very top of the
chess world. He is busy collecting an impressive number of ELO points* in various
tournaments. He brought a rating of as much as 2,570 to The Hague last year, ranking
him higher than many Dutch Grand Masters. Kosashvili accompanies the Hungarian player
Sofia Polgar, amongst others, who is also competing in the AEGON tournament. He
scored 4 out of 6 in the last AEGON tournament.
GM Friso Nijboer
Although ranked fifth in the Netherlands, this Grand Master is not so well known with
the general public. But in January 1997, he proved through his leading role in the B
group of the Hoogovens tournament that it will not be long before the newspapers are
reporting that a tournament where he did not feature lost something as a result.
Friso brings a rating of 2,555 on the scale.
GM Lembitt Oll
This chess wizard comes from Tallinn. Being from Estonia, he is often seen as the
successor to Paul Keres, but this seems a little exaggerated, as we evidently cannot
just casually compare this amiable Grand Master with one of the top 10 of all time.
But it is clear for all to see that Oll is already right up there with today's top
players.
GM Hans Ree
Dutch Grand Master Hans Ree was one of the top players in the Netherlands for many
years. While Timman was in the ascendancy, he achieved supremacy in the Netherlands
by beating the legendary Jan Hein Donner. He also played in the Dutch national team
for many years. Ree has earned a reputation as a writer of brilliant chess stories.
He has a column in the NRC Handelsblad newspaper and contributes to "New in Chess".
Despite being a declared opponent of computer chess, he has already taken up the
challenge in the AEGON tournament on several occasions. In 1995, he won joint fourth
place amongst the human players.
GM Ye Rongguang
This Chinese Grand Master is trying to build a livelihood in the Netherlands. He does
not have much experience of playing against computers, so it remains to be seen how
much he will be able to adapt his playing style. But we suspect that he will not have
too many problems.
GM Yasser Seirawan
The glorious winner of the last tournament. Yasser Seirawan is a businessman, author
and chess player. He won a gold medal for the American team at the Moscow Olympiad in
1994 for the best performance on the chess board. He is a regular invitee at the
world's top tournaments. His own company, International Chess Enterprises, publishes
the fortnightly "Inside Chess" and is the only chess company quoted on the stock
exchange. Seirawan has written many books, including "No Regrets" about his meeting
with Bobby Fischer and his match against Boris Spassky in 1992. In 1995, he won joint
second place in the AEGON tournament.
GM Jonathan Speelman
Jonathan Speelman is, without doubt, one of the strongest English players and was in
the world's top 25 for a number of years. He is a feared tactician with an unorthodox
style of opening followed up by an extremely complicated plan. This playing style has
made him a feared and dangerous opponent for all the top players. Last year, Speelman
delivered a very impressive performance, taking fourth place and scoring 5 out of 6.
GM Gennadi Timoshchenko
Making his debut in this tournament. But despite this, he has been specially invited
to ensure that the computers do not win this year. This Ukrainian Grand Master
(rating 2,530) is, of course, very well-known in the chess world as Gary Kasparov's
former second. But he is also well-known in the computer world as a result of several
penetrating articles about computer chess in the ICCA Journal. For this reason, he is
the perfect man to expose any weaknesses in a computer program.
GM John van der Wiel
A decade ago, the Dutch Grand Master John van der Wiel was seen as the successor to
Jan Timman. Since then, he has been Dutch champion on several occasions. He is still
one of the Netherlands' top 10 players, with his tactical, often bizarre playing
style. Van der Wiel is a fan of many other games, especially bridge, to which he
attributes his success against the chess computer. "I can beat computers because I am
better in other games than in chess. You can't do it just with normal chess," he
commented after winning the AEGON tournament in 1995 with a score of 5½ out of 6.
This same score of 5½ out of 6 only won him second place last year. In 1991, he won
the tournament with 6 out of 6.
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The IM's
IM Gert Jan de Boer
Gert Jan de Boer is knocking at the door of the top echelons of the Dutch game and
making a name for himself as an international Master in one of the best club-teams in
the country. He has less experience of computer chess. He made his AEGON debut in
1996, scoring 3½ out of 6. We are counting on his improving on this result this year.
IM Paul Boersma
Paul Boersma plays in one of the Netherlands' strongest club teams, HSG in Hilversum.
In this team, he comes across the Polgar sisters, amongst others. As an international
Master with a rating of 2,374, he is one of the top 30 players in the Netherlands.
Boersma is also chess correspondent for the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper. In the 1996
AEGON tournament, he scored 2½ out of 6.
IM Rob Hartoch
Rob Hartoch was seen in the 1960s as one of the Netherlands' most promising players -
more talented than Timman and a potential successor to Euwe and Donner. But other
interests prevented him from actually reaching the top. Nevertheless, he played for
the Dutch national team for many years and caused a sensation in the world of
computer chess by inflicting crushing defeats on all the top computers at a
tournament in Dieren. He failed to live up to this reputation in the 1995 AEGON
tournament, scoring 1½ out of 6, but convincingly took his revenge in 1996, scoring
4½ out of 6 and taking joint fifth place.
IM Erik Hoeksema
Erik Hoeksema can count himself among the top 20 Dutch chess players. With a rating
of 2,405, he is the strongest player in the North of the Netherlands, scoring 4½ out
of 6 in the 1996 AEGON tournament. Hoeksema is chess correspondent for the Nieuwsblad
van het Noorden newspaper.
IM Rini Kuijf
We would like to expressly state to the foreign press that Rini Kuijf is making his
debut this year. We have regularly seen articles about our tournament in the foreign
press in recent years. Someone who did not even attend would write in support of his
assertion that the AEGON tournament had some strong players: even someone like "Kuijf
(rating 2,486) took part." We have written this just to inform you that former Dutch
champion Rini, as opposed to his brother Nico, is also well-known internationally as
a very strong player. Rini Kuijf has been following Nico's performance in our
tournament for a few years now and will doubtless imagine that he will do better. If
he ends up doing better than his brother, he will immediately be a contender for the
title.
IM Gert Ligterink
Former Dutch champion Gert Ligterink performs brilliantly every year against the
chess computer. This is surprising, as the chess programs are becoming better and
better, while Ligterink has less and less time to devote to chess. He has already
competed in the AEGON tournament on several occasions, coming joint second in 1995
with a score of 5 out of 6. On that occasion, he beat micro world champion MChess
Pro, amongst others, with a brilliant combination. In 1996, he was placed joint fifth
with 4½ out of 6. Ligterink is well-known as a chess writer and, as such, is chess
correspondent for the Volkskrant newspaper.
IM Stefan Löffler
The strong German international Master, Stefan Löffler, is very much orientated
towards the Netherlands. Not only did he study in the Netherlands, but he is also a
regular visitor here, travelling from Berlin to play in competitions and tournaments.
He has had a number of successes here. In 1995, he won the B group of the Sonnevanck
tournament in Wijk aan Zee with a TPR** of 2,592. Löffler is competing for the second
time in the AEGON tournament.
IM Johan van Mil
On our wish-list for some time. We are pleased that this strong Dutch Master (rating
2,410) has now found time to compete in our tournament. We know that he is
particularly interested in the phenomenon of computer chess.
IM Sofia Polgar
Sofia Polgar is one of the three Polgar sisters from Hungary who have been astounding
the chess world for years with their strong play, putting them on the same level as
the strongest male players. Susan Polgar is ladies' world champion. Judith Polgar
was, until recently, in the men's top 10 for a while. Sofia Polgar caused a sensation
as a teenager in 1988 when she beat a whole string of famous Russian Grand Masters at
a tournament in Rome. The toughness she picked up at this kind of tournament can now
be seen again - she refuses to adapt her style when she is playing against a
computer. When she is at the chessboard, little of her customary charm shines
through. Fortunately though, she is really a very nice, unassuming person. Sofia
Polger is competing for the third time in the AEGON tournament. In 1995, she scored 4
out of 6 and, in 1996, 2½ out of 6.
IM Peng Zhao Qin
The Chinese international Master Peng Zhao Qin recently settled in the Netherlands,
where she hopes to make a living as a chess player. She is top of the Dutch ladies'
rankings. She made her debut in the 1996 AEGON tournament, scoring 2 out of 6. Her
rating is 2,370.
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Strong Players
Henk Arnoldus
Henk Arnoldus, automation expert at the University of Leiden, has ample experience in
playing against computers, so he is considered capable of achieving results
comparable to those of Grand Masters. He is particularly strong for a private player.
With around 2,000 ELO points, he ranks higher than many club players. His results in
the AEGON tournament have fluctuated at around 50% for some years.
Piet Bakker
Piet Bakker established his reputation in the computer world by easily beating
several years ago the strongest program of the time, world champion Cray Blitz. He is
a first division player with an ELO rating of around 2,200 points. Bakker is chess
correspondent for the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (Dutch Broadcasting Company).
Ad van den Berg
National Master Ad van den Berg won the AEGON tournament in 1989. In those days, most
computer programs had little chance against his style of playing. However, in 1996 he
only managed 3 out of 6. Van den Berg plays in the first division with Rotterdam
chess club, Dutch champion for many years and still one of the country's strongest
teams.
Mathias Feist
Mathias Feist works for Chess Base in Germany, a data-base program in which all chess
games of the last few centuries have been stored. Besides being a computer buff, he
is also a good chess player, as demonstrated by his ELO rating of around 2,100. Last
year, he scored 2½ out of 6.
Frank de Hoog
Works in the automation department of AEGON. He has a rating of more than 2,000 but
is making his debut here. We know that making your first appearance in the AEGON
tournament is no picnic, but we trust that Frank will be able to hold his own.
Fré Hoogendoorn
As an employee of Schaaknieuws (Chess News), Fré Hoogendoorn strives to combine work
with play. He had a hard time in the 1996 AEGON tournament against the chess
computer, but has since gained more experience. His rating is 1,951.
Lex Jongsma
In the 1960s, Lex Jongsma played against the world's top players but, because of his
work, including the function of chess correspondent for De Telegraaf newspaper, he
was not able to keep this up. However, he won the AEGON tournament in 1988 and then
many other awards. He became famous internationally in the computer world because of
his unorthodox opening using a knight: 1.Nc3 In this way, he managed to confound the
computers and caused the programmers years of work. Jongsma certainly does not intend
to rest on his laurels. He hopes to rectify his score for last year of 2 out of 6.
His rating has been hovering for years between 2,200 and 2,300.
Henk de Kleijen
Henk de Kleynen is a strong club player who struck terror into the "hearts" of all
the chess computers at the Druiven tournament. He has still not revised his opinion
that no player with a rating of 1,900 or more needs to lose against any computer
program.
Alexander Kure
A very strong Austrian player with a rating of more than 2,300. But his invitation
here is justified mainly by the fact that he is an insider in the field of computer
chess. He is also involved in the opening preparations for the Nimzo program.
Nico Kuijf
Nico Kuijf, who works for the automation department of AEGON, created the Tascbase
and NICbase programs. As he is so knowledgable about computers, he also knows how to
beat them. With a rating of 2,274, he is approaching Master level. In 1995, he took
joint thirteenth place in the AEGON tournament with a score of 4½ out of 6. In 1996,
he scored 4 out of 6, while, in 1992, he even came second.
Jan Joost Lindner
Jan Joost Lindner is one of the strongest players in The Hague. For decades, he
played in the first team of the city's top club, DD. As parliamentary editor of the
leading Dutch daily De Volkskrant, he created the concept of the "Staphorster
variant", a term borrowed from Dutch coalition politics.
Günther Loewenthal
Günther Loewenthal, who works for the automation department of AEGON and has designed
several important IT programs, is a committee member of the Royal Dutch Chess
Association and, for a short time now, the FIDE. His rating has been above the 2,000
mark for years.
Gert Jan Ludden
Gert Jan Ludden is the Dutch armed forces champion. As a professional officer, he
plays in the Dutch armed forces team at international championships, such as the NATO
championship. Making his debut last year, he scored a very respectable 3½ out of 6.
Hebert Perez Garcia
Hebert Perez Garcia is known for his spectacular playing style. His strategy is to
try and beat the computers by the most difficult route - the tactical route. And he
is often successful. But in 1996, he scored no more than 2½ out of 6 in the AEGON
tournament.
PeeWee van Voorthuijsen
Has a column in the magazine of the Royal Dutch Chess Association on the subject of
combination. A rating of 2,264 and experience against computers leads us to believe
that he can score more than 50%.
Martin Voorn
Martin Voorn was the 1995 journalist champion of the Netherlands, an impressive
title. His victories also include the AEGON Computer Chess Tournament, which he won
in 1987. We wait with bated breath to see whether he will cause further sensations in
1997.
Peter van Wermeskerken
Peter van Wermeskerken, chief economics editor for the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper,
has competed in the AEGON tournament on a number of occasions. Last year, he scored 2
out of 6.
°°°°°°
Lonnie
Each of us-
A cell of awareness-
Imperfect and incomplete.
Genetic blends
With uncertain ends
On a fortune hunt that's far too fleet.
Fried Hamster
On Fri, 11 Apr 1997, Lonnie wrote:
> THE PROGRAMMES
Why no Crafty or GNU Chess?
Robert Hyatt
Fried Hamster (jer...@camalott.com) wrote:
: On Fri, 11 Apr 1997, Lonnie wrote:
: > THE PROGRAMMES
: Why no Crafty or GNU Chess?
The difficulty for Crafty is making arrangements. Non-trivial to travel that
far, with a full-time job here, not to mention the expense. Finding an operator
to run it there is also a problem, as is getting it set up, with the right
opening book, endgame databases, etc...
Alas, there is but one of me... :)
Peter Herttrich
In rec.games.chess.computer Robert Hyatt <hy...@crafty.cis.uab.edu> wrote:
: Fried Hamster (jer...@camalott.com) wrote:
: : > THE PROGRAMMES
How about playing through the net?
I guess at Aegon is a INTERNET-Connection?!?
cheerio
Peter
--
--
_____________________________________________________________________________
Peter Herttrich email: dh1...@inss1.etec.uni-karlsruhe.de
Universitaet Karlsruhe Tel. +49 721 6083747 FAX +49 721 6086071
Institut fuer Nachrichtentechnik ..life outside caves is complicated ...
_____________________________________________________________________________
Komputer Korner
Lonnie wrote:
>
> THE PROGRAMMES
>
What is the time control and what web site will this be on and what is
the schedule?
--
Komputer Korner
The inkompetent komputer.
Komputer Korner
Robert Hyatt wrote:
>
> Fried Hamster (jer...@camalott.com) wrote:
>
> : On Fri, 11 Apr 1997, Lonnie wrote:
>
> : > THE PROGRAMMES
>
> : Why no Crafty or GNU Chess?
>
> The difficulty for Crafty is making arrangements. Non-trivial to travel that
> far, with a full-time job here, not to mention the expense. Finding an operator
> to run it there is also a problem, as is getting it set up, with the right
> opening book, endgame databases, etc...
>
> Alas, there is but one of me... :)
And we all thought there were an army of Robert Hyatt clones answering
all those emails and newsgroup postings.
Robert Hyatt
Komputer Korner (kor...@netcom.ca) wrote:
: The inkompetent komputer.
I've always had the following offer outstanding: Anyone wanting to enter Crafty
in any sort of event can do so. I will provide machine time on my P6, if internet
access is available. Or I will give written permission should they feel that is
necessary (such as if someone wants to enter Crafty in a USCF-sponsored event, which
requires the primary author's permission.)
However, there isn't enough time in the day for me to make all of the necessary
arrangements to participate in these events... I can barely cope with the WMCCC
event each year...
chrisw
--
http://www.demon.co.uk/oxford-soft
Komputer Korner <kor...@netcom.ca> wrote in article
<335142...@netcom.ca>...
> Lonnie wrote:
> >
> > THE PROGRAMMES
> >
>
> What is the time control and what web site will this be on and what is
> the schedule?
I already told you the schedule.
I also told you (a long time ago) that it clashed with the last
Hiarcs-Hergott games.
Chris Whittington
Robert Hyatt
Vincent Diepeveen (vdie...@cs.ruu.nl) wrote:
: In <5isa4k$l...@juniper.cis.uab.edu> hy...@crafty.cis.uab.edu (Robert Hyatt) writes:
: >Komputer Korner (kor...@netcom.ca) wrote:
: >: Robert Hyatt wrote:
: >: >
: >: > Fried Hamster (jer...@camalott.com) wrote:
: >: >
: >: > : On Fri, 11 Apr 1997, Lonnie wrote:
: >: >
: >: > : > THE PROGRAMMES
: >: >
: >: > : Why no Crafty or GNU Chess?
: >: >
: >: > The difficulty for Crafty is making arrangements. Non-trivial to travel that
: >: > far, with a full-time job here, not to mention the expense. Finding an operator
: >: > to run it there is also a problem, as is getting it set up, with the right
: >: > opening book, endgame databases, etc...
: >: >
: >: > Alas, there is but one of me... :)
: >
: >: And we all thought there were an army of Robert Hyatt clones answering
: >: all those emails and newsgroup postings.
: >: --
: >: Komputer Korner
: >
: >: The inkompetent komputer.
: >
: >I've always had the following offer outstanding: Anyone wanting to enter Crafty
: >in any sort of event can do so. I will provide machine time on my P6, if internet
: >access is available. Or I will give written permission should they feel that is
: >necessary (such as if someone wants to enter Crafty in a USCF-sponsored event, which
: >requires the primary author's permission.)
: >
: >However, there isn't enough time in the day for me to make all of the necessary
: >arrangements to participate in these events... I can barely cope with the WMCCC
: >event each year...
: >
: There are 60 Pentium Pro's available for 50 programs with 64 mb RAM
: for every program that wants to join. So there are 10 computers left,
: where Crafty could play on. I guess that Cock the Gorter even if you plan
: to join tomorrow will welcome you.
: Vincent
I'm open to this as well... If there's a volunteer, preferable someone who
is familiar with Crafty, this could work pretty smoothly. Opening book is
a question. and tablebases would be probably impossible. But it might be
possible to get something going...
Vincent Diepeveen
In <5iqpep$ahd$1...@nz12.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de> Peter Herttrich <dh1...@inss1.etec.uni-karlsruhe.de> writes:
>In rec.games.chess.computer Robert Hyatt <hy...@crafty.cis.uab.edu> wrote:
>: Fried Hamster (jer...@camalott.com) wrote:
>
>
>: : On Fri, 11 Apr 1997, Lonnie wrote:
>
>: : > THE PROGRAMMES
>
>: : Why no Crafty or GNU Chess?
>
>
>: The difficulty for Crafty is making arrangements. Non-trivial to travel that
>: far, with a full-time job here, not to mention the expense. Finding an operator
>: to run it there is also a problem, as is getting it set up, with the right
>: opening book, endgame databases, etc...
>
>: Alas, there is but one of me... :)
>
>How about playing through the net?
>I guess at Aegon is a INTERNET-Connection?!?
Yes there are internet connections, and i guess that Cock would welcome
Crafty to join the tournament. Also if Robert cannot join himself,
there are plenty of dutch volunteers who want to play with his program.
Vincent
>cheerio
>Peter
>
>
>
>
>
>--
>--
>_____________________________________________________________________________
> Peter Herttrich email: dh1...@inss1.etec.uni-karlsruhe.de
> Universitaet Karlsruhe Tel. +49 721 6083747 FAX +49 721 6086071
>Institut fuer Nachrichtentechnik ..life outside caves is complicated ...
>_____________________________________________________________________________
--
+----------------------------------------------------+
| Vincent Diepeveen email: vdie...@cs.ruu.nl |
| http://www.students.cs.ruu.nl/~vdiepeve/ |
+----------------------------------------------------+
Vincent Diepeveen
>Komputer Korner (kor...@netcom.ca) wrote:
>: Robert Hyatt wrote:
>: >
>: > Fried Hamster (jer...@camalott.com) wrote:
>: >
>: > : On Fri, 11 Apr 1997, Lonnie wrote:
>: >
>: > : > THE PROGRAMMES
>: >
>: > : Why no Crafty or GNU Chess?
>: >
>: > The difficulty for Crafty is making arrangements. Non-trivial to travel that
>: > far, with a full-time job here, not to mention the expense. Finding an operator
>: > to run it there is also a problem, as is getting it set up, with the right
>: > opening book, endgame databases, etc...
>: >
>: > Alas, there is but one of me... :)
>
>: And we all thought there were an army of Robert Hyatt clones answering
>: all those emails and newsgroup postings.
>: --
>: Komputer Korner
>
>: The inkompetent komputer.
>
>I've always had the following offer outstanding: Anyone wanting to enter Crafty
>in any sort of event can do so. I will provide machine time on my P6, if internet
>access is available. Or I will give written permission should they feel that is
>necessary (such as if someone wants to enter Crafty in a USCF-sponsored event, which
>requires the primary author's permission.)
>
>However, there isn't enough time in the day for me to make all of the necessary
>arrangements to participate in these events... I can barely cope with the WMCCC
>event each year...
>
There are 60 Pentium Pro's available for 50 programs with 64 mb RAM
for every program that wants to join. So there are 10 computers left,
where Crafty could play on. I guess that Cock the Gorter even if you plan
to join tomorrow will welcome you.
Vincent
Robert Hyatt
Vincent Diepeveen (vdie...@cs.ruu.nl) wrote:
: In <5iqpep$ahd$1...@nz12.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de> Peter Herttrich <dh1...@inss1.etec.uni-karlsruhe.de> writes:
: >In rec.games.chess.computer Robert Hyatt <hy...@crafty.cis.uab.edu> wrote:
: >: Fried Hamster (jer...@camalott.com) wrote:
: >
: >
: >: : On Fri, 11 Apr 1997, Lonnie wrote:
: >
: >: : > THE PROGRAMMES
: >
: >: : Why no Crafty or GNU Chess?
: >
: >
: >: The difficulty for Crafty is making arrangements. Non-trivial to travel that
: >: far, with a full-time job here, not to mention the expense. Finding an operator
: >: to run it there is also a problem, as is getting it set up, with the right
: >: opening book, endgame databases, etc...
: >
: >: Alas, there is but one of me... :)
: >
: >How about playing through the net?
: >I guess at Aegon is a INTERNET-Connection?!?
: Yes there are internet connections, and i guess that Cock would welcome
: Crafty to join the tournament. Also if Robert cannot join himself,
: there are plenty of dutch volunteers who want to play with his program.
: Vincent
I'd love to make it so. Let me know what to do and how, and I'll make
my machine here available over the internet and not have anything else
running on it...
Bob
mart...@andornet.ad
On the AEGON tournament web site is information that Sofia Polgar is
ladies' world Champion?! What about Zsuzsa?
I am sorry to use Usenet but there are no email address to send
correction directly to AEGON people.
Also is worth to mention that the first name of Estonian GM Oll is
Lembit and not Lembitt.
Best wishes,
Mart
Tim Mirabile
mart...@andornet.ad wrote:
>On the AEGON tournament web site is information that Sofia Polgar is
>ladies' world Champion?! What about Zsuzsa?
From the webpage:
IM Sofia Polgar
^^^^^
Sofia Polgar is one of the three Polgar
^^^^^
sisters from Hungary who have been
astounding the chess world for years with
their strong play, putting them on the same
level as the strongest male players. Susan
^^^^^
Polgar is ladies' world champion. Judith
Polgar was, until recently, in the men's top
10 for a while....
>I am sorry to use Usenet but there are no email address to send
>correction directly to AEGON people.
Yes, I noticed this as well.
>Also is worth to mention that the first name of Estonian GM Oll is
>Lembit and not Lembitt.
Yes, and I don't think there is a "c" in shredder.
--
Tim Mirabile <t...@mail.htp.com> - http://www.webcom.com/timm/
Visit my homepage for information on USCF & FIDE rated chess on Long Island.
TimM on the Free Internet Chess Server - telnet://fics.onenet.net:5000/
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The opinions of my employers are not necessarily mine, and vice versa.