I was at a friend’s house a few days back, and he had gotten me a great big chess set for my birthday. I had never seen anything like it, that’s for sure. It came with gigantic plastic pieces, a huge vinyl mat, and a small instruction booklet with the rules.
This is it, here:
http://toyscouter.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Giant-Chess-Set.jpg
Anyhow, we set the thing up and then I figured that would be the end of it, but his son wanted to play a game. Apparently, my friend had taught him the moves and whatnot a while back. Sure, I said, I’d love to!
Well, the kid hadn’t played but a few games in his entire life and so he was hanging knights and queens left and right, which I declined to take right away. I would hint at their impending doom and allow him to move them away, encouraging him to find the best square or, at least, be able to explain a reason for moving it where he did.
The kid ate it up. Soon, he was trouble.
We reached an endgame where he was a piece up. No, he didn’t actually outplay me to get there, I was helping him along the way; once I lost a rook, though, the help stopped. He had mate threats and piece threats everywhere, and a scary passed pawn.
I would make a move, see a really good reply, and ask the kid to take his time and find the move. By that stage of the game, though, he was finding better moves than I was. Seriously. He had the right idea, and you can take that to the bank. He made odd-looking moves I hadn’t seen and, after a few seconds of looking, I would see that the moves were very strong. Stronger than the moves I was looking at, and I’m not a beginner by a long shot.
We eventually reached a position where my king was stuck on the bottom rank and I had, or thought I had, one more defense before it was white flag time. I announced to the room that we’d reached a critical position and I explained to the kid why I had moved where I did. I asked him if he could find the win in two moves.
He checkmated me in one.
Needless to say, I was a bit embarrassed. In my defense, I had consumed more than a couple adult beverages and probably wasn’t playing at my usual Bobby Fischer level. The point is, that the child was picking the ideas up quickly. Scary quick. He is ten years old and I fully believe that if he took the game up, he’d be regularly smashing me inside of two years time, and it has taken me ten years to get where I am today. It really is amazing how fast they learn.
I didn’t have the opportunity to enter the chess world when my age was still a single digit. My father taught me how to play somewhere in my teens but I had no clue there was a whole chess underworld, full of tournaments, fun blitz and study. I just thought it was a board game, like every other average citizen.
Please, if you have kids, teach them the moves early and see if they like the game. If they take to it and stick with it, they’ll be masters in no time and with ease. I saw so many teenage FMs and IMs at the Vegas tournament it blew my mind. What I wouldn’t give to go back in time and carry a 2400 chess rating before I could legally drive a car.
Damn. Just imagine it...
Friday, January 20, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Connecting Winboard to World Chess Live
Connecting Winboard to a chess-playing server such as World Chess Live isn’t easy for the first-timer, but it can be done. This article aims to walk you through the process. I’m going to try and make it very complete, so you may want to bookmark it for future use. This article assumes that you have a working copy of Winboard installed and that you have already created a (C)omputer account on WCL.
This article will be long, so be sure you read it all.
To start: Let’s go to your desktop (for now). When you get there, right-click on any blank area and scroll the mouse down to “New”. Then, choose “Text Document”, and a file will be created. You can name this file whatever you want, but make sure it’s something you’ll remember, like the C account name, which is what I use. After you name it, hit ENTER and step one is done. The extension will remain .txt, for now, and that’s fine; we’ll change it in a bit.
Filling in the file: Double-click the file so that it opens, if it isn’t already. Inside, we are going to put some pretty wacky things, so be patient. Winboard’s language is known as “Zippy”, so many things in this file will have the word Zippy in front of it. I know, weird. I will walk you through each item, what you should fill in, and what it means or does. Don’t worry.
The first thing you’ll want to do is put in the location for Winboard on your computer.
Example: "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\winboard.exe" -zp (and yes, you want the quotation marks. Also, make sure you put a space between the last quotes and the –zp; each and every space is important when setting up these files. If you have XP or Vista, your Winboard will have been installed in a slightly different location, and that’s okay; just put down wherever the .exe file is. It’ll be in Program Files somewhere. An easy way to get the file location, once you find the file, is to right-click it, go to “Properties”, and a box will open up. Copy what it says after “Location” into your new Winboard file.
Next: -ics –fcp is what you want to type after the Winboard .exe location. Again, put a space between the -zp after the Winboard location and the –ics and -fcp. “ics” stands for Internet Chess Server and “fcp” stands for First Chess Program, or the engine you’ll be using. The ics tells Winboard you won’t just be playing against it on your computer, but that you’ll be signing it onto a chess server. That’s all.
So far we have: "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\winboard.exe" -zp -ics –fcp
This is from my personal Winboard engine file; yours will differ slightly during each step depending on file location and your preferences.
The engine: Now we are going to want to tell Winboard which engine you are going to use, and its location. It’s the same process as the Winboard.exe bit, only you’ll change the path to wherever your engine is located on your computer. I suggest, for organizational purposes, putting the engine in your Winboard folder. To do this, right-click on your engine, wherever it is. Scroll down to “Cut”, and then go to the Winboard folder in Program Files. Right-click again on any blank space and scroll down to “Paste”. Done.
Example: "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\sf-211-win-eng\stockfish-211-32-ja.exe"
As you can see, the example location uses Stockfish as the engine. Yours will read whatever your engine’s name is. An easy way to get the engine location is to right-click it, go to “Properties”, and a box will open up. Copy what it says after “Location” into your new Winboard file. Easy, huh?
Now your file should look something like this: "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\winboard.exe" -zp -ics -fcp "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\sf-211-win-eng\stockfish-211-32-ja.exe"
Computer account name: Next, Winboard wants to know the name of your bot/computer account, so it can log it in to the chess server. That will look like this:
-icslogon "logonMortimer.ini"
Of course, you would replace Mortimer with your own bot’s handle on the chess server.
Now your file should look similar to this: "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\winboard.exe" -zp -ics -fcp "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\sf-211-win-eng\stockfish-211-32-ja.exe" -icslogon "logonMortimer.ini"
Playing site: Now Winboard will need to know the address of the site in which you will sign the bot onto. For World Chess Live, it will look like this:
"chess.worldchesslive.com" -icsport 5000
Again, pay attention to the spaces in between things. You can copy/paste this address directly into your file if you are signing your account on to WCL.
So now we have: "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\winboard.exe" -zp -ics -fcp "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\sf-211-win-eng\stockfish-211-32-ja.exe" -icslogon "logonMortimer.ini" -icshost "chess.worldchesslive.com" -icsport 5000 (We’re getting there!)
Now Winboard needs to know what lag control is in place at the server. For ICC/WCL it’s Timestamp, and for FICS it’s Timeseal. So you’ll type (or copy/paste):
-icshelper timestamp
So now our file looks like:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\winboard.exe" -zp -ics -fcp "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\sf-211-win-eng\stockfish-211-32-ja.exe" -icslogon "logonMortimer.ini" -icshost "chess.worldchesslive.com" -icsport 5000 -icshelper timestamp
Game End: Now Winboard needs to know what your bot will do after each game, such as seeking, saying something, rematching, etcetera. Here is an example:
-zippyGameEnd="seek 1 0 \nseek 3 0\nseek 15 0"
Note the “nseek” command. This is necessary for multiple seeks to be present. On most servers, a user can have up to three seeks out at once, which we enter in three separate seek commands. For bots, the first seek looks normal, and each subsequent seek is an nseek so that it can all be done in one command line. Also, note the backslash between seeks; a regular forward slash (/) will not work. You can, of course, change the seek parameters to anything you like, including wild variants (for engines that support them), increments, different time controls, etcetera. As long as it’s in between those quotes, it’s good to go.
Now we have:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\winboard.exe" -zp -ics -fcp "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\sf-211-win-eng\stockfish-211-32-ja.exe" -icslogon "logonMortimer.ini" -icshost "chess.worldchesslive.com" -icsport 5000 -icshelper timestamp -zippyGameEnd="seek 1 0 \nseek 3 0\nseek 15 0"
Password: In order to sign the bot on to the playing site, Winboard needs the password for the account. You do this by typing:
-zippyPassword="password" -xzab
Of course, you’ll replace password with whatever your C account’s password actually is. Pretty easy!
So now your file should look similar to:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\winboard.exe" -zp -ics -fcp "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\sf-211-win-eng\stockfish-211-32-ja.exe" -icslogon "logonMortimer.ini" -icshost "chess.worldchesslive.com" -icsport 5000 -icshelper timestamp -zippyGameEnd="seek 1 0 \nseek 3 0\nseek 15 0" -zippyPassword="password" –xzab
Other stuff: You are doing great. This is the last part for this file, I promise. The end of this file is where we can tell the bot certain things like how many times each opponent can play it in a row (reduces abuse), how long the break is in between the max games number and when the opponent can play it again, any variants the bot will play (such as crazyhouse or atomic chess), and the PGN file you want Winboard to save the games in. Winboard will create this file itself, you just need to name it. Here’s an example from my personal bot:
zippyMaxGames=20 -zippyReplayTimeout=60 -zippyVariants="normal" -sgf mortimer.pgn
This means that each opponent can only play my bot 20 times in a row before that person (or other C account) is forced to wait 60 seconds to play it again. This gives others who are waiting a chance to get in on the action. The numbers 20 and 60 can, of course, be changed to whatever you wish.
My bot is set up, as of right now, to only play regular, or normal, chess, and so that’s what I put after the variants option. Also, its games are stored in a file called Mortimer.pgn, which Winboard created after I put it in after –sgf (saved games file).
So, your completed *.bat file should look similar to this:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\winboard.exe" -zp -ics -fcp "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\sf-211-win-eng\stockfish-211-32-ja.exe" -icslogon "logonMortimer.ini" -icshost "chess.worldchesslive.com" -icsport 5000 -icshelper timestamp -zippyGameEnd="seek 1 0 \nseek 3 0\nseek 15 0" -zippyPassword="password" -xzab -zippyMaxGames=20 -zippyReplayTimeout=60 -zippyVariants="normal" -sgf mortimer.pgn
If you want, you can copy/past this directly into your *.bat file and just change the information so that it works on your machine. :)
Saving your file as *.bat. Okay, now we have to save this file in such a way that Windows knows it’s an executable batch file. To do this, click on “File” in the upper left of the text box, and “Save As”. A new box will pop up, and you can type the file name there. Mine is “Mortimer.bat” because my bot’s name is Mortimer on WCL.
Before you hit “Save”, look at the line just below the one that says “File name”. See where it says “Save as type:”? That is a drop-down bar. Click on the arrow on the right of the line to drop it down, and scroll to “All Files (*.*)”. What this does is make Windows realize it’s not just a text file with a *.bat extension, it’s an actual *.bat batch file that does something. NOW you can save, and we are done with the first file. The second file is far easier, trust me.
The *.ini file: Now we need to construct an initiation file for Winboard. It’s super easy and may seem redundant, but the two files work together to get our C account signed on. Make sure you save both the *.bat file and the *.ini file in the same place or folder on your computer. They have to “see” each other in order to work correctly.
First, create a file the same way you did the *.bat file by going to the desktop (or My Documents, or wherever you like; I only choose the desktop at first because it’s far less confusing sometimes), right-clicking, scrolling down to "New", and then choosing "Text Document".
The most important thing here is that your *.ini file name matches, exactly, the *.ini file name you specified back in the batch file. For mine, it read:
-icslogon "logonMortimer.ini"
Remember that guy? So, for an example, if your C account’s name was “ChessBot”, you would type “logonChessBot.ini” instead of Mortimer – see? Simple.
What to type: So, you have your blank new *.txt document open, and you are wondering what to do. My friend, I have great news: This is the easiest part.
Here is what will be in the *.ini file:
Bot name
Bot password
Set bell 0 (or 1, if you wish: it turns the piece movement sound on or off. 0 is off, and you’ll probably like it better in the long run. Up to you, though!)
Seek 1 0
Seek 5 0
Seek 15 0
Anything else
Wait. What is ‘Anything else’? This is anything else you’d like your bot to do when it logs in. For instance, you can have it shout something, you can send a tell to a certain channel, you can set the formula, etcetera. So, for instance, Mortimer’s *.ini file might look like:
Mortimer
Password
Set bell 0
Shout I’m ready for battle!
Set formula rated
Seek 1 0
Seek 3 0
Seek 15 0
Save the file: Now we save the file the same way we did with the batch file, dropping down to “All Files” and naming it *******.ini. Again, make sure this file name matches the one in your batch file. If it doesn’t, the bot won’t sign on.
And that’s it! There are a few common errors folks might make, and I’ll try my best to list three or four of them here so that you have an idea where to start and what to look for should you encounter a problem.
Spacing. I cannot stress how important it is to get the spacing correct between the zippy commands in the *.bat file. If Winboard doesn’t fire up at all or disappears right away, or it has trouble connecting to the site, this could be the reason. Check and double check it.
File name mix-up: As I said, it’s uber-important that what you specified in the *.bat and what you named the *.ini file names match up as far as the logon part. If not, they can’t speak to each other and Winboard will close down or, at the very least, not sign the bot in to the server.
Engine is bad: Sometimes, an engine (especially if pirated, which I never, ever condone) gets messed up and won’t load. If that happens, you’ll see “Starting Chess Program” on the top left of the chessboard, and then Winboard will either just sit there or shut down altogether. If this happens, I highly recommend trying another engine. There are plenty out there to choose from. Also, sometimes an engine will “load”, but then won’t make any moves once you get to the server. Probably also a corrupt engine. Change it out.
Engines: Engines MUST be *.exe (UCI – Universal Chess Interface) in order to work with Winboard. Engines with *.eng suffix, such as those that come with Fritz, will not load.
There are a ton of free and powerful engines out there, such as Houdini, Stockfish, and some versions of Rybka.
Houdini: http://www.cruxis.com/chess/houdini.htm (Go about halfway down the page. You’ll see the blue link that says, “Too expensive? You can still download the free Houdini 1.5 which at the time of the Houdini 2 release remains unmatched in strength by any other chess engine.”)
Stockfish: http://www.stockfishchess.com/download/
You can also do an Internet search for “Free chess engines” and you’ll probably come back with more than you can handle. If you are interested in a specific engine and cannot find it, contact me directly and we’ll see what we can do. I have collected quite a few (hundred) over the years. #totalnerd
Winboard stuff: http://www.tim-mann.org/chess.html (This is a GREAT page for Winboard users, as it has engines, Zippy stuff, links, and all kinds of other things. It’s where most of the Winboard pros get their start.
Just know that almost any chess engine that ends in *.exe and isn’t corrupt will work fine in Winboard. If you can find it, Winboard will make it play. That’s why so many folks like Winboard over other programs such as Chess Partner or Arena. It isn’t picky one bit with its engines, unless they are corrupt or have a virus or something.
I hope you have found this article helpful. If you have suggestions or see anything wrong, leave me a comment below or email me directly at: derekodm at gmail dot com (link left out so spam bots cannot find me!). Thanks for your time.
This article will be long, so be sure you read it all.
To start: Let’s go to your desktop (for now). When you get there, right-click on any blank area and scroll the mouse down to “New”. Then, choose “Text Document”, and a file will be created. You can name this file whatever you want, but make sure it’s something you’ll remember, like the C account name, which is what I use. After you name it, hit ENTER and step one is done. The extension will remain .txt, for now, and that’s fine; we’ll change it in a bit.
Filling in the file: Double-click the file so that it opens, if it isn’t already. Inside, we are going to put some pretty wacky things, so be patient. Winboard’s language is known as “Zippy”, so many things in this file will have the word Zippy in front of it. I know, weird. I will walk you through each item, what you should fill in, and what it means or does. Don’t worry.
The first thing you’ll want to do is put in the location for Winboard on your computer.
Example: "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\winboard.exe" -zp (and yes, you want the quotation marks. Also, make sure you put a space between the last quotes and the –zp; each and every space is important when setting up these files. If you have XP or Vista, your Winboard will have been installed in a slightly different location, and that’s okay; just put down wherever the .exe file is. It’ll be in Program Files somewhere. An easy way to get the file location, once you find the file, is to right-click it, go to “Properties”, and a box will open up. Copy what it says after “Location” into your new Winboard file.
Next: -ics –fcp is what you want to type after the Winboard .exe location. Again, put a space between the -zp after the Winboard location and the –ics and -fcp. “ics” stands for Internet Chess Server and “fcp” stands for First Chess Program, or the engine you’ll be using. The ics tells Winboard you won’t just be playing against it on your computer, but that you’ll be signing it onto a chess server. That’s all.
So far we have: "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\winboard.exe" -zp -ics –fcp
This is from my personal Winboard engine file; yours will differ slightly during each step depending on file location and your preferences.
The engine: Now we are going to want to tell Winboard which engine you are going to use, and its location. It’s the same process as the Winboard.exe bit, only you’ll change the path to wherever your engine is located on your computer. I suggest, for organizational purposes, putting the engine in your Winboard folder. To do this, right-click on your engine, wherever it is. Scroll down to “Cut”, and then go to the Winboard folder in Program Files. Right-click again on any blank space and scroll down to “Paste”. Done.
Example: "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\sf-211-win-eng\stockfish-211-32-ja.exe"
As you can see, the example location uses Stockfish as the engine. Yours will read whatever your engine’s name is. An easy way to get the engine location is to right-click it, go to “Properties”, and a box will open up. Copy what it says after “Location” into your new Winboard file. Easy, huh?
Now your file should look something like this: "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\winboard.exe" -zp -ics -fcp "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\sf-211-win-eng\stockfish-211-32-ja.exe"
Computer account name: Next, Winboard wants to know the name of your bot/computer account, so it can log it in to the chess server. That will look like this:
-icslogon "logonMortimer.ini"
Of course, you would replace Mortimer with your own bot’s handle on the chess server.
Now your file should look similar to this: "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\winboard.exe" -zp -ics -fcp "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\sf-211-win-eng\stockfish-211-32-ja.exe" -icslogon "logonMortimer.ini"
Playing site: Now Winboard will need to know the address of the site in which you will sign the bot onto. For World Chess Live, it will look like this:
"chess.worldchesslive.com" -icsport 5000
Again, pay attention to the spaces in between things. You can copy/paste this address directly into your file if you are signing your account on to WCL.
So now we have: "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\winboard.exe" -zp -ics -fcp "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\sf-211-win-eng\stockfish-211-32-ja.exe" -icslogon "logonMortimer.ini" -icshost "chess.worldchesslive.com" -icsport 5000 (We’re getting there!)
Now Winboard needs to know what lag control is in place at the server. For ICC/WCL it’s Timestamp, and for FICS it’s Timeseal. So you’ll type (or copy/paste):
-icshelper timestamp
So now our file looks like:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\winboard.exe" -zp -ics -fcp "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\sf-211-win-eng\stockfish-211-32-ja.exe" -icslogon "logonMortimer.ini" -icshost "chess.worldchesslive.com" -icsport 5000 -icshelper timestamp
Game End: Now Winboard needs to know what your bot will do after each game, such as seeking, saying something, rematching, etcetera. Here is an example:
-zippyGameEnd="seek 1 0 \nseek 3 0\nseek 15 0"
Note the “nseek” command. This is necessary for multiple seeks to be present. On most servers, a user can have up to three seeks out at once, which we enter in three separate seek commands. For bots, the first seek looks normal, and each subsequent seek is an nseek so that it can all be done in one command line. Also, note the backslash between seeks; a regular forward slash (/) will not work. You can, of course, change the seek parameters to anything you like, including wild variants (for engines that support them), increments, different time controls, etcetera. As long as it’s in between those quotes, it’s good to go.
Now we have:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\winboard.exe" -zp -ics -fcp "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\sf-211-win-eng\stockfish-211-32-ja.exe" -icslogon "logonMortimer.ini" -icshost "chess.worldchesslive.com" -icsport 5000 -icshelper timestamp -zippyGameEnd="seek 1 0 \nseek 3 0\nseek 15 0"
Password: In order to sign the bot on to the playing site, Winboard needs the password for the account. You do this by typing:
-zippyPassword="password" -xzab
Of course, you’ll replace password with whatever your C account’s password actually is. Pretty easy!
So now your file should look similar to:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\winboard.exe" -zp -ics -fcp "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\sf-211-win-eng\stockfish-211-32-ja.exe" -icslogon "logonMortimer.ini" -icshost "chess.worldchesslive.com" -icsport 5000 -icshelper timestamp -zippyGameEnd="seek 1 0 \nseek 3 0\nseek 15 0" -zippyPassword="password" –xzab
Other stuff: You are doing great. This is the last part for this file, I promise. The end of this file is where we can tell the bot certain things like how many times each opponent can play it in a row (reduces abuse), how long the break is in between the max games number and when the opponent can play it again, any variants the bot will play (such as crazyhouse or atomic chess), and the PGN file you want Winboard to save the games in. Winboard will create this file itself, you just need to name it. Here’s an example from my personal bot:
zippyMaxGames=20 -zippyReplayTimeout=60 -zippyVariants="normal" -sgf mortimer.pgn
This means that each opponent can only play my bot 20 times in a row before that person (or other C account) is forced to wait 60 seconds to play it again. This gives others who are waiting a chance to get in on the action. The numbers 20 and 60 can, of course, be changed to whatever you wish.
My bot is set up, as of right now, to only play regular, or normal, chess, and so that’s what I put after the variants option. Also, its games are stored in a file called Mortimer.pgn, which Winboard created after I put it in after –sgf (saved games file).
So, your completed *.bat file should look similar to this:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\winboard.exe" -zp -ics -fcp "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.2.7\sf-211-win-eng\stockfish-211-32-ja.exe" -icslogon "logonMortimer.ini" -icshost "chess.worldchesslive.com" -icsport 5000 -icshelper timestamp -zippyGameEnd="seek 1 0 \nseek 3 0\nseek 15 0" -zippyPassword="password" -xzab -zippyMaxGames=20 -zippyReplayTimeout=60 -zippyVariants="normal" -sgf mortimer.pgn
If you want, you can copy/past this directly into your *.bat file and just change the information so that it works on your machine. :)
Saving your file as *.bat. Okay, now we have to save this file in such a way that Windows knows it’s an executable batch file. To do this, click on “File” in the upper left of the text box, and “Save As”. A new box will pop up, and you can type the file name there. Mine is “Mortimer.bat” because my bot’s name is Mortimer on WCL.
Before you hit “Save”, look at the line just below the one that says “File name”. See where it says “Save as type:”? That is a drop-down bar. Click on the arrow on the right of the line to drop it down, and scroll to “All Files (*.*)”. What this does is make Windows realize it’s not just a text file with a *.bat extension, it’s an actual *.bat batch file that does something. NOW you can save, and we are done with the first file. The second file is far easier, trust me.
The *.ini file: Now we need to construct an initiation file for Winboard. It’s super easy and may seem redundant, but the two files work together to get our C account signed on. Make sure you save both the *.bat file and the *.ini file in the same place or folder on your computer. They have to “see” each other in order to work correctly.
First, create a file the same way you did the *.bat file by going to the desktop (or My Documents, or wherever you like; I only choose the desktop at first because it’s far less confusing sometimes), right-clicking, scrolling down to "New", and then choosing "Text Document".
The most important thing here is that your *.ini file name matches, exactly, the *.ini file name you specified back in the batch file. For mine, it read:
-icslogon "logonMortimer.ini"
Remember that guy? So, for an example, if your C account’s name was “ChessBot”, you would type “logonChessBot.ini” instead of Mortimer – see? Simple.
What to type: So, you have your blank new *.txt document open, and you are wondering what to do. My friend, I have great news: This is the easiest part.
Here is what will be in the *.ini file:
Bot name
Bot password
Set bell 0 (or 1, if you wish: it turns the piece movement sound on or off. 0 is off, and you’ll probably like it better in the long run. Up to you, though!)
Seek 1 0
Seek 5 0
Seek 15 0
Anything else
Wait. What is ‘Anything else’? This is anything else you’d like your bot to do when it logs in. For instance, you can have it shout something, you can send a tell to a certain channel, you can set the formula, etcetera. So, for instance, Mortimer’s *.ini file might look like:
Mortimer
Password
Set bell 0
Shout I’m ready for battle!
Set formula rated
Seek 1 0
Seek 3 0
Seek 15 0
Save the file: Now we save the file the same way we did with the batch file, dropping down to “All Files” and naming it *******.ini. Again, make sure this file name matches the one in your batch file. If it doesn’t, the bot won’t sign on.
And that’s it! There are a few common errors folks might make, and I’ll try my best to list three or four of them here so that you have an idea where to start and what to look for should you encounter a problem.
Spacing. I cannot stress how important it is to get the spacing correct between the zippy commands in the *.bat file. If Winboard doesn’t fire up at all or disappears right away, or it has trouble connecting to the site, this could be the reason. Check and double check it.
File name mix-up: As I said, it’s uber-important that what you specified in the *.bat and what you named the *.ini file names match up as far as the logon part. If not, they can’t speak to each other and Winboard will close down or, at the very least, not sign the bot in to the server.
Engine is bad: Sometimes, an engine (especially if pirated, which I never, ever condone) gets messed up and won’t load. If that happens, you’ll see “Starting Chess Program” on the top left of the chessboard, and then Winboard will either just sit there or shut down altogether. If this happens, I highly recommend trying another engine. There are plenty out there to choose from. Also, sometimes an engine will “load”, but then won’t make any moves once you get to the server. Probably also a corrupt engine. Change it out.
Engines: Engines MUST be *.exe (UCI – Universal Chess Interface) in order to work with Winboard. Engines with *.eng suffix, such as those that come with Fritz, will not load.
There are a ton of free and powerful engines out there, such as Houdini, Stockfish, and some versions of Rybka.
Houdini: http://www.cruxis.com/chess/houdini.htm (Go about halfway down the page. You’ll see the blue link that says, “Too expensive? You can still download the free Houdini 1.5 which at the time of the Houdini 2 release remains unmatched in strength by any other chess engine.”)
Stockfish: http://www.stockfishchess.com/download/
You can also do an Internet search for “Free chess engines” and you’ll probably come back with more than you can handle. If you are interested in a specific engine and cannot find it, contact me directly and we’ll see what we can do. I have collected quite a few (hundred) over the years. #totalnerd
Winboard stuff: http://www.tim-mann.org/chess.html (This is a GREAT page for Winboard users, as it has engines, Zippy stuff, links, and all kinds of other things. It’s where most of the Winboard pros get their start.
Just know that almost any chess engine that ends in *.exe and isn’t corrupt will work fine in Winboard. If you can find it, Winboard will make it play. That’s why so many folks like Winboard over other programs such as Chess Partner or Arena. It isn’t picky one bit with its engines, unless they are corrupt or have a virus or something.
I hope you have found this article helpful. If you have suggestions or see anything wrong, leave me a comment below or email me directly at: derekodm at gmail dot com (link left out so spam bots cannot find me!). Thanks for your time.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
I Miss the Chess Club
I had been a regular at my local chess club (meets in a bunch of different places, depending on which day of the week it is) for years and years. It was my first OTB experience with players who knew what they were doing. I had always been better at chess than my friends, but I was a fish in that arena.
When I first walked into the place (I had heard about them meeting on Thursdays from a friend), I saw a lot of clocks and vinyl chess mats and big, weighted pieces. I had brought a department store folding board and small, un-weighted plastic pieces in a butter container. I knew nothing of openings, middle games, endings, tournament mats, clocks, timed games, tactics – you get the idea. I wasn’t just green, I was light yellow.
Anyhow, I kept going back to the club, week after week, for a solid year (almost to the day) before I won my first game there. I had the right idea, but the execution needed some major work. I was an attacker, that was clear, and I didn’t want games to last more than twenty moves or so. Anything for a checkmate. You know, beginner stuff.
As I progressed, I got stronger and stronger and, a couple of years later, none of the players who regularly trounced me so badly before could take a single game off me. I was now the one to watch out for. Why? Because I was doing more than showing up for a few hours and playing five-minute chess. I was studying, I was playing in tournaments, I was taking boards to work and setting up positions on my lunch hour.
The club meets in many places, and I attended them all: the coffee shop on Thursdays, a Denny's on Fridays, the Senior Center on Tuesdays, a bookstore on Sunday mornings – I didn’t miss a beat. Now, however, and for several reasons, I rarely go, and I miss the hell out of it.
The Reasons:
Gas is expensive. I have since moved slightly out of the area and it takes a quarter-tank for the round trip no matter which night I attend. That adds up quick with today’s gas prices. I don’t usually gripe about the price of gas, but it’s a reality and it’s enough to keep me home if I don’t need to go out.
The Internet has made it possible to get a game any day, any hour, at any time control. That makes the process of eating dinner, getting ready, hopping in the car and driving somewhere seem like a whole lot of hassle for the same thing I could do in seconds at home. I hate the mindset, but I must admit it’s there. No, Internet chess is never nearly as satisfying as thumping down a triple-weighted rook and slapping the clock, but it’s a much easier alternative.
There’s a crazy, scary guy at the club that isn’t stable. Yes, I’m serious. This guy has no qualms about cornering someone for three hours or more and telling all about his jacked up childhood, about his drunk, drug-addicted mother and abusive father, about jobs he’s had (in excruciating detail – way beyond the norm), his military experience, his view on politics (you only have to listen for a few minutes to realize that this guy is extremely racist), etcetera. It goes on, and on, and on. I had always just had him pegged as extremely nerdy, but he goes beyond that into psychotic, I believe.
Lately, he’s my reason for not going. I had seen him at the club off and on for years, but he’d never managed to corner me. One Friday night after a rock concert, I motored into the Denny's because I was passing it anyhow and always have my tournament set with me. He and one other guy were there, and I played the other guy a few games. Once he’d had enough of dropping pieces to me, he took his leave, and this wacko started in.
I probably said twenty words in three hours; he just talks and talks and talks. Eventually, I packed up and said I had to go and he still talked for another twenty minutes. I really, really do not want to encounter this guy again, but he’s always at the club. He wasn’t just annoyingly talkative; the stuff he was saying scared me.
Anyhow, so those are the reasons I mostly stay home and play chess these days. I dearly miss the sights, sounds, and feel of pushing wood at the club, though; I may just have to make an appearance Thursday and show those patzers a little bit of what up. *giggle*
When I first walked into the place (I had heard about them meeting on Thursdays from a friend), I saw a lot of clocks and vinyl chess mats and big, weighted pieces. I had brought a department store folding board and small, un-weighted plastic pieces in a butter container. I knew nothing of openings, middle games, endings, tournament mats, clocks, timed games, tactics – you get the idea. I wasn’t just green, I was light yellow.
Anyhow, I kept going back to the club, week after week, for a solid year (almost to the day) before I won my first game there. I had the right idea, but the execution needed some major work. I was an attacker, that was clear, and I didn’t want games to last more than twenty moves or so. Anything for a checkmate. You know, beginner stuff.
As I progressed, I got stronger and stronger and, a couple of years later, none of the players who regularly trounced me so badly before could take a single game off me. I was now the one to watch out for. Why? Because I was doing more than showing up for a few hours and playing five-minute chess. I was studying, I was playing in tournaments, I was taking boards to work and setting up positions on my lunch hour.
The club meets in many places, and I attended them all: the coffee shop on Thursdays, a Denny's on Fridays, the Senior Center on Tuesdays, a bookstore on Sunday mornings – I didn’t miss a beat. Now, however, and for several reasons, I rarely go, and I miss the hell out of it.
The Reasons:
Gas is expensive. I have since moved slightly out of the area and it takes a quarter-tank for the round trip no matter which night I attend. That adds up quick with today’s gas prices. I don’t usually gripe about the price of gas, but it’s a reality and it’s enough to keep me home if I don’t need to go out.
The Internet has made it possible to get a game any day, any hour, at any time control. That makes the process of eating dinner, getting ready, hopping in the car and driving somewhere seem like a whole lot of hassle for the same thing I could do in seconds at home. I hate the mindset, but I must admit it’s there. No, Internet chess is never nearly as satisfying as thumping down a triple-weighted rook and slapping the clock, but it’s a much easier alternative.
There’s a crazy, scary guy at the club that isn’t stable. Yes, I’m serious. This guy has no qualms about cornering someone for three hours or more and telling all about his jacked up childhood, about his drunk, drug-addicted mother and abusive father, about jobs he’s had (in excruciating detail – way beyond the norm), his military experience, his view on politics (you only have to listen for a few minutes to realize that this guy is extremely racist), etcetera. It goes on, and on, and on. I had always just had him pegged as extremely nerdy, but he goes beyond that into psychotic, I believe.
Lately, he’s my reason for not going. I had seen him at the club off and on for years, but he’d never managed to corner me. One Friday night after a rock concert, I motored into the Denny's because I was passing it anyhow and always have my tournament set with me. He and one other guy were there, and I played the other guy a few games. Once he’d had enough of dropping pieces to me, he took his leave, and this wacko started in.
I probably said twenty words in three hours; he just talks and talks and talks. Eventually, I packed up and said I had to go and he still talked for another twenty minutes. I really, really do not want to encounter this guy again, but he’s always at the club. He wasn’t just annoyingly talkative; the stuff he was saying scared me.
Anyhow, so those are the reasons I mostly stay home and play chess these days. I dearly miss the sights, sounds, and feel of pushing wood at the club, though; I may just have to make an appearance Thursday and show those patzers a little bit of what up. *giggle*
Monday, January 2, 2012
Free chess engines are cool!
I know that some of you out there have been wondering which engine to buy, and doing a ton of research on interfaces and the like. Did you know that you can get engines with comparable strength for free, though? You can, and have been able to for a long, long time. Of course, purchasing Fritz with your favorite engine installed is going to give the serious player/study-addict a few more options, but for analyzing your own games, you don’t have to spend a dime.
Stockfish is a giant in the computer engine world, and it’s absolutely free! In fact, it delivers a healthy beat-down to most of the commercial engines out there. Simply download the engine, which is an .exe file, and then install it into a free interface such as Arena, which has a plethora of features and settings. Arena is hands-down the coolest chess interface you can get for free, if you ask me.
Stockfish: http://www.stockfishchess.com/
Arena: www.playwitharena.com
Another great and very strong engine is Houdini. They have gone commercial now, but Houdini 1.5 is still available for free download. It is another engine that has the ability to consistently hand it to the big boys. Both of these free engines are rated well into the 3,000 Elo range, and so most humans on earth have no fear of beating them; if you need a great free engine to study with, I highly recommend one of the two listed in this blog post.
Houdini: http://www.cruxis.com/chess/houdini.htm
Go about halfway down the page, and you’ll see the download link for 1.5 in blue, just above the UNICEF banner.
If you have the $60 to spend on a copy of Fritz or something, go for it; they really do have a ton of features that the free interfaces do not. But, if you just want to analyze your own games or GM games with a high-quality, no-messing-around chess engine, either Houdini or Stockfish will work wonderfully. You can spend the savings on chess books, or a nice tournament set. Or the wife. Whichever will keep you alive longer.
Stockfish is a giant in the computer engine world, and it’s absolutely free! In fact, it delivers a healthy beat-down to most of the commercial engines out there. Simply download the engine, which is an .exe file, and then install it into a free interface such as Arena, which has a plethora of features and settings. Arena is hands-down the coolest chess interface you can get for free, if you ask me.
Stockfish: http://www.stockfishchess.com/
Arena: www.playwitharena.com
Another great and very strong engine is Houdini. They have gone commercial now, but Houdini 1.5 is still available for free download. It is another engine that has the ability to consistently hand it to the big boys. Both of these free engines are rated well into the 3,000 Elo range, and so most humans on earth have no fear of beating them; if you need a great free engine to study with, I highly recommend one of the two listed in this blog post.
Houdini: http://www.cruxis.com/chess/houdini.htm
Go about halfway down the page, and you’ll see the download link for 1.5 in blue, just above the UNICEF banner.
If you have the $60 to spend on a copy of Fritz or something, go for it; they really do have a ton of features that the free interfaces do not. But, if you just want to analyze your own games or GM games with a high-quality, no-messing-around chess engine, either Houdini or Stockfish will work wonderfully. You can spend the savings on chess books, or a nice tournament set. Or the wife. Whichever will keep you alive longer.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
NAO 2011 Report Three: The Last Day
Well, the tourney sure ended with a bang. GM Pons won the even clear with 6.0 of 7 rounds, two of which were draws. That guy is a monster at chess! In the last round, he offered a draw to GM Akobian, who said ‘he’d think about it’. GM Pons got up and wandered around for about five minutes, and when he came back GM Akobian stuck out his hand. The game was drawn, and Pons had won $10,000; not a bad Las Vegas trip, if I do say so, myself.
You can see the final standings for the Open Section here: http://chesstournamentservices.com/cca/2011/12/north-american-open-2011-standings-open-section/
Was there excitement during the last round? Only over the board excitement, really; it’s hard to find a boring GM or IM game to watch, especially when there’s this much money at stake. There was a lot of fighting chess, and several games were very thrilling. So, when did the good stuff happen? The good stuff came about when the blitz tournament commenced. It was really something, let me tell you.
In between the main event and the blitz tournament, GMs could be seen downstairs at the Nosh restaurant and generally wandering around, talking to each other. How many times a year does one get to see that? Needless to say, it was super cool.
I registered early for the blitz tournament because I know how long the line gets about 30 minutes beforehand. I figured if I was going to throw away $40, I might as well do it comfortably, right? That allowed me time to snack on a donut and a Mountain Dew while I watched the other participants registering. I met quite a few people while I waited, and everyone I talked to was really, really nice. The chess community, as a whole, is a very friendly bunch.
Okay, let’s get to the blitz tournament.
In the first round, I was paired with a guy who beat me badly twice in a row (we were playing two games with each opponent, 5 rounds) with a beer in his hand. I forgot to check his rating but trust me, he didn’t play like an Under 1900. People were complaining after a few rounds that a 2180 and a 2400 had somehow made it into the U1900 category. I’d be real curious to see if my first opponent wasn’t one of these entries, because I was playing a strong game, I had a clear advantage out of each opening, and this cat found mating nets out of nowhere. The rest of my games were so-so, and that’s to be expected for after-midnight blitz.
At first, we were upstairs from the main tourney hall in a small room, boards all set up and ready to go. Each year the event is held in that room, but this year there were too many players for it to hold. So, we were all herded back downstairs to Pacific Ballroom where the main event was held each day. I never got an official count, but if I were to estimate, I’d say 150 entries would be in the ballpark.
Once we finally got settled and playing, it was much later than originally scheduled. I was fortunate enough not to have played in the main event or I would have been brutally tired. As it was, I was full, caffeinated, awake and ready to thump some pieces around. I’m garbage at blitz but I enjoy it from time to time, so I was ready for some battles.
Now for the fun stuff.
The place was so packed that the pairing sheets were hard to get near enough to see. I finally muscled my way close enough to read one of them for the second-round pairings, but it was upside down on a table. I managed my way to the playing tables, set up my board, pieces, and clock, and waited for the TD to announce game start. I noticed that the poor girl adjacent to me had no opponent; it was late, so I figured he or she may have just taken off.
Finally, we could start. My opponent and I were well out of the opening and trying to figure out middle game plans when the TD showed up behind me and asked if I was Derek Odom. I answered yes, and he pointed at the opponent-less girl and said that I was supposed to be playing her. So, I thought, *that’s* why she was sitting alone! *I* was her opponent! I apologized and moved over, played my staple 1. Nf3 and the game was afoot. I won the first one and lost the second on time – she was pretty good!
It was something like 3 A.M. when a large crowd gathered around a certain game. Pieces were banging loudly and the clock was clearly being abused. Two IMs were in extreme time trouble and trying desperately to flag each other without getting mated in the process. One of their bishops got knocked over when it was moved, and was actually laying on its side, off the chess mat.
Thinking he was being nice, the other IM picked the bishop up and placed it back on the board. The other IM informed him, loudly, that the bishop wasn’t on that square. Yes it was, said the other. They went on like this for a few seconds before the first IM picked the bishop up and threw it at his opponent. Luckily, the TD was right there and so no fistfight ensued. I couldn’t help but think of the story where Alekhine threw his king at his opponent after losing. Chess players definitely get weird about their games, sometimes.
Near the 4 A.M. mark, there was another noisy dispute, this time between much lower rated players. I lost my final game on time and quickly got up to see what the commotion was. Apparently, there was a brand new player in the event who was not aware that an upside-down rook was a queen, and he neglected to move out of check. He hit the clock, and the dispute was on.
The TD explained to him that he was to continue from the position where he was checked, and the player refused; he wanted to continue from the position *before* the check. The TD insisted, and the player got a little louder. The TD informed him that if he said another word the game would be a loss, and the player said another few words.
“Fine, you forfeit this game, then!” yelled the TD.
After another couple of loud exchanges, the TD told the player that if he kept it up, he’d forfeit the next game, as well (it was his first game of two with that opponent). The guy told the TD no, it wouldn’t be, and the TD announced a double-loss. By then the crowd was so big around them that I don’t know what happened in the end, but it probably wasn’t good for the unrated player. I have to agree with the TD on this one: it’s up to registrants to know the rules if they enter a competition. I believe the TD did nothing wrong. Also, he was an older gentleman and it was four in the morning; I’m convinced he was in no mood for tom-foolery.
The girlfriend and I didn’t wait around to see who won. I believe the last round was scheduled for 1:15 in the morning or so, and the event didn’t end until 4:00; who knows how long it took to decide the winners of each category and cut the checks? We ended up giving a ride to a really nice guy I met at the tournament (we used to work together online) and then heading back to our hotel. I had a quick snack and laid down, dreading the alarm I would hear five short hours later. We live four hours from Las Vegas, which turns into six hours with holiday traffic.
I had a wonderful time, though, in spite of the abuse I put my poor body through. You can bet your bishops I’ll be back next year. Heck, I may even play. Having the freedom to move about and keep an eye on the GM games is really neat, though; maybe I’ll just cover the event and lose the blitz tourney once more.
Until next year, kind readers. :)
You can see the final standings for the Open Section here: http://chesstournamentservices.com/cca/2011/12/north-american-open-2011-standings-open-section/
Was there excitement during the last round? Only over the board excitement, really; it’s hard to find a boring GM or IM game to watch, especially when there’s this much money at stake. There was a lot of fighting chess, and several games were very thrilling. So, when did the good stuff happen? The good stuff came about when the blitz tournament commenced. It was really something, let me tell you.
In between the main event and the blitz tournament, GMs could be seen downstairs at the Nosh restaurant and generally wandering around, talking to each other. How many times a year does one get to see that? Needless to say, it was super cool.
I registered early for the blitz tournament because I know how long the line gets about 30 minutes beforehand. I figured if I was going to throw away $40, I might as well do it comfortably, right? That allowed me time to snack on a donut and a Mountain Dew while I watched the other participants registering. I met quite a few people while I waited, and everyone I talked to was really, really nice. The chess community, as a whole, is a very friendly bunch.
Okay, let’s get to the blitz tournament.
In the first round, I was paired with a guy who beat me badly twice in a row (we were playing two games with each opponent, 5 rounds) with a beer in his hand. I forgot to check his rating but trust me, he didn’t play like an Under 1900. People were complaining after a few rounds that a 2180 and a 2400 had somehow made it into the U1900 category. I’d be real curious to see if my first opponent wasn’t one of these entries, because I was playing a strong game, I had a clear advantage out of each opening, and this cat found mating nets out of nowhere. The rest of my games were so-so, and that’s to be expected for after-midnight blitz.
At first, we were upstairs from the main tourney hall in a small room, boards all set up and ready to go. Each year the event is held in that room, but this year there were too many players for it to hold. So, we were all herded back downstairs to Pacific Ballroom where the main event was held each day. I never got an official count, but if I were to estimate, I’d say 150 entries would be in the ballpark.
Once we finally got settled and playing, it was much later than originally scheduled. I was fortunate enough not to have played in the main event or I would have been brutally tired. As it was, I was full, caffeinated, awake and ready to thump some pieces around. I’m garbage at blitz but I enjoy it from time to time, so I was ready for some battles.
Now for the fun stuff.
The place was so packed that the pairing sheets were hard to get near enough to see. I finally muscled my way close enough to read one of them for the second-round pairings, but it was upside down on a table. I managed my way to the playing tables, set up my board, pieces, and clock, and waited for the TD to announce game start. I noticed that the poor girl adjacent to me had no opponent; it was late, so I figured he or she may have just taken off.
Finally, we could start. My opponent and I were well out of the opening and trying to figure out middle game plans when the TD showed up behind me and asked if I was Derek Odom. I answered yes, and he pointed at the opponent-less girl and said that I was supposed to be playing her. So, I thought, *that’s* why she was sitting alone! *I* was her opponent! I apologized and moved over, played my staple 1. Nf3 and the game was afoot. I won the first one and lost the second on time – she was pretty good!
It was something like 3 A.M. when a large crowd gathered around a certain game. Pieces were banging loudly and the clock was clearly being abused. Two IMs were in extreme time trouble and trying desperately to flag each other without getting mated in the process. One of their bishops got knocked over when it was moved, and was actually laying on its side, off the chess mat.
Thinking he was being nice, the other IM picked the bishop up and placed it back on the board. The other IM informed him, loudly, that the bishop wasn’t on that square. Yes it was, said the other. They went on like this for a few seconds before the first IM picked the bishop up and threw it at his opponent. Luckily, the TD was right there and so no fistfight ensued. I couldn’t help but think of the story where Alekhine threw his king at his opponent after losing. Chess players definitely get weird about their games, sometimes.
Near the 4 A.M. mark, there was another noisy dispute, this time between much lower rated players. I lost my final game on time and quickly got up to see what the commotion was. Apparently, there was a brand new player in the event who was not aware that an upside-down rook was a queen, and he neglected to move out of check. He hit the clock, and the dispute was on.
The TD explained to him that he was to continue from the position where he was checked, and the player refused; he wanted to continue from the position *before* the check. The TD insisted, and the player got a little louder. The TD informed him that if he said another word the game would be a loss, and the player said another few words.
“Fine, you forfeit this game, then!” yelled the TD.
After another couple of loud exchanges, the TD told the player that if he kept it up, he’d forfeit the next game, as well (it was his first game of two with that opponent). The guy told the TD no, it wouldn’t be, and the TD announced a double-loss. By then the crowd was so big around them that I don’t know what happened in the end, but it probably wasn’t good for the unrated player. I have to agree with the TD on this one: it’s up to registrants to know the rules if they enter a competition. I believe the TD did nothing wrong. Also, he was an older gentleman and it was four in the morning; I’m convinced he was in no mood for tom-foolery.
The girlfriend and I didn’t wait around to see who won. I believe the last round was scheduled for 1:15 in the morning or so, and the event didn’t end until 4:00; who knows how long it took to decide the winners of each category and cut the checks? We ended up giving a ride to a really nice guy I met at the tournament (we used to work together online) and then heading back to our hotel. I had a quick snack and laid down, dreading the alarm I would hear five short hours later. We live four hours from Las Vegas, which turns into six hours with holiday traffic.
I had a wonderful time, though, in spite of the abuse I put my poor body through. You can bet your bishops I’ll be back next year. Heck, I may even play. Having the freedom to move about and keep an eye on the GM games is really neat, though; maybe I’ll just cover the event and lose the blitz tourney once more.
Until next year, kind readers. :)
Thursday, December 29, 2011
NAO 2011 Report Two - Dec 29th
Well, folks, Day Three ended as exciting as anything chess-related can end. Before I get into that, though, allow me to try and convey how it feels to be in the playing hall at any given moment.
A chess tournament of this size is quite possibly one of the only events in the world where a couple thousand people can be in the same room and yet the only sounds are the occasional cough, and clothes reporting as people walk. One doesn’t realize how much noise clothes make when we move until one is in a setting like that; it’s really intriguing. It made me realize why Ninja wear tight suits.
I noticed this year that there are very, very few analog clocks being used. Just about everyone has moved on to digital. While that is kind of sad in a way, it’s also a sign of the times; digital clocks are far more accurate and they allow for multiple time controls and increments, so they are hard to argue with. Most of the clocks here are either the Chronos variety (touch-sensitive, mostly – push-buttons have all but gone the way of the dodo) or the blue Saitek plastic jobs. Both are very nice.
Okay, on to the good stuff.
So, I’m sitting and watching a game in which two 1940s USCF players are battling it out in an endgame. One player was a male, and had a lot more time on his clock than his female opponent, who had an easily won game. Making sense? I am not very caffeinated yet this morning.
Anyhow, it was king and pawn vs. queen and king – it’s not hard to win that, but it’s technical, and the lady’s opponent was giving her every bit of grief he possibly could. Stalemate threats were all over the place, so she had to be careful with each and every move. She was making a few inaccuracies due to being low on time, but she was generally doing well. Suddenly her cell phone, which was in her handbag on the table, began ringing very loudly. At first I thought it was me, but I’m very careful about muting mine.
She finally got her hands on it and it stopped going off, but it was far too late. The TD came over and announced that she would suffer a ten-minute loss because of the offense.
He picked the clock up, messed with it a bit, placed it back on the table and said, “You now have four minutes instead of fourteen. Good luck.” It was ruthless but again, big props to Continental Chess for sticking to their guns and enforcing the rules. Needless to say, she wasn’t happy but she kept going, neglecting to continue writing moves down due to being very low on time.
Ten minutes later, her phone went off again. None of us could believe it.
She pointed at her purse and continued to look for the correct move on the board because she had almost no time left. I reached in, pulled the offending phone out, and desperately searched for the button that would shut it up. I didn’t find it and after she made her move and hit the clock, she took it from me and fuddled with it. The problem was, she didn’t know how to shut it off, either. Uh-oh.
While this was going on, two IMs were battling in an extremely technical endgame, and they were both terribly low on time. That made for a bad combination, as it’s never a good idea to disturb an IM in any portion of the game, but especially when low on time.
The TD came back over and announced that the second offense was an automatic loss, and stopped the clock. The girl was very upset, and began pleading with him, loudly. One IM stood up and yelled for everyone to go outside. The voices quieted, but not by much. It’s tough to find chess-drama but when you do, it’s highly entertaining.
That’s when something weird and very touching happened.
The female said to her opponent that since she was in such an easily won position, they should have forced a draw instead of a loss – it just wasn’t fair. Her opponent, who had just won the game by forfeit and had the full point, told her he’d take a draw, but he wasn’t sure the TDs would allow it. She brought one over, they discussed it, and the game was drawn. That was definitely one of the coolest, most selfless maneuvers I have seen in a long time.
Once that debate was settled, I went to watch the IMs play, which was the only game still going on. These IMs are very, very young; one of them doesn’t look a day over sixteen and the other maybe eighteen. One IM is just under the 2500 Elo mark, the other just above. These are not patzers. I took a gander at the position and decided that I had no clue how I would proceed, and these poor guys each had less than six minutes on their clocks in which to do so. Oh, boy. I snapped a few silent pictures off as they struggled, which I think turned out real, real good.
Strong move after strong move was made, and a ton of rook checks and double-exclam pawn pushes, all very quickly. I hate to use the term, but this was pure chess porn. I’m a total nerd, and so I’m literally getting chills writing about it and revisiting the moment in my head.
Finally, the lower-rated IM made a fatal mistake and dropped one of his pawns. He had another pawn that would be captured easily and with mate to follow, so he stopped the clock and offered his hand, which his opponent gladly shook. They did a little post-game rehash and got up to wander back to their rooms. It was 12:30 in the morning and the huge ballroom was almost completely empty. There’s nothing like watching a hard-fought game. It really was awesome.
I snapped a picture of the chess clock just before they shut it down: the losing player had 4 seconds left, the winner 7.
That’s chess, ladies and gentlemen, at the highest and most brutal level.
A chess tournament of this size is quite possibly one of the only events in the world where a couple thousand people can be in the same room and yet the only sounds are the occasional cough, and clothes reporting as people walk. One doesn’t realize how much noise clothes make when we move until one is in a setting like that; it’s really intriguing. It made me realize why Ninja wear tight suits.
I noticed this year that there are very, very few analog clocks being used. Just about everyone has moved on to digital. While that is kind of sad in a way, it’s also a sign of the times; digital clocks are far more accurate and they allow for multiple time controls and increments, so they are hard to argue with. Most of the clocks here are either the Chronos variety (touch-sensitive, mostly – push-buttons have all but gone the way of the dodo) or the blue Saitek plastic jobs. Both are very nice.
Okay, on to the good stuff.
So, I’m sitting and watching a game in which two 1940s USCF players are battling it out in an endgame. One player was a male, and had a lot more time on his clock than his female opponent, who had an easily won game. Making sense? I am not very caffeinated yet this morning.
Anyhow, it was king and pawn vs. queen and king – it’s not hard to win that, but it’s technical, and the lady’s opponent was giving her every bit of grief he possibly could. Stalemate threats were all over the place, so she had to be careful with each and every move. She was making a few inaccuracies due to being low on time, but she was generally doing well. Suddenly her cell phone, which was in her handbag on the table, began ringing very loudly. At first I thought it was me, but I’m very careful about muting mine.
She finally got her hands on it and it stopped going off, but it was far too late. The TD came over and announced that she would suffer a ten-minute loss because of the offense.
He picked the clock up, messed with it a bit, placed it back on the table and said, “You now have four minutes instead of fourteen. Good luck.” It was ruthless but again, big props to Continental Chess for sticking to their guns and enforcing the rules. Needless to say, she wasn’t happy but she kept going, neglecting to continue writing moves down due to being very low on time.
Ten minutes later, her phone went off again. None of us could believe it.
She pointed at her purse and continued to look for the correct move on the board because she had almost no time left. I reached in, pulled the offending phone out, and desperately searched for the button that would shut it up. I didn’t find it and after she made her move and hit the clock, she took it from me and fuddled with it. The problem was, she didn’t know how to shut it off, either. Uh-oh.
While this was going on, two IMs were battling in an extremely technical endgame, and they were both terribly low on time. That made for a bad combination, as it’s never a good idea to disturb an IM in any portion of the game, but especially when low on time.
The TD came back over and announced that the second offense was an automatic loss, and stopped the clock. The girl was very upset, and began pleading with him, loudly. One IM stood up and yelled for everyone to go outside. The voices quieted, but not by much. It’s tough to find chess-drama but when you do, it’s highly entertaining.
That’s when something weird and very touching happened.
The female said to her opponent that since she was in such an easily won position, they should have forced a draw instead of a loss – it just wasn’t fair. Her opponent, who had just won the game by forfeit and had the full point, told her he’d take a draw, but he wasn’t sure the TDs would allow it. She brought one over, they discussed it, and the game was drawn. That was definitely one of the coolest, most selfless maneuvers I have seen in a long time.
Once that debate was settled, I went to watch the IMs play, which was the only game still going on. These IMs are very, very young; one of them doesn’t look a day over sixteen and the other maybe eighteen. One IM is just under the 2500 Elo mark, the other just above. These are not patzers. I took a gander at the position and decided that I had no clue how I would proceed, and these poor guys each had less than six minutes on their clocks in which to do so. Oh, boy. I snapped a few silent pictures off as they struggled, which I think turned out real, real good.
Strong move after strong move was made, and a ton of rook checks and double-exclam pawn pushes, all very quickly. I hate to use the term, but this was pure chess porn. I’m a total nerd, and so I’m literally getting chills writing about it and revisiting the moment in my head.
Finally, the lower-rated IM made a fatal mistake and dropped one of his pawns. He had another pawn that would be captured easily and with mate to follow, so he stopped the clock and offered his hand, which his opponent gladly shook. They did a little post-game rehash and got up to wander back to their rooms. It was 12:30 in the morning and the huge ballroom was almost completely empty. There’s nothing like watching a hard-fought game. It really was awesome.
I snapped a picture of the chess clock just before they shut it down: the losing player had 4 seconds left, the winner 7.
That’s chess, ladies and gentlemen, at the highest and most brutal level.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
2011 NAO Report One - Dec 28th
Well, I’m here in Vegas at the NAO (North American Open), held at Bally’s hotel and casino. Is there action? You bet. I have been standing for twelve or more hours each day, bouncing around from strong game to strong game, trying to guess the moves, smiling at people, and wishing I were playing. There aren’t as many well-known players as there was last year, it seems, but there are definitely some powerhouses in attendance.
GM Francisco Vallejo Pons (his friends call him Paco) is batting his opponents around like they aren’t there. I really enjoy watching him because not only are his games extremely strong (he is listed on the tourney roster as 2778 Elo – not a fish), but he dresses the part, too, always looking well-groomed and wearing a suit. There is something I have always enjoyed about titled players wearing suits to play chess; it gives the impression that they respect the game, they care about appearance, and they honor the masters of old, who always wore suits to professional tournaments.
He is tied with GM Ivan Sokolov, both at 3.0 points out of three rounds. When they meet and push wood, it’s going to be a fabulous game. As I type, GM Pons is in a *very* interesting position with GM Ivan Sokolov on the white side of a Reti turned QGD. I’m no GM, of course, but it’s very hard to say how this one will turn out. Pons is super strong, though, and it seems his specialty is coming up with last-minute knockouts. He’s seriously good, and a blast to watch.
The air in the tournament hall is nothing short of electric. Other than the occasional cough or throat-clearing, it’s silent as the tomb. Yes, the occasional idiot’s cell phone goes off loudly, but the directors are extremely vigilant about chasing them out. I’m thoroughly impressed with how well such a big tournament is being run. So far, I have witnessed zero issues. Kudos to Continental Chess and Randy Hough. Major kudos, in fact.
Other strong folks in attendance are GM Var Akobian, GM Josh Friedel, GM Alexander Shabalov, WIM Iryna Zenyuk, and IM Adam Hunt, just to name a few. Needless to say, it’s awe-inspiring being in the same room with these people. At least, it is for me; when a 2778 passes me in the hallway, it may as well be Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt for everyone else. My eyes go wide, I get a chill or two, and I wonder how their mind works, and what’s wrong with mine that I suck so hard at the same game in which they excel.
Anyhow, I slept in a little (a lot) this morning because I burned the midnight oil (the 4 A.M. oil, as it were), so I’m off to the tourney now. I’ll get there in time to see the conclusion of the first round and to grab a snack before getting back to being a professional gawker. Life, as they say, is good.
GM Francisco Vallejo Pons (his friends call him Paco) is batting his opponents around like they aren’t there. I really enjoy watching him because not only are his games extremely strong (he is listed on the tourney roster as 2778 Elo – not a fish), but he dresses the part, too, always looking well-groomed and wearing a suit. There is something I have always enjoyed about titled players wearing suits to play chess; it gives the impression that they respect the game, they care about appearance, and they honor the masters of old, who always wore suits to professional tournaments.
He is tied with GM Ivan Sokolov, both at 3.0 points out of three rounds. When they meet and push wood, it’s going to be a fabulous game. As I type, GM Pons is in a *very* interesting position with GM Ivan Sokolov on the white side of a Reti turned QGD. I’m no GM, of course, but it’s very hard to say how this one will turn out. Pons is super strong, though, and it seems his specialty is coming up with last-minute knockouts. He’s seriously good, and a blast to watch.
The air in the tournament hall is nothing short of electric. Other than the occasional cough or throat-clearing, it’s silent as the tomb. Yes, the occasional idiot’s cell phone goes off loudly, but the directors are extremely vigilant about chasing them out. I’m thoroughly impressed with how well such a big tournament is being run. So far, I have witnessed zero issues. Kudos to Continental Chess and Randy Hough. Major kudos, in fact.
Other strong folks in attendance are GM Var Akobian, GM Josh Friedel, GM Alexander Shabalov, WIM Iryna Zenyuk, and IM Adam Hunt, just to name a few. Needless to say, it’s awe-inspiring being in the same room with these people. At least, it is for me; when a 2778 passes me in the hallway, it may as well be Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt for everyone else. My eyes go wide, I get a chill or two, and I wonder how their mind works, and what’s wrong with mine that I suck so hard at the same game in which they excel.
Anyhow, I slept in a little (a lot) this morning because I burned the midnight oil (the 4 A.M. oil, as it were), so I’m off to the tourney now. I’ll get there in time to see the conclusion of the first round and to grab a snack before getting back to being a professional gawker. Life, as they say, is good.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)