Lubomir Kavalek

International Chess Grandmaster

The Huffington Post, 06/ 6/11

The New in Chess-Huffington Post Chess Puzzle Contest

Today's contest is done in cooperation with New In Chess. It consists of three parts: a trivia question, a chess study and a chess problem. Try to solve all three puzzles and you may win one-year subscription to the excellent New In Chess magazine.

There is also a bonus puzzle that may improve your chances of being among the three winners. You will have until June 21 to e-mail your solution to:
nic.huffpost@newinchess.com

We will publish the correct solutions and the winners after June 25.

TRIVIA

He predicted the opponent and the outcome with these words: "It will by Short and it will be short." He also likes the movies Casablanca, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Godfather. Who is this grandmaster?

STUDY

White plays and wins

PROBLEM

White plays and mates in three moves

BONUS PUZZLE

White plays and can force a win. Can you find how?

New In Chess is the premier chess magazine in the world. Subscribers in 97 countries receive 8 issues a year with more than 850 pages of chess delight: on-site tournament reports from all over the world, annotations by top grandmasters such as the world champion Vishy Anand, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura (and dozens of others), in-depth interviews, opening surprises, personal essays, full color pictures, honest book and dvd reviews, juicy gossip and Garry Kasparov's exclusive column.

Lubomir Kavalek

International Chess Grandmaster

The Huffington Post, 05/25/11

It's Anand vs. Gelfand for the World Chess Crown

Boris Gelfand of Israel won the Final FIDE Candidates Match, defeating GM Alexander Grischuk of Russia 3.5 to 2.5 in Kazan, Russia, on Wednesday. It is a culmination of his successful chess career. With the victory, he earned the right to challenge the world champion Vishy Anand of India for the world title next year.

At 42, Gelfand was the oldest participant in the Candidates matches, but he showed a steady hand and good nerves in difficult positions and prevailed against the American GM Gata Kamsky and Grischuk. His match against Anand, 41, could be interesting. Both players have vast opening knowledge, strive for initiative, can defend well and love to play dynamic chess. It could be the last time players over forty play for the championship. The young players such as Magnus Carlsen of Norway or the American Hikaru Nakamura are knocking on the door. Nakamura defeated the former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine in an exhibition match in St. Louis. He won the classical match 3.5 to 2.5 and prevailed in the rapid match as well.

Gelfand's match victory came in the sixth game in the Grunfeld Fianchetto. We covered this facinating opening in January. Gelfand stuck with a long-term positional strategy of slowly unleashing his central pawns. Grischuk threw most of his pieces against the white king. Gelfand blunted the attack and his powerful positional pressure decided the game.

Gelfand - Grischuk
Final Candidates Match, sixth game
Kazan, Russia 2011

Fianchetto Grunfeld

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.e3 0-0 (This dynamic line in the Fianchetto Grunfeld, with the black pieces combating white's pawn center, attracted many top grandmasters, including Garry Kasparov.) 9.0-0 Re8 (A high-class waiting move postpones the advance e7-e5, taking advantage of white's inability to develop the queenside smoothly. It has been in the repertoire of the top Czechoslovakian players for several decades and it could be called the Czech variation of the Grunfeld defense.)

10.Re1 (The main point of black's idea is 10.b3 e5 11.d5 e4! quickly turning the tables.) 10...a5 (The former world champion Vassily Smyslov used this plan in similar positions. Black runs his pawn to a4, moves his rook to a5 and controls the center vertically as Grischuk is about to do.) 11.Qe2 (Reshuffling his heavy pieces and planning 12.Re1-d1.) 11...Bg4 (The idea is to provoke h2-h3. The immediate 11...Be6 has been played more frequently.) 12.h3 Be6 13.b3 (Denying black the square c4.) 13...a4 (So far so good, but Gelfand plays a new idea on his next move.)

14.Rb1!? (Gelfand gives away the a-file and the square b4, but keeps the tension. He is following a long-term strategy to put his central pawns into motion.) 14...axb3 15.axb3 Qc8 (Hitting the square b4 with 15...Nb4 16.Rd1 [Or16.Bd2 c6.] 16...c6 17.e4 h6 is another way to hold the center.) 16.Kh2 (After16.Ng5 comes 16...Bd7.) 16...Ra5 17.Rd1 Rh5 (Grischuk throws as many pieces as possible against the white king, but Gelfand remains calm.) 18.Nh4 (Gelfand had to play this move. After 18.h4 Bg4 black is ready to strike with e7-e5.) 18...Bf6 19.f4 Rd8 (Sacrificing the exchange 19...Bxh4 20.gxh4 Rxh4 21.Kg3 Rxh3+ [21...Rh5 22.d5+-] 22.Bxh3 Bxh3 does not work. White simply plays 23.d5 with advantage.) 20.Qf2 Bxh4? (Strategically doubtful, but Grischuk has an amazing defensive idea in mind: he wants to sacrifice the exchange and take over the light squares. But he should have kept the dark bishop and retreat with his rook to the queenside: 20...Ra5 21.Nf3 Nd5 with a playable game. Another version of the positional sacrifice is 20...Nd5 21.Nxd5 Rdxd5 [21...Bxd5 is met by 22.e4] 22.Bxd5?! Bxd5.) 21.gxh4 Nd5 22.Nxd5 Rhxd5!?

23.Bb2! (Gelfand ignores the sacrifice and is ready to squeeze black by marching the central pawns.) 23...Rb5 24.Qe2 (Chasing the unstable rook.) 24...Rh5 (The rook has to stay on the fifth rank. For example, after 24...Rxb3 25.d5 white wins a piece.) 25.e4! (The pawns are beginning to roll. Black may soon regret the exchange of his dark bishop.) 25...Bxb3 26.Rdc1 Na5 (Black wants to protect his bishop, but his pieces are scattered. It was better to soften the blow with 26...e6 27.Bc3 Ba4.) 27.d5 b6 (After 27...Ba2 28.Ra1 Nb3 29.Rxa2 Nxc1 30.Bxc1 the bishop pair should prevail against the rook.) 28.Be5 c5 (After 28...Rd7 29.Qb5 Ba2 30.Rb2 f6 31.Qxb6 fxe5 32.Qxa5 wins.) 29.dxc6 f6

30.Ba1 (White could have included 30.c7! for example 30...Rd7 and now white wins either with 31.Rxb3 Nxb3 32.Qc4+ Kg7 33.Qxb3 fxe5 34.Qxb6 exf4 35.Qb8 ;or with 31.Qg4 fxe5 32.Qxd7! Qxd7 33.c8Q+.) 30...Rc5 (Trying to isolate the pawn on c6, but 30...b5 31.c7 Rd7 32.e5 Rxc7 33.Qxb5] 31.Rxc5 bxc5 32.Qb5

32...Qc7? (Grischuk misses his best chance: 32...Ba2 33.Rb2 Qc7 34.e5! [Not 34.Rxa2? Qxf4+ 35.Kg1 Rd1+ 36.Bf1 c4 and black wins.], although after 34...Be6 35.Qb6 Rc8 36.Qxc7 Rxc7 37.Rb7! white should win.) 33.Rxb3 Nxc6 (Black is a piece down now, but after 33...Nxb3 34.Qxb3+ Kf8 35.e5 white should win anyway.) 34.e5 Nd4 35.Qc4+ Black resigned.

Note that in the replay windows below you can click either on the arrows under the diagram or on the notation to follow the game.

Lubomir Kavalek

International Chess Grandmaster

The Huffington Post, 05/19/11

How to Cook in Chess

Actually, "to cook" in chess has nothing to do with culinary pleasures. It is a dreaded word chess composers don't want to hear. A chess composition is cooked when there is a different solution unintended by the composer -- a dual solution. But a composition can be also cooked when someone creates a sound problem or study from an unsound work and eliminates the dual solution. You can also have it both ways as our story shows.

Last year we published a chess study composed by Ladislav Prokes and Oldrich Duras, but as pointed out by Prof. Noam Elkies, the study was "cooked." Recently, we learned that a Slovakian player, Ivan Novak, discovered the same dual solution already in 2008. Both Elkies and Novak composed new sound versions of Prokes's study, removing the black pawns and eliminating the original solution. But prof. Elkies took it further: he resurrected Prokes's solution, kept all pawns on the board and just moved the white king one square. His elegant creation is published here for the first time.

Here is the original Prokes/Duras version. The white queen chases the black king counter clockwise around the board and creates a mating net with a quiet pawn move. But there is a problem....

Ladislav Prokes, Oldrich Duras Casopis cs. sachistu 1921

White wins

1.f4+ Kg4 2.Qg3+ Kf5 White uses the mill to get rid of the pawn on e5. 3.Qg5+ Ke4 4.Qxe5+ Kf3 5.Qe3+ Kg4 6.Qg3+ Kf5 Without the black pawn on e5, white has time for a quiet move, threatening mate. 7.f3! (However, both Ivo Novak and Noam Elkies discovered a dual solution: 7.Qxd3+ Kf6 8.Qc3+ Kf5 9.Qe5+ Kg4 10.Qg5+ Kf3 11.Qg2+ Kxf4 12.Qg3+ Ke4 13.Qe3+ Kxd5 [13...Kf5 14.Qf3+ wins.] 14.Qb3+ wins.) 7...Qxd5 (7...Qf6 8.Qg4 mate.) 8.Qg5+ Ke6 9.Qxg6 mate.

By moving the black pawn from d7 to h5 and removing the pawn on g7 from the original work, Elkies was able to swing the windmill in the opposite direction as well:

Noam D. Elkies
Huffington Post 2010

White wins

1.f4+ Kg4 2.Qg3+ Kf5 3.Qg5+ Ke4 4.Qxe5+ Kf3 5.Qe3+ Kg4 6.Qg3+ Kf5 7.Qxd3+! (Preparing to spin the windmill the other way.) 7...Kg4 (After 7...Kxf4 white wins the black queen either with 8.Qg3+ Ke4 9.Qe3+ Kxd5 10.Qb3+; or with 8.Qe3+ Kg4 9.Qg3+ Kf5 10.Qf3+. Trying to escape with 7...Kf6 8.Qc3+ transposes to the main line two moves early.) 8.Qg3+ Kf5 9.Qh3+! Ke4 (Again 9...Kf6 10.Qc3+ Kf5 [On 10...e5 11.Qxe5 mates.] 11.Qe5+ transposes to the main line.) 10.Qe3+ Kf5 (After 10...Kxd5 11.Qb3+ wins) 11.Qe5+ Kg4 12.Qg5+ Kf3 13.Qg2+! Kxf4 14.Qg3+ Ke4 (On 14...Kf5 15.Qf3+ wins.) 15.Qe3+ Kxd5 16.Qb3+ wins.

In 2008 in Bratislava, a former Slovakian champion, Ivan Novak, decided to solve a collection of 623 Prokes's studies. It was a formidable task because Novak could not use his sight. He is legally blind. When he came across the Prokes/Duras study, he solved it the same way as Noam Elkies did two years later. He didn't consider Prokes's 7.f3 and came up with 7.Qxd3+. To eliminate Prokes's version, Novak removed the black d-pawn and swang the windmill in two directions.
His idea was published in the Pravda newspaper.

Ivan Novak Pravda 2008

White wins

1.f4+ Kg4 2.Qg3+ Kf5 3.Qg5+ Ke4 4.Qxe5+ Kf3 5.Qe3+ Kg4 6.Qg3+ Kf5 7.Qxd3+! [The Prokes/Duras solution 7.f3? does not work because of 7...Qxd5 8.Qg5+ Ke6 9.Qxg6+ Kd7 and the black king escapes.] 7...Kf6 8.Qc3+ Kf5 9.Qe5+ Kg4 10.Qg5+ Kf3 11.Qg2+! Kxf4 12.Qg3+ Ke4 13.Qe3+ Kxd5 [13...Kf5 14.Qf3+ wins] 14.Qb3+ wins.

The Slovakian GM Jano Plachetka, who pointed out Novak's work, asked an interesting question: Is it possible to save Prokes's original solution?
Prof. Elkies had the answer before the question was asked. He did it simply and elegantly by moving the white king one square to the right, from f1 to g1, creating another Huffington Post original study.

Noam D. Elkies Huffington Post, 2011 White wins

1.f4+ Kg4 2.Qg3+ Kf5 3.Qg5+ Ke4 4.Qxe5+ Kf3 5.Qe3+ Kg4 6.Qg3+ Kf5 7.f3! (7.Qxd3+? doesn't work now because the black king escapes after a precise defense 7...Kf6! 8.Qc3+ Kf5 9.Qe5+ Kg4 10.Qg5+ Kf3 11.Qg2+ Ke2! and white can't win.) 7...Qxd5 8.Qg5+ Ke6 9.Qxg6 mate.

Note that in the replay windows below you can click either on the arrows under the diagram or on the notation to follow the game.

Lubomir Kavalek

International Chess Grandmaster

The Huffington Post, 05/11/11

Chess Champ Kamsky Marches On

The top-seated Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian was the heavy favorite to emerge as the winner of the 2011 FIDE Candidates matches in Kazan, Russia, and challenge Vishy Anand of India for the world chess title in 2012. According to the same scenario, Aronian's opponent in the Candidates Final was supposed to be the Bulgarian grandmaster Veselin Topalov. But both grandmasters are gone now, having lost the Candidates quarterfinal matches. Topalov was eliminated by the U.S. champion Gata Kamsky, Aronian lost to Alexander Grischuk of Russia.

The semifinals - Kamsky vs. Gelfand and Kramnik vs. Grischuk - resume Thursday and can be followed life on the FIDE web site or on Playchess.com.

Here is the quarterfinal wrap-up.

Alexander Grischuk - Levon Aronian 4.5 - 3.5

The match began in earnest with the rapid games after the first four regular games were drawn.
Grischuk won the match with an excellent victory in the last rapid game. He came into prominence during the 2000 FIDE knockout world championship in Delhi, qualifying for the semifinals where he lost to Alexei Shirov. In 2002, I talked to Grischuk after the Prague agreement was signed in the Czech capital. The agreement was a clumsy attempt to bring Garry Kasparov back to big chess and to unite the two world championship titles, but it left Vishy Anand and Grischuk out in the cold. "I don't mind," the 19-year-old Grischuk said. "I still have time, but I feel sorry about Vishy." Time heals all wounds. Anand, 41, is the world champion. Grischuk, 27, is going to meet the former world champion Vladimir Kramnik in the semifinal in Kazan. Could this be his year?

Vladimir Kramnik - Teimur Radjabov 7:5

For years, Radjabov tried to succeed in the elimination events by betting on the blitz games. The shorter the time limit, the better for him. It almost worked against Kramnik. After drawing four regular and four rapid games, Radjabov won the first blitz game. Kramnik needed a win in the next game and got only a small edge in the endgame when the game clock stopped working. When the game resumed, Radjabov's position collapsed quickly. Kramnik, who in his youth could match Garry Kasparov move by move in blitz games, clinched the victory in the match by triumphing in the last two games.

Boris Gelfand - Shakryiar Mamedyarov 2.5 - 1.5

Gelfand made his victory look easy by drawing three and winning one game, leaving his opponent without chances. The Israeli grandmaster knows the Najdorf Sicilian with the black pieces inside out and Mamedyarov played right into it in the only decisive game. Gelfand blunted white's attack with a thematic exchange sacrifice and grabbed many pawns, forcing the Azerbaijani GM to resign. Gelfand will meet Kamsky in the semifinals.

Gata Kamsky - Veselin Topalov 2.5 - 1.5

Despite winning the U.S. championship last month, Kamsky was not given much hope against Topalov. After all, the Bulgarian grandmaster beat him 4.5 - 2.5 in the World Chess Challenge in Sofia in 2009. For the match in Kazan, Topalov as white prepared a few novelties against the Grunfeld defense and twice gained some advantage from the opening. But Kamsky has always been a terrific fighter, not to be brought down easily. In the game he won, Kamsky played creatively and neutralized white's initiative rather quickly. Topalov's initiative stalled, he could not find a good plan and succumbed to Kamsky's fiery attack (see below). In the last game, Kamsky needed a draw to clinch the match. He was in the same situation at the U.S. championship. His opponent, Yuri Shulman, opened the game too early and Kamsky equalized handily and won the title. "He should have built up the game more slowly and put pressure on me," Kamsky advised. And it was precisely what Topalov did. In time trouble, Kamsky blundered and it seemed Topalov could win as he pleased. But he picked the wrong way and Kamsky found a way out.

Topalov (left) conceding the quarterfinal match to Kamsky.

Topalov - Kamsky
Game Two
World Championship Candidates - Quarterfinals, Kazan 2011

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 (White's move order was adopted by the world champions Alexander Alekhine, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik and many others who tried to make life of the Grunfeld defense players more difficult.) 3...d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Qb3 (In the last game of the match Topalov came up with 5.Qc2 Bg7 6.e4 Nb6 7.d4 0-0 8.Be3 Bg4 9.Ne5 Bxe5 10.dxe5 Nc6 11.h3 Be6 12.Rd1 Qc8 13.f4 Rd8 14.b3 Nb4 15.Rxd8+ Qxd8 16.Qb1 f5 17.exf6 exf6 18.Be2 Qe7 19.0-0 and with a bishop pair and the pawn control in the center white had a lasting advantage.
The most popular move 5.Qa4+ was played by Alekhine against Rellstab in Kemeri already in 1937. In the absence of the white pawn on d4, the queen can roam along the fourth rank. The game continued: 5...c6 6.Qd4 Nf6 7.Qxd8+ Kxd8 8.d4 b6 9.e4 and the strong pawn center gave white a clear advantage.)

5...Nb6 (Black's position after 5...Nxc3 6.Qxc3 Rg8 does not inspire confidence.) 6.d4 Bg7 7.Bf4 Be6 8.Qa3 (Since the great Ukrainian GM Vasily Ivanchuk played it twice, the queen move should not be dismissed. On the other hand, Ivanchuk is capable of making almost anything work. Still, the queen is out of play and may remain there.) 8...Nc6 (Developing and hitting the center is not a bad idea.)

9.0-0-0 (Topalov's novelty. White is threatening to win a piece with d4-d5. Both Ukrainian grandmasters, Eljanov and Ivanchuk, played 9.e3 against Kamsky and he was able to survive.)
9...Nd5!? (Blocking the dangerous d-pawn is the best choice. After 9...a6? 10.d5! White wins either after 10...Bxd5 11.e4 or after 10...Nxd5 11.Nxd5 Bxd5 12.e4. After 9...f5 10.e3 black's position is uncomfortable.) 10.Bg3 (Black has to deal with the king-pawn strike e2-e4 and Kamsky tackles the problem rather originally.) 10...Bh6+ (After 10...Bf5 comes 11.Qc5!) 11.e3 a5 12.h4 (White tries to take advantage of black's dark bishop by attacking along the h-file. Topalov could have renewed the threat of e3-e4 with 12.Kb1 and now 12...Ncb4!? 13.e4 c6 a tricky computer move, preventing 14.exd5? Bf5+ and black wins; another idea is 12...Bf5+ 13.Bd3 Nxc3+ 14.bxc3 [14.Qxc3 Qd5!] 14...Bxd3+ 15.Rxd3 0-0 16.Rhd1 with white's edge.)

12...Ncb4 (Sometimes it is a good idea to reflect into the past. The game Korchnoi-Spassky, Candidates match 1968, comes to mind. Spassky had a knight on b4, Korchnoi attacked it with a pawn (a3) and black "protected" it with a cool move a7-a5.

12... a5! 13.axb4 axb4 The piece sacrifice worked well and Spassky was soon winning. 14.Nb1 [After 14.Nce2 c5 15.Nh3 c4 16.Qe3 Nb6 black has a powerful attack. ] 14...c5! 15.g4 c4 16.Qe3 Ra2 17.h4 Qa5 18.Rh2 Ra1 19.Bd3 b3 20.Ne2 [Black gets back the piece a should win. Mikhail Tal recommended 20...cxd3 21.Qxd3 h5!] Spassky played 20...Bb4 and later misplayed the position and lost:
21.h5 0-0 22.hxg6 fxg6 23.Rdh1 cxd3 24.Qxd3 Qc7+ 25.Nec3 Nb6 26.Qxg6+ hxg6 27.Rh8+ Kf7 28.R1h7+ Ke8 29.Rxf8+ Kxf8 30.Rxc7 Nc4 31.Rxb7 Bxc3 32.bxc3 b2+ 33.Kc2 Ke8 34.Bg5 Ra6 35.Nd2 Bc8 36.Re7+ Kf8 37.Nxc4 dxc4 38.Kxb2 Rb6+ 39.Kc2 Bb7 40.Rxb7 Rxb7 41.f4 Rh7 42.Kb2 1-0

But Topalov is unable to attack the knight on b4 with a pawn, because his queen stands in the way.)

While Kamsky (in blue shirt) and Topalov think, the Russian commentators discuss the knight leap 13.Ng5.

13.h5 (Instead of marching forward, Topalov could have used the h-pawn to plug in his knight: 13.Ng5 Bg4 14.Rd2 f6 15.Nge4 with a playable game.) 13...c6 (Kamsky makes a solid choice. The computers are begging for 13...Nxe3 14.fxe3 Bxe3+ 15.Rd2 (15.Nd2 Qxd4) 15...0-0 with roughly equal chances.) 14.hxg6 hxg6 15.Rd2 (Topalov begins to lose the thread. He is defending against 15...Bxe3+, but the simple 15.Be2 ,connecting the rooks, was better.) 15...f6 16.Ne4 b6 (With the last two pawn moves, Kamsky protected important dark squares in his camp and assumed the command in the center.) 17.Be2

17...Qc8! (Black would have loved to open the c-file and this is the first step. It was also possible to connect the heavy pieces with 17...Kf7, for example 18.Rdd1 Nxa2+ 19.Qxa2 Nxe3 20.Qa3 Nxd1+ 21.Kxd1 with black's edge.) 18.Rh4 Kf7 (18...Bf5 19.Nc3 Qe6 20.Qb3 b5 was a good alternative.) 19.Rd1 g5 (Obviously, Kamsky has the break c6-c5 in mind, but he could have reshuffled his pieces decisively with 19...Bf5!, for example 20.Nfd2 [20.Bc4 g5+-] 20...Qe6 21.Rdh1 Bxe3 22.fxe3 Rxh4 23.Rxh4 g5 and black should win.) 20.Rh2 g4 (20...Nxa2+?! 21.Qxa2 Nc3 22.Qxe6+ Qxe6 23.Nxc3 does not look too great for black.) 21.Nfd2 c5! (Earlier, Kamsky could have played the combination Nxa2+/Qxa2 Nxe3, but opening the c-file has a devastating effect on the white king.)

22.dxc5 f5 23.Rxh6 (The exchange sacrifice is rather forced, but it does not save white. After 23.Rdh1 fxe4 24.Rxh6 Qxc5+ 25.Bc4 Rxh6 26.Rxh6 Nf6 27.Qc3 Bxc4 28.Qxc4+ Qxc4+ 29.Nxc4 Rc8 black wins.
And after 23.Nc3 Qxc5 24.Kb1 f4 white may not solve the problems along the b1-h7 diagonal.) 23...Rxh6 24.Ng5+ Kf8 25.Nxe6+ Qxe6 26.Bc4 Rc8! 27.Bf4 (After 27.Kb1 Rxc5 28.Qb3 b5 29.Bd3 Qc8 30.a3 Rhc6! black finishes the game triumphantly on the c-file.) 27...Rf6 28.e4 (The last attempt to confuse black, but Kamsky finds a pretty refutation.)

28...Rxc5! 29.exd5 Qxd5 (The queen sneaks in decisively.) 30.b3 (After 30.Qc3 Rxc4! black wins either after 31.Qxc4 Rc6; or after 31.Nxc4 Nxa2+ 32.Kc2 Qe4+ 33.Qd3 Nb4+ winning the queen. And after 30.Qb3 b5 wins.) 30...Qd4 31.Be3 (Black wins either after 31.Kb1 Qxf4; or after 31.Qb2 Nd3+.) 31...Qc3+ (After 32.Kb1 Qc2+ wins.) White resigned.

Note that in the replay windows below you can click either on the arrows under the diagram or on the notation to follow the game.

Images from the official site.

Encyclopedia of Chess Gambits (symbolic notation)

Encyclopedia of Chess Gambits

THE INTERNATIONAL EDITION IN SYMBOLIC NOTATION
700+ gambit lines with thousand of transpositions, 676 gambit lines really played

Collected games are as of December 31, 2010 (from a database of 4.4 M), there are 10,699 pdf pages when printed (A4 format).

On 8 June 2010: GM Lubomir KAVALEK called this opera "The monumental work..." on the newspaper The Huffington Post.

You can buy it here by donating 15 euros (PayPal or Credit Card):

As soon as we receive your payment, we will send to you the link to download the pdf (87 MB).
Preview (sample):
http://www.scribd.com/doc/57739065/Encyclopedia-of-Chess-Gambits-Sample


1560 - 2010: 450 anni di gambetti
(+ di 700 linee uniche di gambetto con migliaia di trasposizioni, 676 realmente giocati)
a cura di Marco Saba

Materiale aggiornato al 31 dicembre 2010

Il 28 giugno 2010 il GM Lubomir KAVALEK ha definito quest'opera "The monumental work..." sul quotidiano The Huffington Post.

Estratto dell'enciclopedia, con notazione simbolica: [scarica il draft in formato pdf,]

Potete comprarla qui donando 15 euro (PayPal o Carta di Credito):

Riceverete via email il link da cui scaricarla (circa 87 MB).

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RobboLito UCI Options: MPH (Move on Ponderhit) -> Never, Sometimes, Always ...if predicted move is played by opponent, make move default = 'Sometimes'...if move = EASY (i.e. when it's a no brainer!)

RobboLito is not a 'clone' of Rybka 3, as some may like you think...it's very different. please click here for a detailed comparision

note: there have been many RobboLito versions released which are not associated with the 'ChessLogik RobboLito' development effort, and have not been tested and released by myself (kranium). many of these versions are simply leaked betas, experimental tries, or rogue individual efforts. some have being incorrectly attributed to me. some work fine, but others may crash or have bugs and/or other issues. for informational purposes and clarity...all (non-kranium versions) that i'm aware of are listed here: RobboLito 0.084 RobboLito 0.085 RobboLito 0.085c RobboLito 0.085c1 RobboLito 0.085c2 RobboLito 0.085c3 RobboLito 0.085d RobboLito 0.085d1 RobboLito 0.085f RobboLito 0.085f1 RobboLito 0.085F1 RobboLito 0.085f1a RobboLito 0.085d3t RobboLito 0.085d8t RobboLito 0.085TA01 RobboLito 0.085TA02 RobboLito 0.085TA03 RobboLito 0.085et4 RobboLito 0.085g4 RobboLito 0.085g5 RobboLito 0.085gt3 RobboLito 0.085gt3B Tankist all versions for a complete list of official stable/tested Chesslogik versions, see the "detailed history/major changes" section below.

detailed history/major changes: RobboLito 0.085g3 bishop/knight evaluation fix ponder bug fixed time management changes BTF removed code cleanup code translation RobboLito 0.085e4 TM reduced to OTM OTF -> BTF (Blitz Time Factor) exponential scale-factor replaces less efficient blitz if/else clause from e1 RobboLito 0.085e3 MOPH 'sometimes' bug fix RobboLito 0.085e2 32-bit executable optimization SSE2 enabled, floating point model -> fast speed increase +10% default time management improved OTF default = 22 RobboLito 0.085e1 UCI Ponderhit Move -> Move on Ponderhit is now combo box: Never, Sometimes, Always Sometimes = default (if move is EASY, i.e. a recapture, etc.) no longer loses lightning/blitz no increment games RobboLito 0.085e 1st release of 'e' series, baseline version will be starting point for multiPV and SMP implementation enhanced time management is 'on' by default (this seems to be a more conservative/safer TM than OTM) RobboLito 0.085d12 OTM now 'really' true by default RobboLito 0.085d11 OTM default OTF default = 25 RobboLito 0.085d10 CPU load time now uses timeGetTime() upperbound/lowerbound info printing pondering improved UCI option for Move on Ponder Hit Move on Ponder Hit -> Ponderhit Move slight code re-organization RobboLito 0.085d9 NTM (Normal Time Management) -> OTM (Original Time Management) NTF (Normal Time Factor) -> OTF (Original Time Factor) default OTF changed from 30 -> 22 enhanced time management algorithm updated Igorovoich -> Igorovich copyright updated -> 92nd and 93rd year RobboLito 0.085d8 Ponder -> permanent brain PR Ponder Ratio added (default = 1.5) MOPH UCI option removed RobboLito 0.085d7 hanging 'mate' bug fixed UCI boolean vars NTM (Normal Time Management) NTF (Normal Time Factor) ETF/NTF default = 30 RobboLito 0.085d6 shredder gui compatibility cleanup, bugfix MOPH, ETM default = 'off ETF default = 25 RobboLito 0.085d5 ponderhit MOPH (Move on Ponderhit) ETM (Enhanced Time Management) ETF (Enhanced Time Factor) RobboLito 0.085d4 name changed from RobboLite to RobboLito, ponder implemented, time control improved source code cleanup and translation improvements date/time stamp added, robbo.txt removed, GPL added default hash = 128 Mb RobboLite 0.085d3 tournament time control fixed UCI id var/version constant combined, robbo.txt changed RobboLite 0.085d2 UCI info depth/timing changed, currmove delayed robbo.txt implemented, white/black minors revalued RobboLite 0.085c5 source code migrated to w32, cleanup, translation from Italo-Albanian to common chess programming terms, robbobase code removed

Motori di scacchi: è uscito Fire 1.5 xTreme !!!

Fire - don't get burned ...try it yourself, it's free!

Fire 1.5 xTreme Fire 1.5 xTreme x64 PP (4 optimized windows 64-bit executables and readme files, includes normal & PopCnt compiles for both Win7 & Win XP expertly compiled by Peterpan!) Fire 1.5 xTreme w32 NS (optimized windows 32-bit executable and readme files, compiled by NS) Fire 1.5 xTreme w32 no SSE2 NS (optimized windows 32-bit executable and readme files, for older systems that don't support SSE2 instruction set compiled by NS) Fire 1.5 xTreme source code (c++ source code)

If you appreciate Fire, please consider a contribution to the effort...

Fire logos by Dave Dahlem: others:

Fire 1.5 xTreme (for Windows) by Kranium is UCI only, extremely strong, fast, and stable rating: ~ 3300 ELO features: magic bitboards true SMP parallel search configurable pawn hash ponder searchmoves multiPV benchmark and drawboard utilities multi positional gain (for each CPU/core/thread) multi history (for each CPU/core/thread) robbobase support (up to 6 piece endings) 70+ UCI/fire.cfg options random configuration generation loadable historic piece values optional timestamped I/O log file and much more... major changes: 1.5 xTreme Triplebases (TBHit) fixed Historic Piece Values can now be changed 'on-the-fly Ahmed default piece values implemented: 100, 320, 335, 515, 1000 Top Min Depth min/max values inversion option Draw Weight added 5 TM options added: AbsoluteFactor BattleFactor EasyFactor EasyFactorPonder NormalFactor TM algorithms from 1.4 beta SMP up to 16 cores 1.4 xTreme beta 2 Historic Piece Value bug fixed Aspiration Window option added Min Trans Move Depth option added Positional Weight added Static Weight->PST Weight Time Management from Fire 1.32 some code cleanup 1.4 xTreme beta extreme user configurability: all system, search, eval, and material parameters available via an external config file or GUI UCI option dialog box support for 6-piece Robbobases ELO increase random fire.cfg generation 21 historic piece value sets 1.32 maintenance release fixes UCI and fire.cfg piece value change issue (thx to Matt Weaver for identifying this) knight = 320 bishop = 330 queen = 980 tr and col changed to rank and file for improved source code readability/consistency the above changes are mainly functional and likely do not affect overall strength (ELO) 1.31 maintenance release with Fire 1.2 and 1.3, Totalbases and Triplebases can be configured to autoload on engine startup only via the fire.cfg file, so i've added 2 new UCI options, and associated code, which enables configuration of 'autoloading of Robbobases' via UCI GUIs: Autoload Totalbases Autoload Triplebases id name and id author are now placed outside of 'if (CfgFound)' statement in static void uci() this was causing Fire 1.3 to not load in Fritz and CB Hash size wasn't being read properly if using fire.cfg this has now been fixed 1.3 new/faster bitboard LSB/MSB routines mutually exclusive fire.cfg/UCI GUI options phase-scaled piece values improved QSearch fix/improvement MaxThreads = 256 several new/improved eval routines phase multiplier fix code cleanup speed improvement MultiPV now automatically disabled in 'game' mode several small bugfixes UCI options added: Lazy Eval 1 Lazy Eval 2 UCI_EngineAbout AspirationWindow Split At CN Split At EN ANSplitDepth ENSplitDepth PVSplitDepth Contempt Material Weight Positional Weight UseRobboBases Low Depth PVs Time Info Verbose UCI UCI_EngineAbout UCI options removed: NMR Smooth Scaling Extra Info no ELO improvement announcement here... but i'm quite sure that 1.3 is better than 1.2 in this regard... please test yourself to determine engine strength! 1.2 SMP improvements/changes major RobboTripleBase bug fix support for new RobboTriple/Total Blocked (Z) bases added improved hash functions UCI options added: UCI_AnalyseMode, CPU Load Info, Current Move, Depth Info, Hash Full Info, TB Hits Info, Time Info UCI options removed: Analysis Mode, Extra Info, Multi History, Multi Positional Gain NMR Smooth Scaling renamed NMR Scaling (Null Move Reduction Scaling) 1.1 support for RobboTripleBases and RobboTotalBases added reads Fire.cfg parameters file on startup writes (optional) time-stamped I/O log file NMR Smooth Scaling now 'off' by default 1.01 (maintenance release) bug fix: major changes to SMP (to prevent occasional exception error/timeout) changes to NMR Smooth Scaling Null Move verification default = true verification reduction default = 7 GetNumberOfConsoleInputEvents ->_kbhit 1.0 several minor bugs fixed: no longer occasionally displays score of 0.01 no longer drops a thread after ~16 hours in analysis mode engine now initializes at 128 Mb hash movelists enlarged to accommodate really long games pawn hash set to 32 Mb by default improved time management new UCI options: Get FEN Analysis (Fritz) Mode Move on Ponderhit (Never, Sometimes, Always) NMR Smooth Scaling (Null Move Reduction Smooth Scaling) Pawn Value Knight Value Bishop Value Rook Value Queen Value Bishop Pair Value Null Move Verification Verification Reduction Move on Ponderhit Extra Info UCI options removed: MultiCentiPawnPV RandomCount RandomBits Enhanced Time Management CPU Load implemented ETM has been improved and is now used by default new and improved SMP routines MultiPV now works in 'game' mode as well as 'Analysis' mode Fire is based on IppoLit engines by Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, Igor Igorovich Igoronov, Roberto Pescatore, Yusuf Ralf Weisskopf, Ivan Skavinsky Skavar and all Decembrists for more info: http://ippolit.wikispaces.com this chess ship is a truly glorious achievement of the October Revolution and Decembrists movement!

UCI and Fire.cfg options: Hash, System, UCISpin, 1, 65536, 128, Pawn Hash, System, UCISpin, 1, 1024, 8, Max Threads, System, UCISpin, 1, MultiPV, System, UCISpin, 1, 250, 1, AN Split Depth, SMP, UCISpin, 10, 20, 10, CN Split Depth, SMP, UCISpin, 10, 20, 10, PV Split Depth, SMP, UCISpin, 10, 20, 10, Pawn, Eval, UCISpin, 50, 200, 100, Knight, Eval, UCISpin, 150, 500, 320, Bishop, Eval, UCISpin, 150, 500, 330, Rook, Eval, UCISpin, 300, 700, 500, Queen, Eval, UCISpin, 500, 1600, 980, Bishop Pair, Eval, UCISpin, 1, 150, 50, Piece Value Set, Eval, UCISpin, 0, 21, 00, Draw Weight, Eval, UCISpin, 50, 200, 100, King Safety Weight, Eval, UCISpin, 50, 200, 100, Material Weight, Eval, UCISpin, 50, 200, 100, Mobility Weight, Eval, UCISpin, 50, 200, 100, Pawn Weight, Eval, UCISpin, 50, 200, 100, Positional Weight, Eval, UCISpin, 50, 200, 100, PST Weight, Eval, UCISpin, 50, 200, 100, Lazy Eval Min, Search, UCISpin, 1, 300, 150, Lazy Eval Max, Search, UCISpin, 1, 600, 300, Aspiration Window, Search, UCISpin, 1, 100, 8, Delta Cutoff, Search, UCISpin, 20000, 30000, 25000, Depth Red Min, Search, UCISpin, 2, 24, 12, Height Multiplier, Search, UCISpin, 2, 128, 64, History Threshold, Search, UCISpin, 2, 100, 50, Min Depth Multiplier, Search, UCISpin, 2, 96, 48, Min Trans Move Depth, Search, UCISpin, 2, 32, 16, Null Reduction, Search, UCISpin, 1, 16, 8, Prune Pawn, Search, UCISpin, 1, 300, 150, Prune Minor, Search, UCISpin, 1, 1000, 500, Prune Rook, Search, UCISpin, 1, 1600, 800, Prune Check, Search, UCISpin, 1, 30, 10, QS Alpha Threshold, Search, UCISpin, 50, 400, 200, Search Depth Min, Search, UCISpin, 2, 40, 20, Search Depth Reduction, Search, UCISpin, 2, 12, 6, Top Min Depth, Search, UCISpin, 2, 28, 14, Undo Count Threshold, Search, UCISpin, 2, 30, 15, Value Cut, Search, UCISpin, 1000, 30000, 15000, Verify Null, Search, UCICheck, 0, 0, true, Verify Reduction, Search, UCISpin, 1, 16, 2, Split at CN, SMP, UCICheck, 0, 0, true, Ponder, Other, UCICheck, 0, 0, false, Time Easy Factor, "Time", UCISpin, 10, 100, 15, Time Easy Factor Ponder, "Time", UCISpin, 10, 100, 33, Time Battle Factor, "Time", UCISpin, 10, 500, 100, Time Normal Factor, "Time", UCISpin, 10, 500, 75, Time Absolute Factor, "Time", UCISpin, 10, 100, 25, CPU Load Info, Other, UCICheck, 0, 0, false, Current Move Info, Other, UCICheck, 0, 0, false, Depth Info, Other, UCICheck, 0, 0, false, Hash Full Info, Other, UCICheck, 0, 0, false, Low Depth PVs, Info, UCICheck, 0, 0, false, NPS Info, Other, UCICheck, 0, 0, false, TBHit Info, Info, UCICheck, 0, 0, false, Verbose UCI, Info, UCICheck, 0, 0, false, Extend In Check, Other, UCICheck, 0, 0, false, Write Log, Other, UCICheck, 0, 0, false, Use Robbobases, RobboBases, UCICheck, 0, 0, false, TripleBase Directory, RobboBases, UCIString, 0, 0, 0, Unload TripleBases, RobboBases, UCIButton, 0, 0, 0, TotalBase Directory, RobboBases, UCIString, 0, 0, 0, Deregister TotalBases, RobboBases, UCIButton, 0, 0, 0, TotalBase Cache, RobboBases, UCISpin, 1, 1024, 1, Dynamic TripleBase Cache, RobboBases, UCISpin, 1, 65536, 1, TripleBase Hash, RobboBases, UCISpin, 1, 4096, 1, Verbose RobboBases, RobboBases, UCICheck, 0, 0, false, Bulk Load Directory, RobboBases, UCIString, 0, 0, 0, Bulk Load Name, RobboBases, UCIString, 0, 0, 0, Bulk UnLoad Directory, RobboBases, UCIString, 0, 0, 0, Bulk UnLoad Name, RobboBases, UCIString, 0, 0, 0, Get FEN String, Other, UCIButton, 0, 0, 0,

About: my goal with Fire is to combine all the best ideas, features, and strengths from the IppoLit family of releases...IppoLit, RobboLito, Igorrit, and IvanHoe. in addition i have added all the best ideas that Sentinel and i came up with during the development of Robbolito 0.085g3. with enormous beta testing help from the Decembrists and Robbolito comrades, we posted more than a dozen public betas on Immortal223 during the last four months of 2009 (for details, please see the RobboLito page)