Shredder living up to its name in Argentina

7/31/2003 – The ChessBase program by Stefan Meyer-Kahlen is maintaining a torrid pace in the VI Magistral de la Republica Argentina. It's score of 6/7 puts it 1.5 points over its closest challenger, who has a game in hand. In round six Shredder beat Valerga, who had drawn with Tiger and Hiarcs in previous editions of this intriguing Men vs Machine event. Report, games, photos

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VI Magistral de la Republica Argentina

Shredder is winning games in every which way in Vicente Lopez, Argentina. In round six it won a nice good knight vs. bad bishop endgame against someone who had given the computers plenty of trouble in recent years. Diego Valerga drew against Hiarcs last year and against Tiger in 2001 but he couldn't hold on here. Shredder hunted down a pawn and after trades it announced a tablebase mate in 30.

In yesterday's round seven against the machine Enrique Scarella tried to play quietly with the white pieces and close the position. Shredder wasn't having any of it, however. The program castled long, pushed its h-pawn down the board, and won with a mating attack in 28 moves with black to extend its lead.

According to chess ratings maven Jeff Sonas, this result is no surprise: "My current estimate of Shredder's strength is 2755, so it's doing about what you would expect in the GM section of the VI Magistral de la Republica. Based on the ratings, it should score about 87%, which would either be +7 or +8 in the 10-round event." We point out that Shredder is also leading the computer rating lists. More on Shredder.

GM Sergio Slipak is the only player with a realistic chance of catching the program. He has won his last two games to keep pace. Slipak has a game in hand and has not played Shredder yet. A win over the computer would be a big step for him on the crosstable, if not a giant leap for mankind.

In the B tournament Shredder was held to a draw by young Raul Claverie of the Argentine resort town Pinamar in round six and has 5.5/7 with no losses. IM Jorge Rosito, with 4/6, is the only player in range of the program.