$16,000 Freestyle tournament begins on Friday

Third PAL/CSS Freestyle Tournament on June 16-18

The Third PAL/CSS Freestyle Chess Tournament on the Playchess server will take place in June and July 2006 (schedule details are given below), once again with the substantial prize fund of $16,000. This time the time controls for our Advanced Chess competition have been increased to 60 min. + 15 sec., in order to give the human component more opportunity for analysis. The organisers expect that the change will benefit the quality of the game.

In order to prepare potential participants for the Third Freestyle Tournament here is a report on the experiences made by a Grandmaster participant of the Second Tournament.

GM Tony Kosten and Hiarcs 10 in the Second Freestyle Tournament

How did British GM, Tony Kosten, come to be involved with Hiarcs10 in the 2nd. PAL/CCC Freestyle Internet Tournament? It started when Harvey Williamson, a reader of the British Computer Chess magazine Selective Search, asked GM Tony Kosten if he fancied having a go at the second PAL/CSS Freestyle Chess Tournament with a $16,000 prize fund. Harvey has been involved in the testing of the Hiarcs program for Mark Uniacke, and Tony decided to play with Hiarcs at his side. He joined 147 entrants from 30 different countries in the event. Later he filed a report for Selective Search. Here are some excepts:

In early March Harvey Williamson suggested I partner the new version 10 of the chess program Hiarcs by Mark Uniacke in the Internet 'Freestyle' tournament, and I found the idea intriguing, so happily accepted. Actually, I had first used Fritz as an analysis partner for my books and annotated games, but had switched to Hiarcs some years ago, since Mickey Adams recommended it to me because of its greater strategic understanding.

In Mark Uniacke's own words: "Hiarcs is rather unique in the computer chess world because it not only has tactical abilities but is also a capable positional player. One of the key features for chess players is that Hiarcs is able to learn from the positions you analyse and use this information to improve its analysis especially earlier in analysed variations."

Mark also sent me lots of useful information about its strengths and those of its likely principal opponent, Rybka, which was a new name to me but apparently was now the favoured engine on Playchess.com. Mark had suggested I get a lot of practice playing with and against computers using a pseudo beforehand, but I had just been too busy with chess publication work.

Summary and lessons learnt

• Lack of serious preparation left me (and the other strong GMs most probably) at a serious disadvantage against specialists with quick machines.

• The limited time (45 minutes + a few seconds per move) was also difficult to handle – I wasted lots of time checking analysis on two different computers, and trying to guess my opponent's next move! Next time I will try to make sure my opening 'preparation' goes much deeper.

• Computers seem to be getting stronger, but I am not really sure why! Is it because they see farther, that their analysis is more selective? Is human positional judgement less important than we like to think? Maybe both!

• One thing is still sure: in open or semi-open positions their tactical ability is impressive, but in closed positions where tactics are non-existent and long-term planning the key, our silicon friends still seem incredibly naïve and weak, so there is hope for us humans yet!

• My first strategy was to take the computers out of their book as early as possible, and to try to keep the positions closed.

• An early lesson learned was that it was very difficult to exploit a tiny advantage in an endgame!

Things hadn't been going too well, so by round 6 I decided to play more normally in the opening and then see if there was a possibility to obtain a position that the computer wouldn't be able to evaluate properly. Curiously, it was only in round 7 that I realised that I could anticipate my opponent's moves by clicking on my own 'Openings Book' tab to see what the Hiarcs’s book recommended!

In the end Hiarcs and I scored 4½/8 to secure 31= position, quite reasonable all things considered.

GM Tony Kosten

I've been a GM for 16 years. I have no experience of playing this type of Partner (Centaur) chess, and had never played online before. I played from home with an oldish AMD/1700 for the 'net connection, and my trusty Centrino/1400 laptop to analyse with Hiarcs10. My girlfriend also looked at some lines on her more recent Centrino – when she didn't have something better to do!

I had no idea who was running what in the tournament, but suspect that most of them were Rybkas, either running alone or with some slight human help. The reason I didn't do better in the tournament was not because of Hiarcs!

Tony Kosten runs the web site www.chesspublishing.com, together with a team of 12 GM's and IM's. The site provides monthly updates on the latest in opening theory.

Final standing of the 2nd PAL/CSS Freestyle Tournament

The next 'Freestyle Tournament' will be in June and Tony is hoping to partner Hiarcs again. This time it will be played at G/60+15 which should help the humans participate more usefully! Many players partnering computers got into regular time trouble and found themselves having to either ignore the playing engine altogether – or switch themselves off! - so as to meet time controls.

Third PAL/CSS Freestyle Tournament

In a normal chess tournament there are very strict rules about what you can do or not do during a game. Certainly enlisting outside help – from a human or a computer – is one of the more serious transgressions. In Freestyle Chess everything is allowed. The players are expected to work in teams or with computers. There are no restrictions. Use Fritz or Deep Shredder, consult openings books or chess Informants, call Anand or Karpov and ask for help, if you know them well enough.

Prize fund

The total prize fund is US $16,000 and has been provided by the PAL Group in the United Arab Emirates, the company that is behind the Hydra chess project. The prize money is divided as follows:

1st prize: US $8,000 2nd prize: US $4,000 3rd prize: US $2,000 4th to 8th prize: Software and books 9th to 16th prize: Software and books

There are special bonus prizes (e.g. for the most beautiful games) that will be distributed during the tournament. Details will be provided when the number and make-up of the participants is known.

Registration

The entry fee for the PAL/CSS Freestyle Tournament is 10 Euro (= US $12.00). This is paid when you register for the tournament. Late entries can pay an increased fee of 30 Euro in Playchess "ducats" (electronic money) on the day of the main tournament.

There is no entry fee for GMs and IMs with bona fide Playchess accounts. These players need to provide proof of their identity before the tournament starts. A title account on Playchess (with a King or Queen symbol) is sufficient, since it has been validated by ChessBase. Otherwise you will be asked to fax a copy of your passport or ID card to the organisers.

To register for the Freestyle Tournament you need to fill out a registry form (the link is given below), giving your name, address and Playchess handle. Some days before the tournament starts you will receive an email with further details.

• Registration for the tournament

Note that the deadline for registration is 14th June 2006, 12 p.m. Entries after that date can be accepted by the tournament director. In this case an increased fee of 30 Euro in Playchess "ducats" (electronic money) has to be payed on the day of the main tournament. Grandmasters with an official Playchess handle can join the tournament by appearing in the tournament hall on Friday.

Schedule of PAL/CSS Freestyle Tournament

All times given in the following schedule are in Central European Summer Time (CEST), which is used in most European countries, e.g. Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Scandinavia, etc. CEST is GMT + two hours. For instance 14:00h (or 2 p.m.) CEST is 12:00h GMT and translates to 13:00h London, 8 a.m. New York and 4 p.m. Moscow. Click on the times given in the schedule below to convert to your local time.

Important note: you will need to log in with your correct handle not later than ten minutes before the start of each round. Anyone who is not present in the chess server room at this time can not be guarantied to participate in this round.

Main Tournament – eight round Swiss

Time controls are 60 minutes for all the moves plus a 15 second increment per move. The event is a classical Swiss. The top eight players will qualify for the finals. If tie-breaks are needed these will be played on Saturday, June 24, 2006, at 14:00h CEST.

Participants in the main tournament must be in the playing hall ten minutes before the start of each round.

Finale – Round robin tournament ("all play all")

Time controls are 60 minutes for all the moves plus a 15 second increment per move. Each player plays one game against every other player. If tie-breaks are needed these will be played on the same day, after the regular games have finished.

Participants in the finale must be in the playing hall ten minutes before the start of each round.

The winner of the finals gets the first prize of US $8,000 and the title of "Third PAL/CSS Freestyle Chess Champion". The runner-up gets $4,000, the third place gets $2,000. There will be special software prizes for the places 4-8. Registration for the tournament

Reports on previous Freestyle Tournaments