Petr Kiriakov vs the monster machine

Shredder 8 vs Petr Kiriakov

Former Russian junior champion Petr Kiriakov, Elo 2568, is playing a match against the program Deep Shredder on the Playchess server. The event was conducted by Martin Müller ("Smurskie" to the Playchess crowd), who is using an awe-inspiring Dual Xeon 3.06 GHz computer, with 2 GB RAM and 50 GB of Endgame Tablebases.

Pert Kiriakov

Martin Müller

Kiriakov is no stranger to playing internet matches against the computer. In 2002 he took part in a "dress rehearsal" for the internet coverage of Kramnik vs Deep Fritz. While he was playing against Shredder on Playchess server we, for the first time in public, were displaying the moves in a normal browser window, using a special Flash client that had been designed specifically for the Kramnik match (and which later brought it to literally millions of viewers).

This is what the game looked like in the flash client replay (Kiriakov has the handle "Petrovich" on the Playchess server).

In the first game Kiriakov was quite obviously using a strategy of securing a minimum result, a draw if nothing more pleasant would turn up. This he achieved by closing the position, while retaining tight control over the open c-file. The symmetrical pawn structure was also important. It is extremely difficult for any program in the world to work out a winning advantage in such positions. Shredder had a clear advantage, especially due to Black's dark-square weaknesses around its king. But the program was unable to launch a kingside assault without seeing clear results within its search horizon. Kiriakov simply shuffled around with his pieces until a draw was agreed.

Smurskie,S (2598) - Petrovich [A08]
Rated game, 120m + 10s Maschinenraum, 11.06.2004
1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 Nc6 5.g3 g6 6.Bg2 Bg7 7.0-0 Nge7 8.Re1 b6 9.c3 Bb7 10.e5 Qc7 11.d4 0-0 12.Nf1 cxd4 13.cxd4 Nb4 14.Bg5 h6 15.Bf6 Rfc8 16.Qd2 a5 17.a3 Nbc6 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.Ne3 Ng8 20.Bh3 Qd8 21.Rac1 Nce7 22.Rb1 Ba6 23.Ng2 Rc6 24.Rec1 Rac8 25.Rxc6 Rxc6 26.Nf4 Qc7 27.Ne1 Bc8 28.Bf1 Qa7 29.Bb5 Rc7 30.Nf3 Ba6 31.Ba4 Qb8 32.Bc2 Qc8 33.Bb3 Bc4 34.Ba4 Qa6 35.Re1 Bb5 36.Bc2 Qc8 37.Bb3 Qd7 38.Bc2 Qc8 39.Bb1 Ba4 40.Ne2 Bc2 41.Nc3 Bxb1 42.Rxb1 Qa6 43.b3 Nc8 44.g4 Na7 45.a4 Qc8 46.Ne2 Nc6 47.Rc1 Nb4 48.Nc3 Rc6 49.Qe3 Qa6 50.Nb5 Qc8 51.Rd1 Qd7 52.g5 h5 53.Nh4 Na6 54.Qf4 Nc7 55.Nd6 Ne8 56.Nb5 Nc7 57.Nd6 Ne8 58.Nb5 Nc7 ½-½.

Replay game one of the Kiriakov-Shredder match

These are the results Martin has achieved with his computer:

Time controls 60 min + 30 min rest
16.08.01 DF -GM Sergej Volkov (RUS) draw

Time controls 60 min + 0 min rest
26.05.01 Deep Fritz-GM Pablo Zarnicki(ARG) 1-0
26.05.01 Deep Fritz-GM Pablo Zarnicki(ARG) draw