The Rybka Book – a treasure trove for tournament players

by ChessBase
10/18/2008 – The chess program Rybka, which just won the Computer Chess World Championship, is the strongest in the world. Part of its success comes from using one of the finest openings books available. This is great for Rybka's playing strength, but it is also a secret source of inspiration for tournament players of all categories. A treasure trove. Can you afford to ignore it?

ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024 ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024

It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.

More...

The Rybka Book – a treasure trove for tournament players

By Jeroen Noomen

Poisoned Pawn: easy equality for Black!

In 2007 the Poisoned Pawn variation of the Sicilian Najdorf was experiencing a crisis. White players found out that after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 the old move 10.e5!? was not so easy for black and they scored a few impressive victories. The Poisoned Pawn finally refuted? Not really! After 10.e5!? h6 11.Bh4 dxe5 12.fxe5 Black has a move that gives him full equality: 12... Nd5!

The Rybka 3 opening book provides you with full coverage of this new, fascinating line. Including one of the most dangerous white tries, 12... Nd5! 13.Nxd5 exd5 14.e6!? The verdict: black is equalising without any problems!


English attack: no white advantage!

In one of the most complicated lines in the English attack of the Sicilian Najdorf black faced some real problems recently. After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3 Be7 9.Qd2 O-O 10.O-O-O Nbd7 11.g4 b5 12.g5 b4 13.Ne2 Ne8 14.f4 a5 15.f5 a4 16.Nbd4 exd4 17.Nxd4 b3 18.Kb1 bxc2+ 19.Nxc2 Bb3 20.axb3 axb3 21.Na3 Ne5 22.h4 Ra4 the move 23.Rh3!? seemed to spoil all the fun for black. The point is, that after 23... Qa8 24.Qd5 black seems to have no other choice than entering a worse endgame after 24... Qxd5.

There is however a solution: 24... Rxa3! Extensive analysis in the Rybka 3 opening book will show you that White has no advantage after this surprising exchange sacrifice. Also watch the very interesting alternatives 23.Bd4!? and 23.Qc3!? with enterprising and spectacular play and chances for both sides. Update your English attack repertoire with Rybka’s new opening book!


A surprising new idea in the Petroff

The Petroff is a very reliable defence against 1.e4 and many white players have difficulties to prove even an edge against black’s solid setup. In the past few years new ideas have been tried, one of them being 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3. After 5... Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Bf4 Nc6 8.Qd2 white intends to castle queenside. The Dutch IM Van Delft kindly provided the  following idea for the Rybka 3 opening book, which seems to be incorrect at first sight: 8... Be6 9.O-O-O Bxa2!?

Now isn’t Black simply losing a piece after 10.b3 a5 11.Kb2? True, but deep Rybka analysis shows that Black has serious counter chances, which are not to be underestimated! Want to know more about this very interesting idea? The new Rybka 3 opening book covers the line in detail and shows you how to deal with White’s tries to refute the piece sacrifice.


A revival of the sharp Botwinnik semi Slav?

The Semi Slav is a very popular defence for Black when facing 1.d4. At the moment the line 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 is in the centre of attention, with 5... h6!? being Black’s main choice. The very sharp Botwinnik variation 5... dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 hxg5 10.Bxg5 Nbd7 11.exf6 Bb7 12.g3 c5 13.d5 is now less popular, but is this decline in popularity deserved? The Rybka 3 opening book shows that the following line is fully acceptable for black: 13... Nxf6 14.Bg2 Bh6!

Current analysis shows that black has no problems to keep the balance. Update your Semi Slav and Meran theory with Rybka’s new opening book!


English Attack: a stunning rook sacrifice

The sharp English attack featuring 6.Be3 is still one of White’s most dangerous tries against the Sicilian Najdorf. In 2007 Black found a stunning idea in one of the main lines, first seen in the 5th PAL/CSS Freestyle tournament. After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3 Be7 9.Qd2 O-O 10.O-O-O Nbd7 11.g4 b5 12.g5 b4 13.Ne2 Ne8 14.f4 a5 15.f5 Black played the curious 15... Bxb3!? 16.cxb3 a4 17.bxa4 Rxa4 18.Kb1 reaching the following position:

 

Here Black uncorked the fantastic move 18... Rxa2! Subsequent computer analysis proved that the sacrifice is fully correct. Now should white decline the offer with 19.Nc1, or can he try 19.Kxa2 Qa8+ 20.Kb3? The new Rybka 3 opening book provides you with in depth analysis of this line and gives you the answer to both questions. Update your English Attack repertoire with the new Rybka 3 book!


Sicilian Sveshnikov: a new idea to avoid equality

At grandmaster level the positional variation is by far the most popular try against the Sicilian Sveshnikov. After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c3 White plays a purely positional game, black’s main answer being 11... O-O. Less popluar is the alternative 11... Bg5 12.Nc2 Rb8!?, mainly due to 13.a4 bxa4 and white continues with 14.Ncb4 Nxb4 15.cxb4 Bd7 16.Bxa6 O-O 17.O-O Bc6 18.Rxa4!? But is this exchange sacrifice really dangerous for Black? Rybka analysis shows that white has no advantage and Black draws easily! The Rybka 3 opening book proposes a relatively new idea in this theoretical position: 14.Nce3!?

Do you want to know more about this new idea? The new Rybka 3 book covers all the interesting ideas for Black and White.


Another sharp line in the popular Slav

In the Slav defence the pawn sacrifice 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e6 4.e4!? dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Qxd4 7.Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8.Be2 has been very popular lately. Black used to be in good shape, but white players have found new ideas which makes the line attractive and dangerous at the same time.

The new Rybka 3 opening book covers this sharp pawn sacrifice in detail and shows some new ideas as well. Update your Slav repertoire with the new Rybka 3 book!


The Ruy Lopez Zaitsev: white’s most agressive try

With the Marshall and Anti-Marshall systems being the most popular Ruy Lopez lines at the moment, the complicated Zaitsev variation deserves attention as well. White’s most agressive try is undoubtedly 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.a4!?  Play usually develops 12... h6 13.Bc2 exd4 14.cxd4 Nb4 15.Bb1 c5 16.d5 Nd7 17.Ra3 c4, leading to the position in the diagram:

The new Rybka 3 opening book gives an overview of White’s main try 18.Nd4, as well as the interesting sideline 18.Ree3!? Apart from known theoretical examples many new ideas are added, often leading to exciting positions and chances for both sides. Update your Zaitsev theory with the new Rybka 3 book!


The popular and complicated Moscow Gambit

Currently the Moscow Gambit is one of White’s most popular tries to combat the black Semi Slav. After 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 White sacrifices a pawn by 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5. The gambit is played at the highest level and gives rise to spectacular and interesting play.

The Rybka 3 opening book covers the line in detail. Discover the fine ideas for both sides. The new Rybka 3 book is computer checked, thoroughly tested and contains many original computer analyses!


The ever popular Sicilian Najdorf

The Sicilian Najdorf enjoys great popularity and has been played by many top players: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6. Theory of this variation still develops in a very fast way, new ideas are found, dangerous White tries are countered by clever black counter-blows.

The Rybka 3 opening book covers the Sicilian Najdorf in detail and has many new computer lines included. Variations that are thoroughly computer checked with very fast machines and the best engines! Discover fresh, exciting and clever ideas for both sides in the English Attack (6.Be3) and the very sharp main lines 6.Bg5.  The new Rybka 3 book is a must for every Najdorf player!


Rybka, Deep Rybka and the Rybka Book

Prices

Multi-processor version: Deep Rybka 3   99.90 Euro
Single processor version: Rybka 3   49.99 Euro
Rybka 3 Book   24.99 Euro

Note that Rybka 3 includes a database of one million games, and that the purchase of the program entitles you to one year of access to the chess server Playchess.com. Rybka 3 is a UCI engine, with 32 and 64-bit versions included in the package. Rybka can be made the default engine in ChessBase 10.

Order Rybka now


Rybka wins World Computer Chess Championship
06.10.2008 – The US program Rybka won the 16th World Computer Chess Championship that was held in Beijing, China, a full point ahead of its nearest rival, the British program Hiarcs. Third, a point behind, was the Israeli program Junior, followed by Cluster Toga and then Shredder. The hardware used in the event ranged from a 40-core system to a Nokia cell phone. Final report.

The Milov vs. Rybka Handicap Match
24.09.2008 – The chess program Rybka has played a number of handicap matches against titled players, but never before one against a 2700+ player. Last week it got an opportunity against Vadim Milov, playing two regular games, two with pawn and move handicap and four with exchange odds. It was a well-matched battle, instructive for both the programmers and the Super-GM. Larry Kaufman reports.

Make your ChessBase Rybka-ready
11.09.2008 – Running the strongest chess engine under the best ChessBase program ever is a real big thing – but not a big deal at all. With both Rybka 3 and ChessBase 10 installed on your system, all you have to do is to upgrade your ChessBase program. Buy ChessBase 10 and Rybka 3 now or read all about how to get the two to work in perfect harmony.

Rybka vs Meyer – pawn and two move handicap match
14.08.2008 – Before the rating system players were generally classified by the handicap a stronger player could give them. The chess program Rybka has a higher rating than any human, and recently it beat GM Roman Dzindzichashvili in a pawn and move handicap game. Would it be able to acquit itself similarly against an IM who got a pawn and two moves handicap? It would and it did.

The Dzindzi – Rybka 3 Handicap Match
09.08.2008 – Chess with material handicaps was played by Philidor, Staunton, Morphy and Steinitz. Particularly popular was “pawn and move”, with Black missing his f7 pawn. Naturally you find the grandmaster playing the handicapped side. But can a strong GM beat a computer when playing with the handicap pawn and move? Roman Dzindzichashvili tried it against Rybka 3.0. IM Larry Kaufman reports.

Rybka 3.0 – All you need to know about the new program
29.07.2008 – Does it run on 64-bit machines? Is it optimised for the 64-bit environment? Do we get two engines, one for 32 and one for 64 bit systems? These were the most common questions we received after announcing our new Rybka 3 chess engine. And what are the most important new functions? How do they help with training and analysis? Here are the answers.

Rybka 3.0 – Not just the strongest chess program in the world
18.07.2008 – Developed by IM Vasik Rajlich, Rybka is the shooting star amongst chess programs. It won the 2007 world championship and leads easily in all computer rating lists. Now it is available in the dramatically improved version 3.0 and under the ChessBase-Fritz interface. It includes exciting new analysis functions you will not find in other programs. You can order it now.

Rybka wins the 15th ICGA Computer World Championship
19.06.2007 – Once a year the International Computer Games Association stages a world championship in computer chess (and other board games). This year it was held in Amsterdam and was won by the American program Rybka, ahead of compatriot Zappa. Defending champion Junior did not participate. The German program Shredder won the blitz world championship. Report and games.

Reports about chess: tournaments, championships, portraits, interviews, World Championships, product launches and more.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register