We can learn from chess programs!
7/18/2004 – Recently the Israeli program Junior won the world computer chess title for the fourth time, playing some extraordinary chess in the process. GM Boris Alterman, who was the official live commentator at the event, takes a look at two key games and the fantastic positional sacrifices Junior is able to play. Details...
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Boris Alterman writes: Junior, a program developed by Amir Ban and Shay Bushinsky
of Israel, had already won the title in 1997, 2001 and 2002. In 2003 it was
Shredder who won the title. Now, just seven months later, Junior has won back
the title.
I'd like to sum up the Bar Ilan Tournament by showing you two brilliant examples
from the World Computer Chess Championship. These two games prove the great
ability of chess programs. Looking at fantastic positional sacrifice by Junior
in his game against Diep and the thrillier game from the last round Falcon-Shredder
I must say – chess programs have a lot to teach us about playing chess!
GM Boris Alterman's Radio ChessBase lectures begin at 21:00h CEST (European Central time = server time, which translates to 17:00h GMT, 3:00 p.m. New York, 05:00 a.m. Sydney (on Monday). Other time zones can be found at the bottom of the page. You can use Fritz or any Fritz-compatible program (Shredder, Junior, Tiger, Hiarcs) to follow the lectures, or download a free trial client. |
Boris Alterman is a consummate computer expert and an internationally feared computer killer. In 2000 he played a remarkable game against Deep Fritz in Holland, at one stage reaching the following historical position, which has come to be known as the "Alterman Wall":
Boris won the game against Fritz in 87 moves.
For those of you who have not been following our Chess Puzzle section for many years there's a charming little story involving Garry Kasparov and the young Boris Alterman. It was part of our Christmas Puzzle 1999.
Here are the world-wide starting times for Alterman's lectures.
| Abu Dhabi | Sun 23:00 | Halifax * | Sun 16:00 | New Orleans * | Sun 14:00 | ||
| Addis Ababa | Sun 22:00 | Hanoi | Mon 02:00 | New York * | Sun 15:00 | ||
| Adelaide | Mon 04:30 | Harare | Sun 21:00 | Odesa * | Sun 22:00 | ||
| Aden | Sun 22:00 | Havana * | Sun 15:00 | Oslo * | Sun 21:00 | ||
| Aklavik * | Sun 13:00 | Helsinki * | Sun 22:00 | Ottawa * | Sun 15:00 | ||
| Algiers | Sun 20:00 | Hong Kong | Mon 03:00 | Paris * | Sun 21:00 | ||
| Amman * | Sun 22:00 | Honolulu | Sun 09:00 | Perth | Mon 03:00 | ||
| Amsterdam * | Sun 21:00 | Houston * | Sun 14:00 | Philadelphia * | Sun 15:00 | ||
| Anadyr * | Mon 08:00 | Indianapolis | Sun 14:00 | Phoenix | Sun 12:00 | ||
| Anchorage * | Sun 11:00 | Islamabad | Mon 00:00 | Prague * | Sun 21:00 | ||
| Ankara * | Sun 22:00 | Istanbul * | Sun 22:00 | Rangoon | Mon 01:30 | ||
| Antananarivo | Sun 22:00 | Jakarta | Mon 02:00 | Reykjavik | Sun 19:00 | ||
| Asuncion | Sun 15:00 | Jerusalem * | Sun 22:00 | Rio de Janeiro | Sun 16:00 | ||
| Athens * | Sun 22:00 | Johannesburg | Sun 21:00 | Riyadh | Sun 22:00 | ||
| Atlanta * | Sun 15:00 | Kabul | Sun 23:30 | Rome * | Sun 21:00 | ||
| Baghdad * | Sun 23:00 | Kamchatka * | Mon 08:00 | San Francisco * | Sun 12:00 | ||
| Bangkok | Mon 02:00 | Karachi | Mon 00:00 | San Juan | Sun 15:00 | ||
| Barcelona * | Sun 21:00 | Kathmandu | Mon 00:45 | San Salvador | Sun 13:00 | ||
| Beijing | Mon 03:00 | Khartoum | Sun 22:00 | Santiago | Sun 15:00 | ||
| Beirut * | Sun 22:00 | Kingston | Sun 14:00 | Santo Domingo | Sun 15:00 | ||
| Belgrade * | Sun 21:00 | Kiritimati | Mon 09:00 | Sao Paulo | Sun 16:00 | ||
| Berlin * | Sun 21:00 | Kolkata | Mon 00:30 | Seattle * | Sun 12:00 | ||
| Bogota | Sun 14:00 | Kuala Lumpur | Mon 03:00 | Seoul | Mon 04:00 | ||
| Boston * | Sun 15:00 | Kuwait City | Sun 22:00 | Shanghai | Mon 03:00 | ||
| Brasilia | Sun 16:00 | Kyiv * | Sun 22:00 | Singapore | Mon 03:00 | ||
| Brisbane | Mon 05:00 | La Paz | Sun 15:00 | Sofia * | Sun 22:00 | ||
| Brussels * | Sun 21:00 | Lagos | Sun 20:00 | St. John's * | Sun 16:30 | ||
| Bucharest * | Sun 22:00 | Lahore | Mon 00:00 | St. Paul * | Sun 14:00 | ||
| Budapest * | Sun 21:00 | Lima | Sun 14:00 | Stockholm * | Sun 21:00 | ||
| Buenos Aires | Sun 16:00 | Lisbon * | Sun 20:00 | Suva | Mon 07:00 | ||
| Cairo | Sun 21:00 | London * | Sun 20:00 | Sydney | Mon 05:00 | ||
| Canberra | Mon 05:00 | Los Angeles * | Sun 12:00 | Taipei | Mon 03:00 | ||
| Cape Town | Sun 21:00 | Madrid * | Sun 21:00 | Tallinn * | Sun 22:00 | ||
| Caracas | Sun 15:00 | Managua | Sun 13:00 | Tashkent | Mon 00:00 | ||
| Casablanca | Sun 19:00 | Manila | Mon 03:00 | Tegucigalpa | Sun 13:00 | ||
| Chatham Island | Mon 07:45 | Melbourne | Mon 05:00 | Tehran * | Sun 23:30 | ||
| Chicago * | Sun 14:00 | Mexico City * | Sun 14:00 | Tokyo | Mon 04:00 | ||
| Copenhagen * | Sun 21:00 | Minneapolis * | Sun 14:00 | Toronto * | Sun 15:00 | ||
| Darwin | Mon 04:30 | Minsk * | Sun 22:00 | Vancouver * | Sun 12:00 | ||
| Denver * | Sun 13:00 | Montevideo | Sun 16:00 | Vienna * | Sun 21:00 | ||
| Detroit * | Sun 15:00 | Montgomery * | Sun 14:00 | Vladivostok * | Mon 06:00 | ||
| Dhaka | Mon 01:00 | Montreal * | Sun 15:00 | Warsaw * | Sun 21:00 | ||
| Dublin * | Sun 20:00 | Moscow * | Sun 23:00 | Washington DC * | Sun 15:00 | ||
| Edmonton * | Sun 13:00 | Mumbai | Mon 00:30 | Wellington | Mon 07:00 | ||
| Frankfurt * | Sun 21:00 | Nairobi | Sun 22:00 | Winnipeg * | Sun 14:00 | ||
| Geneva * | Sun 21:00 | Nassau * | Sun 15:00 | Zagreb * | Sun 21:00 | ||
| Guatemala | Sun 13:00 | New Delhi | Mon 00:30 | Zürich * | Sun 21:00 |
* indicates that the place is currently observing daylight saving time (DST)
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