Chess's New Frontier
In 1996, the engine Deep Blue acheived an unexpected victory against the reigning champion, Garry Kasparov. Just a year later, it defeated Kasparov 3.5-2.5 in a 6 game match.
This paved the way for AI and computers in the 21st century. Gradually, chess engines became stronger and stronger until they were nearly impossible to beat by any man born on the planet Earth.
Today's chess engines, including Stockfish and Komodo, are rated hundreds of points higher than the best human players. Although their games are known for being notoriously long and drawish, many interesting ideas are hidden in these gems. In this blog, I will talk about some of my favorite computer games, illustrate their importance for today's chess scene, and go over how you can use computers to train.
Which Engine Again?
Before I go into some of my favorite engine games, I would like to give some context by showing today's top engines.
One website that accumulates data on computer games is called CCRL. They test engines against each other using a time control of 40|15 to determine their ratings.
Below is a table of the top 20 engines and their ratings. If you would like to learn more about how the data is obtained, you can visit their website here.
(The games were taken from The Computer Chess Championship and the CCRL website.)
Game 1: Run, Harry, Run!!
If you've ever watched GM Simon Williams, you probably already know what this game is going to be about. "Harry" refers to GM Williams's beloved h-pawn, which Dragon uses quite creatively in this game.
Simon Williams, the Ginger GM (no, I totally didn't change the background)
The game I am about to show you was between Dragon (by Komodo), rated 3532 and Minic, rated 3446. Let's get into it!
Game 2: A Really Long Game
(idk)
