Playing Play Magnus - approaching age eleven...
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Jan 3, 2016
0
#22
Did I really improve from last year? Or is it the case that now "takebacks" are possible, so we can get better results?
I remember being completely equal with 9-yo magnus just last winter - and yesterday, just out of curiosity, I decided to play a "match a-la Fischer" against that level - first to ten wins - and won 10:3, when only taking back one move in one of the games.
I typically play pretty quickly against this program - as I wouldn't sit down to a "normal tournament time controls" game against a machine (unless some rich corporate offered me some heavy financial reward to do so) - but I do stop and reflect when I feel that a critical moment is reached (typically by the time I get it that it's critical, the critical moment was actually 2-3 moves earlier and I missed it - but there are happy exceptions to the rule) - or when I feel that I have real chances to score.
So I'm either getting better, or just more acquainted with the particular program, as to choice of opening and overall strategy - that is to say, nothing too open or tactical, playing relatively closed games, slow and patient manoeuvering, simplification with an eye to subtle positional advantages, endgames grinds - In other words - being the Carlsen against the machine - and it works pretty well.
I'm actually on the threshhold of "Magnus age 11" - when he took second prize in the world's youth championship - so I must be doing pretty well indeed.
I have started playing Magnus age 10 and 10 months - and got a couple of draws in the first few games.
One of them was a bit aggravating - I had a clearly winning plan in a knight endgame, and instead went for a speculative knight sac - which was good enough for a draw, but nothing else.
However, this showed me that beating that level, too, should be within reach - and it's definitely nice to make progress.
Here are a few great examples of this new strategy - my wins over levels 10 and 9 months, 10 and 8 months and 10 and 7 months (in this order) - using openings that I didn't generally play last year, but that I learned (somewhat) during 2015.
These games aren't flashy (like my first win in this thread) - but there are some attractive ideas, and of course I do get the job done.
I paste them here. If you're used to read my annotations, you will notice that here I aim my commentary (also) at people who are bright beginners in chess - please bear with me, if you will. I'm doing this for a reason :-)
Jan 3, 2016
0
#23
Thanks, <Stuzzicadenti>!
By the way - it's charming to see that when "Magnus" turns ten, he gains enough "maturity" to resign rather than play on to checkmate...
Or maybe this is the first level where "he" considers that if you're good enough to reach such positions as you see in the above post, you will actually win.
People who are up a queen against him at age 9 (and whatever), may still blunder away a draw, he seems to say...
