3rd International CSVN Tournament
Leiden, Netherlands, May 16-18, 2003
Tables
| # | Name | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | P | BU | SB | G |
| 1 | The King | 11w1 | 9b1 | 3w1 | 2b= | 8w1 | 7b1 | 5w1 | 4b0 | 6b1 | 7½ | 47 | 37¼ | 9 |
| 2 | Shredder | 5w1 | 13b1 | 6w1 | 1w= | 3b= | 8b1 | 4w= | 7w1 | 11b1 | 7½ | 45 | 35¼ | 9 |
| 3 | Deep Sjeng | 4w1 | 12b1 | 1b0 | 5w1 | 2w= | 6b1 | 10w= | 8b1 | 9w0 | 6 | 48½ | 30½ | 9 |
| 4 | Fritz | 3b0 | 5w= | 10b1 | 6b0 | 12w1 | 11w1 | 2b= | 1w1 | 13b1 | 6 | 45 | 28 | 9 |
| 5 | Tao 5.5 | 2b0 | 4b= | 13w1 | 3b0 | 14w1 | 9w1 | 1b0 | 15w1 | 12w1 | 5½ | 40 | 16 | 9 |
| 6 | Chess Tiger | 8b= | 10w1 | 2b0 | 4w1 | 9b= | 3w0 | bye1 | 13b1 | 1w0 | 5 | 48 | 20 | 8 |
| 7 | Diep | 10b= | 14w1 | 8b= | 9w= | 11b= | 1w0 | 12w1 | 2b0 | bye1 | 5 | 42½ | 16½ | 8 |
| 8 | The Baron | 6w= | 11b1 | 7w= | 12b1 | 1b0 | 2w0 | 9b1 | 3w0 | 15b1 | 5 | 42 | 16½ | 9 |
| 9 | IsiChess MMX | 15w1 | 1w0 | 14b1 | 7b= | 6w= | 5b0 | 8w0 | bye1 | 3b1 | 5 | 40 | 15¼ | 8 |
| 10 | SpiderChess | 7w= | 6b0 | 4w0 | 13b= | 15w1 | bye1 | 3b= | 11w= | 14b1 | 5 | 34 | 13 | 8 |
| 11 | Ant | 1b0 | 8w0 | bye1 | 15b1 | 7w= | 4b0 | 14w1 | 10b= | 2w0 | 4 | 41 | 8¾ | 8 |
| 12 | Nullmover | bye1 | 3w0 | 15b1 | 8w0 | 4b0 | 13w1 | 7b0 | 14w1 | 5b0 | 4 | 35½ | 6¾ | 8 |
| 13 | XiniX | 14b= | 2w0 | 5b0 | 10w= | bye1 | 12b0 | 15b1 | 6w0 | 4w0 | 3 | 36½ | 5 | 8 |
| 14 | 31337/Celes | 13w= | 7b0 | 9w0 | bye1 | 5b0 | 15w1 | 11b0 | 12b0 | 10w0 | 2½ | 31 | 2¾ | 8 |
| 15 | Praetorian | 9b0 | bye1 | 12w0 | 11w0 | 10b0 | 14b0 | 13w0 | 5b0 | 8w0 | 1 | 31½ | ¼ | 8 |
| # | Name | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | P | BU | SB | G |
| 1 | The King | X | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | . | 1 | . | . | . | . | 7½ | 47 | 37¼ | 9 |
| 2 | Shredder | ½ | X | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | . | . | 1 | . | 1 | . | . | 7½ | 45 | 35¼ | 9 |
| 3 | Deep Sjeng | 0 | ½ | X | 1 | 1 | 1 | . | 1 | 0 | ½ | . | 1 | . | . | . | 6 | 48½ | 30½ | 9 |
| 4 | Fritz | 1 | ½ | 0 | X | ½ | 0 | . | . | . | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | . | . | 6 | 45 | 28 | 9 |
| 5 | Tao 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | X | . | . | . | 1 | . | . | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5½ | 40 | 16 | 9 |
| 6 | Chess Tiger | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | . | X | . | ½ | ½ | 1 | . | . | 1 | . | . | 5 | 48 | 20 | 8 |
| 7 | Diep | 0 | 0 | . | . | . | . | X | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | . | 1 | . | 5 | 42½ | 16½ | 8 |
| 8 | The Baron | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | ½ | ½ | X | 1 | . | 1 | 1 | . | . | 1 | 5 | 42 | 16½ | 9 |
| 9 | IsiChess MMX | 0 | . | 1 | . | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | X | . | . | . | . | 1 | 1 | 5 | 40 | 15¼ | 8 |
| 10 | SpiderChess | . | . | ½ | 0 | . | 0 | ½ | . | . | X | ½ | . | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5 | 34 | 13 | 8 |
| 11 | Ant | 0 | 0 | . | 0 | . | . | ½ | 0 | . | ½ | X | . | . | 1 | 1 | 4 | 41 | 8¾ | 8 |
| 12 | Nullmover | . | . | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | 0 | 0 | . | . | . | X | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 35½ | 6¾ | 8 |
| 13 | XiniX | . | 0 | . | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | . | ½ | . | 0 | X | ½ | 1 | 3 | 36½ | 5 | 8 |
| 14 | 31337/Celes | . | . | . | . | 0 | . | 0 | . | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | X | 1 | 2½ | 31 | 2¾ | 8 |
| 15 | Praetorian | . | . | . | . | 0 | . | . | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 1 | 31½ | ¼ | 8 |
Day 3 Report (18 May)
Exciting finish in Leiden - The King wins Intl. CSVN tournament!
Eric van Reen, reporting from Leiden
The King , the chess engine of the program ChessMaster, is the winner of the 3rd International CSVN (Computer Chess Association Netherlands) Tournament! The Dutch program won the decisive game in the last round against Chess Tiger with the black pieces. Shredder, programmed by Stefan Meyer-Kahlen, a world champion many times over, did not lose a single game in this tournament but had to be satisfied with the second place. The Belgian program Deep Sjeng by Gian-Carlo Pascutto played an excellent tournament, won against Fritz and Chess Tiger and came in third.
Last day
The King won another spectacular game against Tao in the seventh round of the tournament. The King, the chess engine of the well-known chess program ChessMaster 9000, lost its first game in the tournament in the penultimate round against Fritz. In the same round Shredder beat Diep, which meant that both programs had 6,5 point out of 8 games. But also Deep Sjeng won in the 8th round, this time against The Baron.
Last round
In the last round The King had to play with the black pieces against Chess Tiger and although the French program did not play a good tournament, it it still on of the strongest programs in the world. The King played with a fearless attacking style, so he is a deserved winner of this game and the tournament. "I played with the same version as last year", De Koning told me after the last game. "I changed only some minor things, I think that it is very difficult to improve the program further. If I start changing things, the program may get weaker". De Koning does not want to play in the world championship this year in Graz. "No, I don´t want to play there, I want to play Amazons with my program in the Olympiad, take a look at the chess games and relax a bit. A world championship is a lottery. However, I think that my program would play very well there, it is a strong program, of course." That´s right Johan, and congratulations!
Game of the day:
The King - Tao 5.5
CSVN 2003 Leiden (7), 16.05.2003
1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.c4 d6 4.g3 Nf6 5.Bg2 g6 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.0-0 0-0 8.d4 Nh5 9.d5 Ne7 10.e4 Bd7 11.c5 f5 12.Nc3 dxc5 13.Re1 Kh8 14.Rc1 Bh6 15.Nxe5 Bxc1 16.Qxc1 Ng7 17.exf5 gxf5 18.Ne2 Ng8 19.Nf4 Rf6 20.Nh5 Be8 21.Nxf6 Nxf6 22.Qxc5 Kg8 23.Rc1 b6 24.Qxc7 Qxc7 25.Rxc7 a5 26.d6 Rd8 27.Ng4 fxg4 28.Bxf6 Rxd6 1-0
Day 2 Report (17 May)
Majestic performance by The King
Eric van Reem, reporting from Leiden
The King, a.k.a. ChessMaster leads the field after 6 rounds in the 3rd International CSVN Computer Chess Tournament. The program, made by Dutchman Johan de Koning played some fascinating games, culminating in a spectacular queen sacrifice against "Diep" in the sixth round.
In the third round of the International CSVN Tournament in Leiden Shredder and The King could add another victory to end the first day with a 100% score. The other favourites for first place, Fritz and Chess Tiger, only scored 50% on day one. On Saturday, first thing they had to do, was to play each other and it was obvious that it was going to be a very important game. The winner would still have chances to win the tourney. The game ended in a disaster for Fritz after the program was outplayed in the opening. Frans Morsch, author of Fritz, shook his head: "We shouldn't have played the Najdorf in this game. The game was lost as soon as we came out of the book". Jeroen Noomen, the Dutch opening wizard, who is responsible for Chess Tiger´s opening book, had found a hole in our Fritz book. Noomen: It was a lucky shot, because Fritz had played this line before in a world championship game against Crafty. I never thought that Fritz would repeat that variation but I decided to give it a try."
Shredder and The King do not very often play against each other in tournaments. Last year in the CSVN tournament, Shredder won a good game. This year The King showed no fear, although Shredder started a dangerous attack. "I grab all the pawns I can get and wel´ll see what happens", Johan de Koning smiled during the game. It turned out to be the right strategy against ex-world champion Shredder. The King got a good position with black, but the position was very difficult to evaluate, even for computers. De Koning: "This game is a good example to show that chess still has a lot of secrets. The tactics in this game were very deep and it was impossible to evaluate the position properly." The game ended in a draw, but this game will be interesting to analyse with different chess programs.
In the fifth round Chess Tiger was lucky to get away with a draw against IsiChess MMX and Shredder saved another very difficult position against Deep Sjeng. The position seemed to be lost but Shredder found a perpetual. The King won against The Baron after a long fight and Johan de Konings brainchild crushed Diep in the sixth round with the black pieces after playing a majestic queen sacrifice. Here is the game of the Day:
[Event "3rd Intl.CSVN"]
[Site "Leiden NED"]
[Date "2003.05.17"]
[Round "06"]
[White "Diep"]
[Black "The King"]
[Result "0-1"]
1.d4 e6 2.c4 d5 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 cxd4 5.Qa4+ b5 6.Qxd4 Nc6 7.Qd2 exd5
8.Qxd5 Bd7 9.Qe4+ Be7 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bxe7 Ngxe7 12.e3 a6 13.O-O-O Rc8
14.Be2 b4 15.Bg4 f5 16.Bxf5 Bxf5 17.Rxd8+ Rxd8 18.Qf4 g5 19.Qg3 bxc3
20.bxc3 Rb8 21.f3 Rb1+ 22.Kd2 O-O 23.e4 Rd8+ 24.Kc2 Rbd1 25.Qf2 Be6
26.Qe2 Ra1 27.Qxa6 Rxa2+ 28.Qxa2 Bxa2 29.Ne2 Bc4 30.Nc1 Ng6 31.Rg1 Nce5
32.Nb3 Bd3+ 0-1
Day 1 Report (16 May)
Bad start for Fritz
In the first round we saw some fascinating games with surprising results. The Baron, a program made by the tall Dutchman Richard Pijl drew his game with one of the top favourites, Chess Tiger. The biggest upset in the first round, however, was the victory of Deep Sjeng, the Belgian program of Gian-Carlo Pascutto over the well-know program Fritz. The Dutch-German program Fritz had to deal with serious problems in the middlegame after a Nimzo-Indian opening. White´s passed pawn on the b-file proved to be the decisive factor in this game. Shredder and The King played some convincing attacking chess against Tao and Ant. Diep played a long game against SpiderChess and had to be satisfied with a draw in the end.
In the second round we could witness the first tournament game of "Nullmove", a program made by Richard Langeveld. The young Dutchman, who has been a regular operator for Bob Hyatt´s "Crafty" in world championships, had no chance with his baby against Sjeng. The other programs with a perfect score after two rounds are Shredder and The King. The King, the engine of the ChessMaster programs, played a good game against IsiChess MMX and Shredder had no real problems with XiniX. Two other favourites for first place had to fight hard in their games: Fritz battled it out in a sharp opening against Tao but could not win with the white pieces: the game suddenly ended in a draw. The winner of the CSVN tournament of 2001 and 2002 now only has 0,5 points after two rounds! Chess Tiger, winner of the Dutch Open in 2000, 2001 and 2002 could win after a long battle against SpiderChess.
Game of the day: Deep Sjeng - Fritz
CSVN 2003 Leiden (1), 16.05.2003