Chess Assisstive Tools
My first serious exposure with computer chess was back in 1987. The chess program was called Colossus That really fired me up to improve and try to beat it. and Black Against today’s computer programs like Fritz, Shredder, Chessmaster, I
Computers are Albert Einstein
I guess what I’m trying to say here is that computers have a place in chess, For example, I found immediate benefits using a PDA for chess. The programs I am using is Pocket CT-Art for solving chess tactical puzzles
Computer Chess - Assisstive Tools
and it ran on a Spectrum 8-bit computer connected to the TV. It had no
mouse. It had no hard disk. I ran the program for a cassette tape!.
Moves were entered via keyboard (eg: “e2-e4″). I’d rate Colossus at ELO
1600-1700. Initially I lost all my games against Colossus.
After about a month I got to beat Colossus half the time.
The real benefit for me was that I had a challenging opponent to play
against anytime of the day. Also, Colossus taught me the practical use of opening
gambits. I found it frustrating playing against a gambit played by Colossus as black -
The Marshall Gambit of the Centre Counter. 1. e4 d5 2. Nf6 c4 3. exd5 c6?! 4. dxc6 Nxc6
has good compensation for the sacrificed pawn. As a teenager back then, it made a deep impression on me.
I thought:-
Giving a pawn early in the opening just to develope and bring up pieces a move or two earlier. Wow what a concept!
can forget about scoring a decent win at any levels or at any time
control. It’s no longer human vs computers. Computer has long surpassed
the average human GM in terms of chess strength. It’s no fun playing
against Fritz to get trounced 100% of the time.
incredibly fast, accurate and stupid; humans are incredibly slow,
inaccurate and brilliant; together they are powerful beyond
imagination.
not as a good sparring partner but more as an assistant to learning chess.
The mobility gave me freedom to view games from mini-databases I saved into
the PDA. A good example was my game vs Chan Tze Chen. With a cheap RM100 (about USD 27)
Palm PDA I could refresh my memory on a killer anti-French variation I used against
my opponent just a few minutes before the game. (Thanks to Ching Kim Lye for
emailling me the variation a few months before)
It won’t end there as I will use the PDA to make preparations for the coming
Royal Selangor Club tournament next week (27th Nov 2005). I do not have much time
with work commitments (lame excuse I know) to
make any serious preparations so most of it will take place in
the time I can steal from my commute to work on the PDA. That’s about 30 mins
everyday.
and Pocket Fritz 2 as a sparring partner.
Popularity: 20% [?]
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment