Game 11: ggrayggray v Kevin Bonham (1-0)

[Garvinator]

Can someone put a 1-0 in the thread title please, just like the other finished games?

[Capablanca-Fan]

I must admit that I would have preferred to make White demonstrate the win.

[Kevin Bonham]

I must admit that I would have preferred to make White demonstrate the win.

I find that playing on in lost positions in CC (trying to find the move that offers the most very long-term resistance even though it's just a choice between one awful position and another) can be extremely time-consuming and there are other things I would rather be doing with that time (including my other games in the same tournaments). If I think there is any real chance of saving I will keep going, but in freestyle once you get a passive and clearly lost position you don't get out of it.

Besides, I'm a showoff!

[Capablanca-Fan]

What does "freestyle" mean exactly?

[Kevin Bonham]

What does "freestyle" mean exactly?

It means you can use anything. Get Kramnik on the phone, analyse positions with your mates, ask for public advice, use databases ... but most importantly, unlimited use of computers for analysis help.

It's quite possible that Garvin himself would be able to beat me at correspondence time limits in that position, but if I was just playing a human I would play on. I am actually playing Garvin + Rybka, which is an exceptionally strong program. I'm at something of a handicap in these freestyle things because my own version of Fritz is ancient - updating it is not high on my list of financial priorities!

[Garvinator]

It means you can use anything. Get Kramnik on the phone, analyse positions with your mates, ask for public advice, use databases ... but most importantly, unlimited use of computers for analysis help.

It's quite possible that Garvin himself would be able to beat me at correspondence time limits in that position, but if I was just playing a human I would play on. I am actually playing Garvin + Rybka, which is an exceptionally strong program. I'm at something of a handicap in these freestyle things because my own version of Fritz is ancient - updating it is not high on my list of financial priorities!

Hello Kevin,

There is a free beta version of Rybka 1.0 http://www.rybkachess.com/index.php?...=Download+demo

[Kevin Bonham]

Hello Kevin,

There is a free beta version of Rybka 1.0 http://www.rybkachess.com/index.php?...=Download+demo

Yes, I downloaded it some time ago but was far too stupid to be able to get it working effectively as an analysis engine for positions. Basically I got to the stage where I could play against it (even that was a hassle) but I really struggled to acheive much beyond that.

[Garvinator]

Yes, I downloaded it some time ago but was far too stupid to be able to get it working effectively as an analysis engine for positions. Basically I got to the stage where I could play against it (even that was a hassle) but I really struggled to acheive much beyond that.

Were you using it as an uci engine in fritz?

[Kevin Bonham]

Were you using it as an uci engine in fritz?

No. I remember it told me to download some kind of interface to run the thing through, so I did.

[Garvinator]

No. I remember it told me to download some kind of interface to run the thing through, so I did.

I just use Rybka through the fritz interface using the create uci feature in fritz.

[Kevin Bonham]

I just use Rybka through the fritz interface using the create uci feature in fritz.

Thanks, I'll have a go at that sometime. I don't know anything about all that stuff.

[Garvinator]

Thanks, I'll have a go at that sometime. I don't know anything about all that stuff.

Steve Lopez from chesscafe covers this very issue in his latest article about adding uci engines to Fritz. He talks about Fritz 10, but it still applies to earlier models:

http://www.chesscafe.com/chessbasefaq/lopez.htm

[Garvinator]

My source indicates that allowing h6 is no problem and even calls the h5-h6 idea "primitive" but it is a question of correct defence (which I wasn't up to). Had I actually read the notes it gives for 16.h5 as opposed to your 17.h5 I might have grasped a better defensive plan! (In those notes Black puts a knight on g8 and keeps one rook on the kingside.)

Kevin, it has been a while, but I just finished this game. Thought it might be of some interest. Yes, it is freestyle.

[Event "FICGS__CHESS__RAPID_A__000019"]
[Site "FICGS"]
[Date "2007.5.3"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Khachaturov,Vadim"]
[Black "Gray,Garvin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1803"]
[BlackElo "1863"]

PGN Viewer

 

[Capablanca-Fan]

Kevin, it has been a while, but I just finished this game. Thought it might be of some interest. Yes, it is freestyle.

[Event "FICGS__CHESS__RAPID_A__000019"]
[Site "FICGS"]
[Date "2007.5.3"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Khachaturov,Vadim"]
[Black "Gray,Garvin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1803"]
[BlackElo "1863"]

PGN Viewer

 

Quite an interesting game: positional exchange sac, then using the K actively to help the Q-side Ps as per Fischer vs Petrosian, Candidates, Yugoslavia, 1959. So you play the Frog well from both sides

[Kevin Bonham]

Thanks for sharing. Nice game, I like the exchange sac idea.