3rd International CSVN Tournament
Leiden, Netherlands, May 16-18, 2003
| # | 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 |
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 donīt 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." Thatīs 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
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 Tigerīs 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
welīll 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
Stefan Meyer-Kahlen (Shredder) and Johan de Koning (The King)
Michel Langeveld (Nullmover), Leo Dijksman (Winboard webmaster), Richard Pijl (The Baron)
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.
Whiteīs 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 Hyattīs "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
