Category: My Games

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Testing Strength Reduction Parameters

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I played an entertaining game against MadChess a few evenings ago. Prior to the game, I adjusted MadChess’ strength reduction parameters because I felt their values caused the engine to play too strongly for a given Elo rating. Perhaps my adjustments made the engine too weak. I’m using “feel”, a very unscientific process. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the game. I played white. MadChess played black, set to 900 Elo. Time control is blitz, 5m + 5s. The game began 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 d6 4.dxc5 Qa5+ 5.Nc3 Qxc5 6.Nd5 Qc6. Here I missed a tactic. Can you spot it? I… Continue Reading

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MadChess Blunders… Er, Wait

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I had a Frankenstein moment yesterday. I use the word “Frankenstein” in reference to MadChess. Meaning, I’ve used my powers of concentration to create this thing, a chess engine, by imagining, thinking, then writing code to “teach” it to play a game of chess. This thing becomes terribly powerful. It’s capable of playing the game I “taught” it with the strength of a super Grandmaster, far exceeding my abilities. While I’m glad I can use MadChess to analyze my games against Internet opponents (after the game is complete, of course), and rely on MadChess’ suggested improvements and variations (it is… Continue Reading

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Missed Clever Tactical Shot

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Recently I reviewed some blitz games I’ve played on Chess.com over the past few months. I found an enjoyable game where I played very well but missed a clever tactical shot near the end of the game. When reviewing the game, I recognized this position. I remember wishing, during the game, that I had more time on my clock to think and work out the tactics. On second observation, I found the killer move. MadChess, along with world-class chess engines Stockfish and Komodo Dragon, confirmed it’s the best move. Can you find it? Very nice! Here’s the full game, with… Continue Reading

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Tactical Minefield in Won Game

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I played an interesting blitz game a couple nights ago against MadChess 3.0 Beta. The engine is strong enough for me to release it. Before I do, I’m improving features not related to maximizing engine strength. In fact, quite the opposite: I’m working on UCI_LimitStrength and UCI_Elo options that reduce the engine’s playing strength. This enables us mere mortals to configure MadChess for a more enjoyable game- competitive but with winning chances gifted to us by an engine purposefully playing inaccuracies and blunders. The game began as follows. Playing white, I develop my pieces. MadChess 3.0 Beta mindlessly pushes a… Continue Reading

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Play Rather Than Code

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Watching The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix nudged me to play chess online. I’ve spent time on chess over the last few years… programming an engine, not actually playing. I’m very rusty. Though my puzzle rating is decent. It’s much higher than my game rating, suggesting I need to work on time management. Thinking fast is not my strength, but everyone online plays blitz or bullet so here goes nothing… Last night I joined a bullet tournament with a 2+1 clock. Each player has 2 minutes to make all their moves in the game, plus 1 second added to their clock… Continue Reading