CCC No-castling Events

For my previous off-week engine post, CCC PGN IV (May 2021), I set myself a task:-

To locate the PGN for the five [CCC] events. [...] Locating the PGN turned out to be fairly trivial.

Now what? I decided to look at a no-castling event, where the engines are prohibited from castling to either side. This is an idea that GM Kramnik and others have floated to counter the growing corpus of opening theory. The supporters of the no-castling idea are generally anti-chess960 and since I'm a keen proponent of chess960, it might be worthwhile to check out the competition.

I located a post from early last year, TCEC S17 L1 Underway; CCC12 Bonus Series (February 2020), where I wrote,

After the event ended, the CCC ran a series of bonus matches including a round robin using 'No-Castling' rules. The current tournament, a six-engine affair titled 'A February Event', ends in a few days.

While scrolling back through the CCC archive to locate the PGN, I found three other 'no castling' events. Here is a summary of the four events in chronological order, where the date is for the first game in the event:-

• 2020-01-25: 'CCC12 Bonus: No-Castling'
• 2020-09-18: 'No-Castle II'
• 2021-04-03: 'To Castle Or Not To Castle'
• 2021-04-04: 'To Castle Or Not To Castle II'

All four events use the same technique to force a no-castling position. For each Rook-Knight pair on the back rank of the traditional start position they develop the Knight to its third rank, then move the Rook to the square vacated by the Knight, then return the Rook and Knight to their original start squares. This means that after eight move pairs (16-ply), the traditional start position is reached for the second time. Because the Rooks have moved, castling is no longer possible.

That sequence complicates the initial analysis, where I use SCID. A search on the repeated position (White's 9th move) returns the initial position (White's 1st move) where White develops a Knight to its third rank. Only after White's first real move (1.e4, 1.d4, etc.) does the search return real results. It turned out that not being able to calculate the frequency of the first real move was not important. The operators of the events had forced White's first real move, meaning that the engines were initially on their own for Black's first real move (1...e5, 1...d5, etc.)

For the 'No-Castle II' event, I encountered a number of irregularities. The first game in the PGN file is a standard Nimzo-Indian, where Black castles on the fourth move (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O). Only after that game does the event switch to no-castling. Later in the file, a monster game with '[PlyCount "489"]' makes SCID skid to a halt.

As for the last two events, 'To Castle Or Not To Castle', these force a different no-castling strategy. White moves the Knights back and forth for the first few moves, leaving the castling options intact, while Black loses the option(s) as described above. For the first few games on the file, Black loses only the O-O option, leaving O-O-O intact. I didn't check whether the same no-castling strategy applied throughout the two matches, or whether the 'O-O / O-O-O' options are turned off using other sequences.

That's not much of an analysis for this post, but I ran out of time to do more. I might come back to the subject another time. At least I verified that the CCC PGN files are accessible for further investigation and work as advertised.

For more about the subject, see my previous post The Engines' Value of Castling (May 2015). Using a different opening trick, I worked out that the value of castling is roughly equivalent to a Pawn. I should repeat the experiment with the same trick used in the two 'To Castle Or Not To Castle' events.

The Tornelo Online Platform

Earlier this month on my World Chess Championship blog, I reported in A New Cycle Is Coping Nicely (June 2021) that 'FIDE has already issued reports on two of the Continental qualifiers'. Quoting Fide.com:-

"The European Hybrid Qualification Tournament for the FIDE World Cup took place from May 24-30 on Tornelo online platform." • "The American Hybrid World Cup Qualifier was an 8-group (16 players in each) knockout tournament taking place from May 22-29. All the games were played online on Tornelo platform from designated venues"

I couldn't recall having encountered Tornelo before and made a mental note to learn more. Thanks to this month's featured video I can check off that mental note. The following video is from YouTube's Tornelo channel.

Business of Chess Events (1:08:39) • '[Published on] Jun 7, 2021'

The clip has no description and no comments, which makes me wonder how people are supposed to find it. The channel's description says,

Tornelo is a a Web-Control Centre for online, hybrid and OTB chess events. We support organisers and arbiters to fully control each step through the full lifecycle of an event: planning to completion. We are an event management system and game server all-in-one.

The FIDE calendar currently lists more than a dozen events that will use the 'Tornelo Platform', many of them youth events. The home page home.tornelo.com says,

We are proud to be the Official Tournament Management Platform of the European Chess Union – the peak body for 54 countries in Europe.

In last month's video post, The $64.000 Question (May 2021), I wrote,

There were so many great videos to choose from this month that I almost had to flip a coin. If this is because of the increased popularity of chess during the covid pandemic, then let's hope it has staying power.

On this month's short list I had 50% more clips than last month. Let the good times roll...

Nepo as a 'Young Star'

After doing the legwork documented in Nepo's TWIC Debut (June 2021; 'TWIC 310, dated 16 October 2000'), I set out to learn when the young Nepomniachtchi had earned his FIDE titles. Of the resources mentioned in the kickoff post, Carlsen's 2021 Challenger (May 2021), the most informative source was The chess games of Ian Nepomniachtchi (chessgames.com), under 'Title norms':-

Nepomniachtchi's first IM norm came from his 6/9 result at the Aeroflot Open B event in February 2003. His second IM norm came with his result at the tournament in Bled, Slovenia in July 2003. His third IM norm resulted from his requisite 4/9 result at the Aeroflot Open (2004) on 26 February 2004. He thereby became an International Master at the age of 13 years 7 months and 12 days.

He won his first GM norm with his 10/13 at the Corus Group C (2007). His second came from his result at the European Championship (2007) in April 2007. His third GM norm resulted from his his excellent 7/11 result at the World Youth Stars (2007) which had its last round on 27 May 2007. As his rating was [already] well above 2500, he became a grandmaster at the age of 16 years 9 months and 17 days.

Since my investigation for 'TWIC Debut' had stopped with TWIC 649 (16 April 2007, 8th Individual European Chess Championships), I extended it another year to include the last of his GM norms. I discovered that the 2007 World Youth Stars was the fifth in a series, and that Nepomniachtchi had played in all previous editions of the event. Here are the TWIC references for the five events:-

• TWIC 458; 2003-08-18 : Young Stars of the World
• TWIC 504; 2004-07-05 : Young Stars of the World
• TWIC 551; 2005-05-30 : Young Stars of the World
• TWIC 602; 2006-05-22 : 4th Young Stars of the World
• TWIC 655; 2007-05-28 : Somov Memorial Kirishi ['V International Chess Tournament "World's Youth Stars"']

Using those references, I created the following composite image showing the TWIC crosstables for all five events.

Larger examples of the crosstables can be found on Mark Crowther's The Week in Chess (TWIC).

TCEC S21 L2 Underway; CCC Unorthodox Openings

Two weeks ago, in TCEC S21 L4 Underway; CCC Opening 'Specials' (May 2021), I wrote, 'The TCEC is vrooming in high gear; the CCC is stuck in second gear'. Two weeks later, copy that. The situation last time can be summarized as:-

TCEC: The Qualification League [QL] results were announced in Chessdom.com. League 4 [L4] should finish in the next day or so, although the top four engines have an insurmountable lead over the next group. • CCC: The site launched into a series of events based on specific openings. The first was 'Caro-Kann Special' with four engines.

The current situation of the world's leading engine vs. engine ongoing competitions is an evolution of that summary.

TCEC: Chessdom.com issued two reports on L4:-

• 2021-05-22: "The failed triumvirate report" (chessdom.com) • 'An epic, a tragedy and a drama are developing at the [TCEC]. Happening at the same time we have a race for the first place, a race for the last qualifying position, and a race to avoid relegation.'
• 2021-05-25: Booot kicks into high gear, wins TCEC S21 L4 (ditto)

Minic won L3, a half point ahead of Booot. L2 has finished a quarter of the scheduled games. Only one of the L3 qualifiers is currently in the L2 top-4, but it is too early to make predictions. One of the minor changes introduced for S21 is a 'DE' value displayed with an engine's score; e.g. Minic's current L2 score is '4.5 [0]', where '[0]' is its current 'DE' value. The !commands explain,

!de • Direct Encounter is a tiebreak calculated from games between engines that have same amount of points. See !tiebreak

!tiebreak • For all Leagues, Playoff and Premier Division the tiebreak order is 1: Direct encounter [...]

L2 should finish this week

CCC: In the most recent off-week engine post, CCC PGN IV (May 2021), I looked at 'Sicilian Najdorf Special', the last of the five events using a specific [thematic] opening. After the thematic events, the site continued with 'Belgian Stew', 900 games starting with what appear to be randomly selected openings; and 'Saragossa', 300 games starting, 1.c3.

The site is currently running a 'Double Bongcloud' event starting, 1.e4 e5 2.Ke2 Ke7. The 392 games should finish this week. After that we should probably brace for more unorthodox openings.

[For further information from the various stakeholders in the engine-to-engine events, see the tab 'TCEC/CCC Links' at the top of this page. • NB: Leela = LC0 = LCzero]

A Flawed Top Item

This month's post for Top eBay Chess Items by Price (March 2010), is flawed for a number of reasons. Before I get to the flaws, let's have the particulars. The item pictured below, titled 'Vintage Signed, Framed & Matted "Kings Chess" Collotype by Virginia Dan', sold for 'US $329.99 or Best Offer'.

The description repeated the info in the title and added,

#375 of 375; Frame - 33" x 39.5"; Artwork - 20.5" x 27.5"; COA by Gala Publications; Very Good - Excellent Condition

I had a half-dozen other items on the month's short list, but this was the most interesting visually. There was one other painting by an unknown artist showing two monks playing chess, a visual cliché in the world of chess art. Another item was much pricier, but could easily have been a fake.

I chose this item despite its flaws. The most visible flaw is the reflection of the lights in the top center. Normally I would have cropped out the matting, but here it helps to recognize the extraneous reflection for what it is.

Another flaw is the low price. Normally this would have been under the cutoff point for the short list. The position of the item was higher in the list because it added a '$214.57 shipping estimate'. On top of that, the price said, 'US $329.99 or Best Offer' -- so which is it? And if it's the best offer, why not state exactly what the offer was? I know I've mentioned this annoyance in previous posts about 'Top Chess Items' and I'm sure I'll mention it again. The eBay strategy apparently favors its sellers by keeping their buyers in the dark.

Those nitpicks aside, the image is the best I've seen for this particular work. I saved an earlier eBay example where the dominant color was deep red. Its description was nevertheless more informative:-

This wonderful, signed print called *King Chest* is from an edition limited to 850 worldwide and presented by the Beverly Hills Gallery in 1981. The print is 28 by 21 and is handsomely framed and matted in a 36 by 29 inch frame.

This important piece is signed by American artist Virginia Dan. Born in 1922, Dan made a name for herself in the art world, where her works are referred as *living paintings.* This treasure comes with a certificate of authenticity from Beverly Hills Galleries and a pamphlet on Dan and her art.

The certificate lists the medium as *Colltype* and says that the original plate has been *defaced*. This certificate lists the price in 1982 as 375 dollars. Due to light reflections, our pictures do not do this marvelous piece justice. A rare picture, this would make a great gift for any chess enthusiast or art collector.

So what's the real name of the work -- "Kings Chess" as in the most recent eBay auction or "King Chest" as in the earlier auction. I pass, although I'm partial to "Kings Chess", especially because another difference between the two descriptions is "Collotype" vs. "Colltype", where "Collotype" is correct. The Wikipedia page Collotype says,

Collotype is a dichromate-based photographic process invented by Alphonse Poitevin in 1855 to print images in a wide variety of tones without the need for halftone screens. The majority of collotypes were produced between the 1870s and 1920s.

There is another, similar piece by the same artist where the player with his back to the artist is sitting on the right. An eBay auction for that work informed,

This is a limited edition signed and numbered serigraph by famous California artist, Virginia Dan. Virginia Dan was very popular in the 1970's and 80's. Her realism is spectacular! No one captures the expressions on a face like Virginia Dan.

"Chess Players" is her most famous composition of all her pieces and has been SOLD OUT for years! This piece is number 19/350 (a very low number), and measures approximately 30" x 20" (framed) with a silver molding and a teal blue matt that matches the piece and has plexi-glass protecting the piece.

For more about the artist, see Virginia Dan Biography & Works of Art (qart.com; b.1922-d.2014).

Nepo's TWIC Debut

Continuing with Carlsen's 2021 Challenger (May 2021) the subject is, of course, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. His earliest mention in Mark Crowther's 'The Week in Chess' was TWIC 310, dated 16 October 2000. The young Nepomniachtchi appears to have had a definite liking for youth tournaments. Here are the events he played as reported by TWIC along with his final placing.

European Youth Championships:-
TWIC 310; 2000-10-16 : U10 1 (i.e. 1st)
TWIC 357; 2001-09-10 : U12 1-4
TWIC 414; 2002-10-14 : U12 1
TWIC 465; 2003-10-06 : U14 3-6
TWIC 568; 2005-09-26 : U18 11-18

World Youth Championships:-
TWIC 365; 2001-11-05 : U12 16-24
TWIC 420; 2002-11-25 : U12 1-2
TWIC 469; 2003-11-03 : U14 3
TWIC 523; 2004-11-15 : U18 15-27
TWIC 560; 2005-08-01 : U16 2-3

Russian Junior Championships:-
TWIC 384; 2002-03-18 : U20 11-19
TWIC 493; 2004-04-19 : U18 1
TWIC 540; 2005-03-14 : U20 8-9
TWIC 592; 2006-03-13 : U20 3-5

The date in the second column is the TWIC publication date. I expected to find considerable variation in the spelling of his name, but the only divergence was TWIC 365, which used 'Nepomniaschii'.

June 1971 & 1996 'On the Cover'

Continuing with the series that kicks off a new month on this blog, last seen in May 1971 & 1996 'On the Cover' (May 2021), this month's post is all about records. If the cover on the left looks familiar, it might be because we saw it a few years ago in Early U.S. High School Championships (May 2017), where I noted, 'In 1973, Larry Christiansen, a future three-time U.S champion, repeated his 1971 success.'

Left: ?
Right: 'U.S. Amateur Teams: West & Midwest Set New Records; Robert Smeltzer Sets Annual Record! 2,266 Games'

Chess Life & Review (50 Years Ago)

Larry Christiansen of Riverside, California, the first Junior High School student ever to win the National High School Championship. Full story next month.

Using the CFAA time travel machine, we skip ahead to the July 1971 issue of CL&R where we find a three page report by William [Bill] Goichberg titled 'Christiansen, Stuyvestant [sic, 'Stuyvesant'] High School Win National Titles'. It started,

537 students from 26 states and Puerto Rico competed in the 3rd Annual National High School Championship, played in New York April 2-4. There were 334 players in the Championship Section and a new high of 203 players in the Novice Section, open to all rated below 1400 or unrated. Overall attendance declined by 15 players from last year's 552, a not too discouraging figure in this recession year which saw disappointing turnouts in the Midwest, Eastern, Western, and Southern High School Championships. National representation actually continued to improve -- although the number of states was identical to last year, more players came from greater distances.

After a round by round account of the tournament, we learn that Christiansen attained a 7-0 score, while Robert Gruchacz was the only player a half point behind going into the final round. The Goichberg report continued,

With White against Gruchacz, Christiansen quickly established a strong position and the half-point he needed was agreed upon. The first junior high student to win the Championship, Christiansen was a Class B player two years ago and an A player at last year's Nationals (placing 21st).

Christiansen was in 9th grade at the time of winning the event.

Chess Life (25 Years Ago)

We thought it was a misprint when we saw the Most Active list in the Yearbook. We even checked it twice. Robert deserves whatever recognition we can give him. However, if a medal were involved, it would most deservedly go to his wife!

That was the editor's note to a full page article about Robert Smeltzer's accomplishment. The bulk of the article was a short chess autobiography by Smeltzer. It started,

I spent my early childhood and school years in the small quiet town of Wakarusa, Indiana (pop. 1200). Wakarusa is located in the far north part of the state close to Elkhart and South Bend.

The centerpiece of the article was a 'Letter of Appreciation':-

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Dallas Chess Club for the excellent space provided to play my match and tournament games. I especially thank Hugh West for being my match director, Luis Salinas for assisting at times and George Tolliver for the incentive prize fund he sponsored.

Some of the many club members who played making it possible for me to complete 2266 USCF rated chess games in 1995 are: [...] Many of these players spent long hours playing 10 to 14 game matches in 1 day. We had many grueling difficult games many of which went the full 30 minute time limit. I enjoyed 1995 as a good year of chess. I am looking forward to many more good years of chess. I hope all of you chess players have a good year in 1996.

Thank You,
Robert W. Smeltzer
19 March 1996

A March 1996 thread in rec.games.chess.misc, Most Games Played in USCF? (groups.google.com), apparently posted before the CL article, discussed the complications around Smeltzer's record. For more about rgc/rgcm, see Early Chess Newsgroups (June 2015).