TCEC Cup 11 Underway; CCC19 Bullet in Semifinals

In this blog's ongoing series covering the world's top-two ongoing engine vs. engine tournaments, the last post of 2022 was TCEC More Interludes; CCC19 Bullet Underway (December 2022). Following is a summary of that post.

TCEC: Stockfish won the VVLTC, then drew the two-game SVVLTC with LCZero. KomodoDragon placed first in the top-3 section of 'Noomen Extra 2'; Ethereal placed first in the next-11 section. LCZero then won the second chess324 tournament, a half point ahead of Stockfish. The site is currently conducting '4k Testing'. • CCC: After the 'CCC19 Rapid Final', there were so many CCC exhibition events that it's useful to list them; of 18 recent events, 10 were exhibitions. The site is currently running the 'CCC19 Bullet' event and has updated the event's 'Info' tab to explain its different stages. The 'CCC19 Bullet Newcomers' and 'Qualifier #1' events have finished, and 'Qualifier #2' is underway.

What's the situation two weeks later at the start of 2023? Glad you asked...

TCEC: Engine ice4 won the S23 4k tournament ahead of 4ku and three other engines; see the 'TCEC More Interludes' post for an explanation of '4k'. The site then launched into 'Cup 11', which is currently in the Round-of-16 stage; see TCEC Cup 11 (wiki.chessdom.org), for more info on the event. See also Stockfish Wins TCEC Cup 10; TCEC Swiss 3, CCC17 Blitz both Underway (June 2022; on this blog) for the previous event.

CCC: Four engines promoted from 'CCC19 Bullet Qualifier #2', and joined eight other seeded engines in the 'Main' event. The top six engines then qualified into the 'Semifinals', where more than a third of the games have been played. Stockfish has a significant lead over Dragon and Lc0, which have an even bigger lead over the other three engines.

[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; Dragon = KomodoDragon]

Signed by Fischer, Spassky, and Petursson

On this blog's long-running series Top eBay Chess Items by Price (March 2010), it's inevitable that themes repeat. A few months ago we had 'To Sam, With Thanks' (October 2022), where one of the items was:-

A first edition of 'My 60 Memorable Games' signed by Bobby Fischer to his friend Saemi Rock, a.k.a. Saemundur Palsson, friend and bodyguard in 1972.

For this post we have a pair of related items, shown below. Both had the same title: 'World Chess Championship 1972 - original print signed by Bobby Fischer', and both sold for the same amount: US $2490.00.

Both items had almost the same description. The item on the top said,

Exceptional memorabilia from the World Chess Championship in Reykjavik, Iceland 1972.  An original printing by Halldor Petursson signed by the cartoonist Halldor Petursson, World Champion Bobby Fischer and World Champion Boris Spassky. This printing is number 18 from a series of cartoons he made for the match. Those same drawings were printed as postcards and were published in the local newspaper in Iceland in 1972.

These printings were printed in limited issue, three sets were signed by these individuals, probably only 4-5. Bobby Fischer got one set, Boris Spassky got the second set and the third set was given to Bobby's friend and bodyguard, Saemi Rock, a.k.a. Saemundur Palsson and this printing if from his collection.

A written COA from Saemi Rock will be posted with item. Size of this original print is 25,5 x 33,5 cm.

The item on the bottom was described as number 16 in the series. That numbering is not consistent with the details shown on my post Halldor Petursson Cartoons (February 2008), where the top item is listed as no.17, and the bottom item as no.15.

Wayback to Yourmove.com

A couple of recent posts on this blog have mentioned the 1990s web site Yourmove.com:-

• 2022-12-02: The SmartChess Saga
• 2022-12-23: Wayback to Chess.net

Both citations quoted the same source:-

Statement by Anatoly Karpov: [...] I would also like to mention that I am a frequent guest lecturer at the superb Internet Chess Academy (www.yourmove.com) created by the talented young GM Gabriel Schwartzman.

The site is partially available via Archive.org, shown in the following screen captures.

https://web.archive.org/web/*/yourmove.com [starts 1998]

Top: circa 1998 • Bottom: circa 2000

The top capture misses a photo, but includes another endorsement by GM Karpov. It says,

"GM Gabriel Schwartzman's Internet Chess Academy brings chess instruction into the 21st century. I thoroughly recommend his course." - Anatoly Karpov, FIDE World Chess Champion

The bottom capture includes a photo, but misses the endorsement by Karpov. The September 1997 edition of 'SmartChess Online' carried two more endorsements of GM Schwartzman's site:-

What's on the Web? • We'd all like to improve our chess playing but how many of us can really afford to hire a personal coach? Would you like to be trained by a Grandmaster for a fraction of the cost? Then run, don't walk to Gabriel Schwartzman's Internet Chess Academy. With the help of the Internet and through his own innovation, Gabriel has made available to everyone what was once available only to the most fortunate player. Now in its second year, the Internet Chess Academy reaches hundreds of students at every level in over forty countries worldwide via e-mail. Twice a week, Gabriel sends his students a chess puzzle that he has carefully chosen. The challenge: find the best move in the position and send it back to qualify for monthly prizes (from a prize fund worth more than $1,000). [...]

The second endorsement was structured as an interview.

In Conversation With ... • GM Gabriel Schwartzman is a University of Florida student with a perfect grade point average, a successful businessman, a respected chess journalist and commentator, a licensed chess coach, the 1996 U.S. Open Champion and, as if all that isn't enough, he can checkmate you in six languages! At the age of twenty, Gabriel is a seasoned veteran of chess. He began playing at two years old and at seventeen, he was awarded the title of International Grandmaster. As the founder of the highly popular Internet Chess Academy, Gabriel reaches hundreds of students via e-mail in over forty countries world wide. The training method used at the ICA was developed by his father and is the same method that he has used to achieve his goals.

(Q:) At the age of 2, before most children learn to speak, you began to play chess. Tell us about your unique childhood? What sacrifices did you have to make in your early life to achieve your goals?

(A:) Well, I became good at this quite early - at four I had my first official tournament, and at eight I already started traveling the world, as I was being invited to competitions all over Europe and the United States. I must admit that I liked it a lot, because I got to do something very special, which none of my peers had the opportunity to, especially in a communist country [Romania]. But, there was very much work involved, and yes, a lot of sacrifices. I probably didn't get to play as much as other kids, but as Kasparov once replied to a similar question, "It was definitely worth it!" [...]

We've already seen GM Schwartzman several times on this blog. The most notable mention was December 1971 & 1996 'On the Cover' (December 2021), where he appeared on the cover of Chess Life. What became of the Internet Chess Academy? I'll try to answer that question in another post.

Chess at Trump Tower

While I was researching the latest post on my World Championship blog, 1994 Sanghi-Nagar (January 2023), I rediscovered a photo published in Chess Life, September 1994. The photo was one of several ('Photographs by Bill Hook and Kevin Dyke') that illustrated the tournament report by GM Patrick Wolff titled, 'Kamsky Crushes Kramnik, Advances to Semi Final in Spain'.

The Wolff article started,

The Intel World Chess Championship Quarterfinal Matches, organized under the auspices of the Professional Chess Association, and held at Trump Tower in New York City from June 7-18, was without doubt the most important chess event in America since the World Chess Championship between Kasparov and Karpov in 1990. Four matches were played, featuring the seven qualifiers from the Groningen qualifying tournament held in Holland in December 1993, plus GM Nigel Short of England, the loser of the World Championship match held in London in September-October 1993.

For the results of the matches, see my page 1994-95 PCA Candidates Matches (m-w.com). There I noted,

Quarterfinal matches; New York, VI, 1994 • The Intel World Chess Championship Quarterfinal Matches were organized by the PCA and held at the Trump Tower in New York City. The matches were opened by Donald Trump, an American real estate and casino developer.

Donald Trump is no stranger to chess. For another recent example, see Wayback to Smartchess (November 2022; '"Best Wishes!" - D.T.').

January 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover'

Once again, we change the calendar for the monthly post on American chess from 50 and 25 years ago. For last month's post, see December 1972 & 1997 'On the Cover' (December 2022).

Left: 'Churchie • Karpov, Portisch, Petrosian'
Right: 'World Team Championship; U.S. Snags Silver in Lucerne 1997'

Chess Life & Review (50 Years Ago)

The three winners of Church's Fried Chicken International Tournament, San Antonio 1972: Anatoly Karpov (left), Tigran Petrosian, (right), and Lajos Portisch. The other guy on the cover is a registered trademark of Church's Fried Chicken, Inc. See [inside] for tournament results. Photos by Burt Hochberg.

After introducing the winners, the tournament report inside only listed the final results of the 16 players. The introduction started,

Church's Fried Chicken. Inc. First International Chess Tournament ended December 11 in a triple tie for 1st. Anatoly Karpov, the most promising of the USSR's young grandmasters, won 7 games and lost only one (to Portisch) to add the San Antonio tournament to his recent string of important successes. Veteran former World Champion Petrosian, with 6 wins and no losses, achieved his greatest tournament success in about ten years to tie for top honors. Hungarian GM Portisch, after scoring only 4 1/2 points in the first 8 rounds, scored 6 points in the last 7 rounds to tie with Karpov and Petrosian with 10 1/2 points. Full reports on this significant event will appear in forthcoming issues.

All of the North American players, except Duncan Suttles of Canada in 6th-7th place, finished in the bottom half of the tournament. Played just a few months after the 1972 Fischer - Spassky title match (m-w.com; 'Reykjavik, VII-VIII, 1972'), the 1972 San Antonio tournament will always have a guaranteed place listed among Strong American Chess Tournaments (August 2016).

Despite all the fuss about 1972 Fischer - Spassky, the match did not usher in a golden era of American chess tournaments. The next event on the list of 'Strong American Tournaments' was 1982 Chicago.

The January 1973 CL&R featured interviews of Fischer, Spassky, and Gudmundur Thorarinsson, president of the Icelandic Chess Federation. The issue also included the last four games of the Fischer - Spassky match, annotated by Robert Byrne. Between the two articles was a 'Keres Annotates' column titled 'Two Karpov Wins'. GM Keres, a three-time champion of the USSR who finished 5th at 1972 San Antonio, wrote,

Karpov has a solid grounding in opening play, due partly to his second, Furman, wbo is considered one of the best in this field in the USSR. His general style of play is rather cairn. centered on positional considerations and somehow recalling Capablanca's attitudes towards the game. His technique is reasonable, but of course a player of only 21 still has some things to learn in this area. It seems to me that in five years Karpov will be able to replace any current leading Soviet grandmaster, provided he continues to make normal progress.

We know now that Karpov would become World Champion in 1975, after Fischer declined to defend the title. One positive outcome of the boom for American chess was a new generation of American players attracted to the royal game during the peak interest in Fischer. Their rise to the top of U.S. rating lists was undoubtedly one of the reasons behind the next part of this 'On the Cover' post.

Chess Life (25 Years Ago)

A gold cover would have been much nicer than silver. But silver is better than bronze (see the February 1997 cover). And it would have been a gold cover if not for a miraculous finish by the Russians at the World Team Championship, held in Lucerne, Switzerland. Our team played hard and well, garnering three board prizes along with second place.

GM Larry Christiansen's eight-page tournament report, 'World Team Championship', cast doubts on the legitimacy of the Russian victory. Last year we saw the February 1997 cover in February 1972 & 1997 'On the Cover' (February 2022). There we find the same six players shown on the January 1998 CL cover: GMs Yermolinsky, Benjamin, Gulko, De Firmian, Kaidanov, and Christiansen. The numbers 2, 4, and 6 were all home-grown American talent. The others emigrated from the USSR in the 1980s.

TCEC/CCC 2022-H2 Summary

The previous six month summary, TCEC/CCC 2022-H1 Summary (June 2022), asked,

'Dragon, LCZero - Who's Better?'. One week it's Dragon; next week it's LCZero. What answers will the next six months bring?

Here's a summary of the second half of 2022.

TCEC/CCC	Off-week
2022-07-18: Stockfish Wins TCEC Swiss 3 and CCC17 Blitz	2022-07-25: Stockfish vs. ChessBase in Court
2022-08-01: Stockfish Wins TCEC FRC5, Leads CCC18 Rapid Semifinal	2022-08-08: GM Sadler Tweets About TCEC
2022-08-15: Stockfish Wins TCEC DFRC1, Leads CCC18 Rapid Final	2022-08-22: Interviews with Dragon's Developers
2022-08-29: TCEC S23 Leagues Underway; CCC Rudderless?	2022-09-05: Chess324 Is a Thing
2022-09-12: TCEC S23 L1, CCC19 Blitz - Both Underway	2022-09-19: Talkchess Talks Current Topics
2022-09-26: TCEC S23 Paused; 'CCC19 Blitz Main' Underway	2022-10-03: Breaking the 3500 Barrier
2022-10-10: TCEC S23 DivP, CCC19 Blitz Final : 'Well' Underway	2022-10-17: 'One Move In, One Move Out'
2022-10-31: TCEC S23 Sufi, CCC19 Rapid : Both Underway	2022-11-07: 'Studying with Modern Engines'
2022-11-14: TCEC S23 Sufi, CCC19 Rapid : Nearing the Finish	2022-11-21: Stockfish vs. ChessBase Settlement
2022-11-28: TCEC S23, CCC19 Rapid : Stockfish Wins Both	2022-12-05: TCEC Article PDFs
2022-12-12: TCEC/CCC Interludes	2022-12-19: Chessify Setup
2022-12-26: TCEC More Interludes; CCC19 Bullet Underway

Stockfish won everything in sight, including its legal dispute with ChessBase. As for unofficial no.2, it seemed to me that LCZero did slightly better overall than Dragon, but this needs to be confirmed with data.

The usual question after preparing a six month summary is, 'Should I continue with the weekly engine posts?' The answer this time is, 'Yes, to resolve the Dragon vs. LCZero question.'

2023! (9LX style)

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