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1996-01-21
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Evans On Chess. January 19, 1996. Copyright Chesstours. All rights
reserved.
6th HARVARD CUP
Pundits predict computers will conquer chess by the turn of the century.
But what kind of progress is being made against real people right now?
A good yardstick is the Harvard Cup Challenge which began in 1989. Humans
won easily with 14.5 out of 16 games, but since then their margin of
victory has eroded each year -- from 90% to 60% in 1994.
The trend was reversed at the 6th Harvard Cup pitting six American
grandmasters in a team match format against six microcomputers in New
York last December. Humans tallied 65% with 23.5 - 12.5 in 36 games.
The chips were down. If machines keep improving with faster hardware, why
don't they do better each year? Experts clearly are adapting to the
creeping menace by switching to a solid, no-risk style of play.
"The magic number of 50% -- the point at which computers play on par with
the grandmasters -- seems frighteningly just around the corner," noted
Chess Life in February 1995.
We're reminded of the doctor who tried to buoy a dying patient by
dangling hope of a remarkable cure. "Cheer up! Science is making amazing
progress," he chirped. "But so are viruses," croaked the patient.
What better way to boost sales than advertising a certain program
trounced a grandmaster? But the fast time limit of 25 minutes per side
favors machines as shown in this loss by Joel Benjamin, high-scorer in
three Harvard Cups, who snared a pawn by move 15 and was coasting to
victory. The rest normally would be a cinch, yet the machine got more
dangerous as the clock kept ticking.
GRANDMASTERS (in 6 games) AND PERFORMANCE RATINGS
1. Joel Benjamin 4.5 -- 2694
2. Michael Rohde 4.5 -- 2656
3. Boris Gulko 4 -- 2597
4. Gregory Kaidanov 3.5 -- 2511
5. Patrick Wolff 3.5 -- 2510
6. Ilya Gurevich 3.5 -- 2508
MACHINES
1. Virtual Chess 3.5 -- 2644
2. Chessmaster 4000 3 -- 2581
3. M-Chess Pro 2.5 -- 2514
4. WChess 1.5 -- 2358
5. Socrates 95 1 -- 2268
6. Junior 1 -- 2254
White:JOEL BENJAMIN Black: CHESSMASTER 4000 (for Windows 95) Queen's
Gambit Declined 1995
1 c4 c6 2 Nf3 d5 3 Qc2 e6 4 g3 Bb4? 5 Bg2 Nf6 6 O-O Nbd7 7 d4 O-O 8 Bf4
dxc4 9 Qxc4 Nd5 10 Bd2 a5 11 e4 N5b6 12 Qc2 f5? 13 Qb3 fxe4 14 Qxe6 Kh8
15 Qxe4 Nf6 16 Qc2 Nfd5 17 Bg5 Qe8 18 Ne5 Qh5 19 h4 Bf5 20 Be4 Bxe4 21
Qxe4 a4 22 a3 Be7 23 Bxe7 Nxe7 24 Nd2 Rad8 25 Ndf3 Nf5 26 Rae1 Nd6 27 Qd3
Nd5 28 Ng5 Rf6 29 f4 Kg8 30 Re2 Re8 31 Rff2 Rd8 32 Qf3 Qxf3 33 Ngxf3 Nf5
34 Kh2 Nb6 35 Re4 Rfd6 36 Nd3 Nd7 37 Nc5? Nf6 38 Ree2 Ng4 39 Kg2 Nxf2 40
Kxf2 Rg6 41 Nxb7 Rf8 42 Ng5 h6 43 Re6 Rxe6 44 Nxe6 Rb8 45 Nec5 Nxd4 46
Ke3 Ne6 47 f5 Nxc5 48 Nxc5 Rxb2 49 Nxa4 Rb3 50 Kf4 Rxa3 51 Nc5 Kf7 52 g4
Rc3 53 Ne4 Rh3 54 h5 Rd3 55 g5 hxg5 56 Nxg5 Kf6 57 Ne4 Ke7 58 Ng5 c5 59
Ke4 c4 60 Ne6 Rh3 61 Kd4 c3 White Resigns