Fritz 12 is out! Which means ...

[Erik Malmsten]

Re: Fritz 12 is out! Which means ...

When I upgraded Hiracs 1-1/2 years ago which used Fritz 8 to Fritz 10 I noticed these chances:
1) faster at finding checkmates and perpetual checks in variations.
2) changed evaluation, for example to consider B+P for a rook.
3) improvements in rating the opening lines, useful for post-game analysis.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Fritz 12 is out! Which means ...

If you are an hour late, you get round O.

So simple is chess. Who would have thought... :D

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: Fritz 12 is out! Which means ...

Is it true that in OTB chess you can come an hour late and offer your opponent a draw without making a move?

If you are an hour late, you get round O.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Fritz 12 is out! Which means ...

Do you mean that CC has no time limit? (e.g., 1, 3 or 7 days per move)

If CC didn't have any time limits, I wouldn't have received so many angry letters when I forfeited players for exceeding the time limit. :)

Is it true that in OTB chess you can come an hour late and offer your opponent a draw without making a move?

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: Fritz 12 is out! Which means ...

Advanced chess OTB has limitations such as time. This is not such a factor in CC.

Do you mean that CC has no time limit? (e.g., 1, 3 or 7 days per move)

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Fritz 12 is out! Which means ...

This type (human+engine) is called Advanced chess. A lot of info at Wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Chess
like "first introduced by grandmaster Garry Kasparov" :D

Advanced chess OTB has limitations such as time. This is not such a factor in CC. Two players consulting with each other on a CC games was grounds for losing a game. It was against the rules in Canada and also I think in the ICCF. I'm not sure if it is these days.

Advanced chess today would be more like we saw in the 1950's to 70's. We would get together with a friend and work on a tricky opening line. It seems to me the large influx of important chess theory and books started in the early 70's with authors like Harding and publishers like Batsford. Some of us used to subscribe to the Russian chess newspaper which came on the yellow paper. :) I forget what it was called.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: Fritz 12 is out! Which means ...

I think it's an indicator that a computer alone is not enough to excel at the high levels of CC.

This type (human+engine) is called Advanced chess. A lot of info at Wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Chess
like "first introduced by grandmaster Garry Kasparov" :D

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Fritz 12 is out! Which means ...

Time Control: Equivalent to 40 moves in 40 minutes on AMD X2 4600+ at 2.4GHz. We use Crafty 19.17 BH as a benchmark to determine the equivalent time control for particular machine.

My 2 yr old desktop is more powerful than the system they use and my cheap toshiba laptop blows it out of the water...

Thanks for the info. My computer is more than 5 years old. State of the art, when I bought it. :)

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Fritz 12 is out! Which means ...

The earliest Fritz I have is 5.32. Back then the computers were slow compared to today so I wonder if they play stronger now than they did then.

With computers mainly playing other computers, the actual ratings might not be very accurate. It's kind of like ratings accumulated in Toronto and Alberta. Although the Toronto players might have higher ratings because of the rating pool where they play, the Alberta players seem to me to be under rated.

I think Correspondence chess made a big mistake with computers. They didn't ban the use of them. Sometimes I wonder if some of the players still remember how to play chess. There is one player who appears to be a slave to the silicon monsters and thinks that's all which is necessary to obtain an IM title. I kind of doubt it but he's quite good with computers and once said he was working on his own program, which he used. At one point I asked him if he was a chess player or simply a software developer who was testing his software. He said he plays otb and if memory serves, which it sometimes doesn't, he plays at something over the 2000 level.

It's at the point where I can't play the kind of openings I used to like to use. The computers tend to transform something like the King's Gambit into a position where the gambiteer is simply a pawn down and the play is taken out of the position.

Anyhow, I think age is catching up and my game seems to be deteriorating. I think it's an indicator that a computer alone is not enough to excel at the high levels of CC.

[Jason Lohner]

Re: Fritz 12 is out! Which means ...

Those are quite the ratings. I think they can change depending on the hardware used and number of plies analysed. While they probably use similar hardware for the tests, it's unlikely most purchasers will have the same conditions.

I do believe that they have stated what hardware they are using and under what time controls (I believe it is long/er type games). Almost any system sold today is a dual core system that can do multi processing. High end systems can be ordered with 4 cores easily.

found the hardware requirements :)

Time Control: Equivalent to 40 moves in 40 minutes on AMD X2 4600+ at 2.4GHz. We use Crafty 19.17 BH as a benchmark to determine the equivalent time control for particular machine.

My 2 yr old desktop is more powerful than the system they use and my cheap toshiba laptop blows it out of the water...

[Felix Dumont]

Re : Fritz 12 is out! Which means ...

Engines aren't that good in blitz... They can see incredible tactics very fast, but they don't have the time to see very far... Sometimes you can even trap them into some traps in the openings :D

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: Fritz 12 is out! Which means ...

It is a little scary that the top off-the-shelf software program is now more than 400 rating points above the top human

The engine rating list has no humans, thus it should not be compared to the FIDE rating list.
Similar things at Playchess:
Top Blitz:
---human - 3351
---soft - 2910.
+400 for humans :D

[Caesar Posylek]

Re: Fritz 12 is out! Which means ...

It is a little scary that the top off-the-shelf software program is now more than 400 rating points above the top human(

Isn't that amazing from other side? How much a human nature is mistaken!?
:)

[Gordon Ritchie]

Re: Fritz 12 is out! Which means ...

It is a little scary that the top off-the-shelf software program is now more than 400 rating points above the top human!
Of course, that is a bit like saying that the top motorcycle can do the 440 yard dash faster than the fastest human.
Seriously, the ratings have become so strong as to be meaningless for all but the superGMs and even then.... What I look for in a program is the ability to spot my mistakes and that can be done by Fritz 4.:(

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Fritz 12 is out! Which means ...

This is probably the most comprehensive site

Those are quite the ratings. I think they can change depending on the hardware used and number of plies analysed. While they probably use similar hardware for the tests, it's unlikely most purchasers will have the same conditions.