12/30/2012

The Complete English Opening PGN Database A10-A39







The Complete English Opening PGN Database A10-A39 


The complete professional English Opening PGN database. A10 - A39 ECO codes. Over1.240.000 games. OTB, correspondence and engine vs. engine games comprise the product. The zipped file is approx. 329MB. A must for the avid English player and a very good tool for home preparation. PAY BY PAYPAL OR CREDIT CARDS

Complete English Opening PGN Database


The Complete English Opening PGN Database Order Link



12/15/2012

The Complete King's Indian Attack PGN Database

The Complete King's Indian Attack PGN Database


The complete professional King's Indian Attack PGN database. Over 162.000 games. OTB, correspondence and engine to engine games comprise the product. All transpositions of d3-e4 center have been included with the night entering the game from d2 or a3. KIA against the French, Caro Kann, Sicilian defences, London sysytem, Karpov system, Keres sytem, reverse King's Indian variations and the annoying symetrical system plus less known defences have all been included. The zipped file is approx. 42 MBs. A must for the avid KIA player. PAY BY PAYPAL or CREDIT CARDS.


10/29/2012

Pirc-Ufimtsev-Robatsch Defences B06-B09 Complete Professional Database PGN FORMAT





Pirc-Ufimtsev-Robatsch Defences B06-B09 Complete Professional Database


If you insist on playing 1) ... g6 against every move this is your database against 1. e4 .  540.000 + games. B06 - B09. Zipped file is apprx. 127MB . The database covers transpositions too. Correspondence, OTB and engine to engine games.  PGN FORMAT   PAY BY PAYPAL



10/16/2012

Alekhine's Defence Complete Professional Chess Database PGN Format B02 - B05



Alekhine's Defence Complete Professional Chess Database PGN Format B02 - B05


 
Alekhine's Defence B02 - B05. Complete Professional PGN Chess Database. OTB, Correspondence and Engine to Engine games compose the product. Over 177.000 games included. This unusual defence seems to be a suprise weapon. Zipped file is 42MB in size. A professional tool for home preparation in PGN format. PAY BY PAYPAL

10/04/2012

Caro Kann Defence B10 - B19. Complete Professional PGN Chess Database.





Caro Kann Defence B10 - B19. Complete Professional PGN Chess Database.

 

 

OTB, Correspondence and Engine to Engine games compose the product. Over 687.000 games included. This positional defence seems to be very popular. Zipped file is 172MB in size. A professional tool for home preparation in PGN format.









9/20/2012

Trompowsky Opening - Levitsky Attack A45 - D00






Trompowsky Opening - Levitsky Attack and all transpositions. ECO codes A45 and D00. 1 d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 the Trompowsky Opening and 1 d4 d5 2 Bg5 the Levitsky Attack (also known as the Pseudo Trompowsky) are both in the database. All other transpositions are also included. Over 67.000 games in PGN format; the zipped file is 17MB. A complete professional database for home preparation. PAY BY PAYPAL.

9/16/2012

BEST 4 CHESS ENGINES AND THEIR STRENGTHS, ANALYSES AND NOTES BY M. ERGENEKON / MS. IT ISTANBUL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY-- HOUDINI, STOCKFISH, RYBKA, CRITTER


BEST 4 CHESS ENGINES  AND THEIR STRENGTHS, ANALYSES AND NOTES BY M. ERGENEKON / MS. IT ISTANBUL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY-- HOUDINI, STOCKFISH, RYBKA, CRITTER
  
1) Ability to find original moves:


Houdini is the best, Rybka and Critter ara close to each other; on the short run Critter is slightly better but on the long run they are equal, maybe Rybka is even slightly better. Stockfish is very useful in middlegame and tactical positions but since it does not use tablebases it has a disadvantage against others in the endgame.
2) Position Evaluation
Here again the most realistic evaluation comes from Houdini, followed by Critter; Rybka and Stockfish. The best ranking for non-tactical evaluation is in the above order. For tactical positions and especially for middlegame combinations I suggest Stockfish.
3) The speed of anlysis
The speed in anlyses is as follows: Stockfish, Houdini, Critter and Rybka.
4) The ability to descend to depth
Again in proportion with the speed of analysis  Stockfish is leading with Houdini, Critter and Rybka following. Although Rybka is the slowest engine in the speed of analysis it's ability to descend to depth is close to Critter. Here I want to express that stength of anlysis depth is not equal in all engines. Rybka's 30 depth anlysis is close to Stockfish's 40 analysis depth.
5) Does the engine get in to an infinite loop?
Houdini enters infinite loops very often. The others except Stockfish also enter infinite loops. But it seems that Houdini enters an infinite loop every time there is an unconcluded anlysis.

6) Official website
Houdini: http://www.cruxis.com/chess/houdini.htm (Commercial, author: Robert Houdart)
Rybka: http://www.rybkachess.com/index.php?auswahl=Home  (Commercial, Author: Vasik Rajlich and his team), There is cluster supportfor super computers. Also Rybka has a  very innovative and very strong opening book. To beat Rybka  for a chess engine is a criteria for the candidacy for the world title.
Critter: http://www.vlasak.biz/critter/  (Free, closed source)
(Free and open source, Authors: Tord Romstad, Marco Costalba, Joona Kiiski)
 Critter, according to its authors differ from other chess engines by choosing the Knight, in Bishop Knight exchanges. But again according to their authors in positional evaluations there is not much difference except this. They are using “singular extention” for move elimination. Also it is stated that Stockfish increases its playing power with this method.
One of the best ways  to increase the the playing power of a chess engine is to enhance the algorithm called Alpha-Beta Pruning . In simple terms this means the betterment of move eliminaton method. The best engines which use this method are Critter and Rybka and maybe also Houdini but Stockfish uses (singular extention)as I mentioned above which is basicly a method where you increase the depth by one if there is a viable only move or a singular move.  The other 3 engines find this method expensive in terms of using computing and computer resources. The reflection of this choice on the chess board is as follows: Stokfish becomes very strong in finding powerful moves in the middle game which lead to a win but the anlyses may miss intermezzos. But Rybka and  Critter do not miss the intermezzos but since they cannot descend to depths like Stockfish they cannot come up with the conclusion to their anlyses. On the other side Houdini behaves in an  optimum fashion between these two extremes and that is why it is the strongest engine.
Advice (incase you may use it!): If there is already a move in your mind and you are looking for variation instead of a move;first use Stockfish then use Houdini this will be more advantageous. But on the contrary if you are looking for a move first check with   Rybka or Critter and then analyse the move you find with Houdini and Stockfish .
Among these even the Houdini 1.5a  version is better than the other engines.  Critter is better  in (40/4 blitz) and Stockfishis much better at  40/40 (move/minute) time control games.
Stockfish's final version is very advanced but the last version of  Critter doesn't look too different from 1-2 versions. (Source: http://www.computerchess.org.uk/ccrl/ )




M. ERGENEKON MS. ITU Istanbul Technical University 



9/09/2012

Chess Database -- Queen's Gambit Accepted D20-D29



QGA - Queen's Gambit Accepted D20-D29

PGN FORMAT 

 

QGA - Queen's Gambit Accepted covers all games between codes D20 and D29. Over 249.00 games. OTB (Over the board), Correspondence and engine to engine (with rating level between 2700 and 3400) games configure the product. The zipped file is apprx. 68 MB. All notable games until July 2012 have been included. All games are in PGN format. A very important tool for home preparation. PAY BY PAYPAL




8/09/2012

The 2010 Turkish Correspondence Chess Championship has ended. Nejdet Esen makes it two in a row.

The 2010 Turkish Correspondence Chess Championship has ended. Nejdet Esen has defended his title which he obtained in 2009. Here we have an interwiev with the champion.


1) You have won the Turkish Correspondence Chess Championship consecutively now.
Can you share your success secret with us?

I think things done in the road to success are no longer considered a secret; they can be expressed as basic requirements for the aforementioned labor. In short, in the language of chess we can say; patient, long and intensive anlyses, correct opening choices and a little bit of luck maybe.

2) You are also the 8th Asia-Africa Zonal Champion; what kind of preparations have you made for the World Championship and other notable championships?

To put it frankly I never set long term goals for myself; but in every tournament that I entered I tried to obtain the best posssible result. At the moment I am playing the preliminaries of the 34th and the 35th World Championships. My first goal is to advance to the next round; and in both of the tournaments I have mentioned, I am very close to this goal; of course the next milestone is to get to the Finals. In the case of reaching the Finals; I want to go as far as possible.

3) At the moment you don't have a title or a norm; however I would like to direct you the following question: when do you think you will attain the GM title?

Correct, at this stage I don't even have a norm but I am very close to SIM norms in two tournamnets that I am playing. When I become a SIM, I will try to get a GM title in two years time.

4) Can you analize a few of your games for our readers.

To choose among games that you put your effort for one or two years is difficult. I personally like games which I have expended my greatest efforts.

2010 Turkish CC Champion Nejdet Esen

N. Esen vs. A. Kazoks


R. Opperman vs. N. Esen




5) Do you think that the monetary prizes the Federation ( TSF - TCF) allocates for the Turkish Correspondence Chess Championships are adequate?

Correspondence Chess is not well known yet in our country and it hasn't acquired the necessary deference. At this juncture the adoption of correspondence chess by the Federation( TSF - TCF ) and its allocation of prizes for the campionships is a very important advance. In this process when correspondence chess is better understood among our people, the prizes will also improve. However we cannot criticize the amount of prizes at this conjecture.

6) Which player inspired you the most?

I have no singular answer for this question. In different times I was inspired by different players. In the stages when I frist began playing chess, due to my first chess book, Capablanca has a separate place for me; but I was inspired by different world champions at different times. I was also influenced by non-World Champions like Carlos Torre, Paul Keres, and Paul Murphy who was well ahead of his time.

7) What are your favorite openings and what is your favorite stage in achess game? 

I like the Sicilian defence both with White and with Black. I also like the Indian systems and openings with distinct attack plans like Greco- Möller Attack, Marshal Attack and Torre Attack... etc.  To answer your second question I'll have to say that in some games I like the opening, in others the middle game and in others the end game. To give a more general answer I can say that I like sections of the game where there are more options and rich possibilities.


Nejdet Esen before an OTB game.


8)What are yor short and long term goals.

My goal in the long term is to play in the Final of a World Championship; and  in the short term is to complete my SIM norms.

9) Do you use PCs during your anlyses. Which engines are you using? Can you share your thoughts on the usage of computers in correspondence chess?

Of course I am using computers for anlysis; and unless you  have a GM friend with whom you can discuss chess matters, I think that computer assistance is a must for every player. I don't think correspondence games are like OTB and other games where you exhibit what you have prepared. In correspondence chess preparations are continuing throughout the game and the environment is more like a place where the player is trained. Therefore since contemporary masters are using computers in home preparation I don't see anything more natural then correspondence players doing the same thing. Of course relying on computer analysis is not sufficient, during the game one must search for ideas from books and try to obtain the opinions of different people, otherwise one will be stuck at a certain level in correspondence chess. Here I have to note that, there are many instances where the computers were easily deceived in correspondence chess. To know positional ideas, to be in command of strategical concepts, openings and middle game pricipals are all important; besides these, a computer will be a good workout partner. In my analyses I use  Rybka and Houdini engines very often; when I have difficulty in creating an original idea or a plan I consult  other engines also.

10) Do you have a message that you would like convey?

I wish all correspondence players much success. To people who have joined correspondence play recently or are planning to join in, I advice patience . To acquire benefits from correspondence chess and to be able to use it in normal tournaments, they have to know that there is a long way to go. Like all other sports branches, in correspondence chess there is no way for fast success.


2010 Turkish CC Championship Final Standings
EventCrossTable.aspx?id=21830


2009 Turkish CC Championship Final Standings

http://www.iccf-webchess.com/

EventCrossTable.aspx?id=17558
8th AA Zonal Final Standings

http://www.iccf-webchess.com/

6/02/2012

A SELECTION OF AFFORDABLE PGN CHESS DATABASES

SOKOLSKY OPENING A00

GRUNFELD DEFENCE D70-D99

THE RUY LOPEZ (SPANISH) C60-C99

KING'S INDIAN WITH E4   E70-E99

PELIKAN - SVESHNIKOV  B33







PAYMENT BY PAYPAL OR CREDIT CARDS

ALL DATABASES ARE IN PGN FORMAT...



An Interview with European Champion Fatih Atakisi



This time we have an interview with European Champion Fatih Atakisi ( pronounced as Faa-tihh Ata-kishi) on his victories and the current  situation of chess in general.

 

The Interview: 

1) When did you attain the European Championship? What kind of stages did you have to pass during the process?

In 2000 I won the 53rd European championship. A year earlier in the 47th European Championship although I scored half a point more (11,5/15 p ) than  the tournament where I became the champion, I came second. In those days you had to pass a preliminary stage. I came 1st in the preliminary stage  tournament (EU/M/GT/315 ) and obtained the right to enter the Master's tournament. I came 1st amongst 15 masters in  this tournament and reached the final. In the final I played gainst very strong players of the time and grasped the championship on tiebreak points. I have to say that to clinch this title is very difficult and requires the application of strict discipline.

2) When you became the European Champion the chess software weren't as strong as they are now. Are you using PCs during your games? Can you elucidate?

When I became the champion PCs were just begining to be used and did not add up to anything. During my championship I never used a PC. Nowadays I use PCs because everyone has a few of these things at their disposal and to beat anyone has become more difficult than ever. However I have something interesting to say: Since 2006 due to my intensive vocational obligations I entrusted myself to PCs. The result is a complete  catastrophy. The PC lost most of its games. From this I deduct the following: If you play tied to your computer it is difficult to beat your opponent, however if you can direct your computer according to your own moves, it is poassible to beat the opponent who is receiving PC assistance. Now of course correspondence players do not follow the PC move without probing. This is  making draws the final outcome of most games and it is becoming nearly impossible to win any games at all. As a result I can say that PCs are about to totaly annihilate high level correspondence chess.


European Champion GM Fatih Atakisi


3) Can you analyse 2 of your games that you like the most.
 
           F. Atakisi_F. Runowiecki
           F. Atakisi_P. Soderberg        

 3a) Does the perspective of Turkish Chess Federation on correspondence chess satisfy you?

I don't think that TSF has any study or planning on correspondence chess. I f there was any labour worthy to be mentioned the number of Turkish players would  have increased. When I became a GM nobody from the Federation congratulated me which is interesting. They only gave it as news on their website; it seems that I couldn't attract any of their attention.
4) Can you comment on the World Championship of Tunc Hamarat...

I cannot find any words to praise the achievement of Tunc Hamarat.
The Austrian Government for which he played on behalf of,
is planning to print a stamp in his name to commemorate this achievement. What a great way to honour someone...! I hope one day it will be our turn...

5) Can you comment on the concession of the World Title by Tansel Turgut on tiebreak points?

There is rumour that Tansel was defeated by the tongs of other players. Whatever the reality may be in my eye the champion is Tansel Turgut. I never came across someone who plays correspondence chess so easily and cleanly. I think his personal life is also under discipline and it won't be long before we see him as the Champion.

6) Who is the player who inspired you the most?

I am quite fond of Tansel Turgut as I mentioned above.

7) What is your advice for the people who want to become strong correspondence players?

Don't played tied to a computer, try to direct them. Spare time for personal analysis.

8) Which one ICCF or FIDE?
ICCF is a bit amateurish, for the progress of chess I say FIDE. ICCF is ideal for people like us who can't find time for OTB play due to vocational obligations.

9) You are also a FIDE Master and a Senior Chess Trainer. Do you have goals like developing your FIDE title or becoming a Technical Director.

When I retire in the future I would like to become a Technical Director.  My age is not suitable for OTB chess, to cope with young players is  difficult for us. However I have some humurous friends who say that I haven't said my last word.

10) Can you comment on the progress of Turkish Chess? What do you think of the performance of our National  Players?

Relative to the past the progress and the emergence of new masters catches the eye but I personally think that day by day chess is becoming a rich man's game. Sooner or later the negative impact of this factor will be noticed. I am also against converted masters. This will only help to camouflage insufficient progress. Foreign trainers may be useful but foreign (converted) national player idea is to me is displeasing and it won't be beneficial. In the way it stands now I think that only masters with monetary possibilities will proceed and I don't expect other achievements.

 
11) What are your favorite openings? What stage of chess do you like the most?

I like d4 openings and middle game is the phase that I like the most and where I am more succesful.

12) What will be your next move and do you have a message?
I plan not to play correspondence for a while after I finnish about 15 games that I have in progress. Then I will only take on a small number of games to increase my rating and I will watch out for World Championship Finals.
As a player who served the purpose of the development of correspondence chess quite a bit I invite people who cannot play OTB chess to play correspondence chess. The  idea should be to improve chess not to  win or loose.

3/30/2012

GM Tansel Turgut concedes the 24th ICCF World Championship on 0.25 SB tiebreak points.



As you can see at the crosstable below the only game left to officially end the 24th ICCF World Championship is between T.Turgut and F. Gerhardt. However it will not affect the outcome of the championship: the winner is M. Semrl  of Slovenia. If Turgut wins this last game he still will have to concede the title on 0.25 SB tiebreak points.

T. Turgut won 5 games so far. He was the leader of the group for approximately 7 months, however late wins by M. Semrl decided the outcome. At http://www.squidoo.com/computer-chess-analysis link Marjan Semrl askes the question :"Who will be the next world champion? Turgut, Gerhardt, Wunderlich ... or ... may be ...?". He was of course going to say " maybe me?" but did not, chose to be humble and went home with the title.

Dr. Tansel Turgut


Turgut's games esspecially the ones he won were in a class of their own. The Turgut-Kunzelmann game is a fine example of acquiring a win out of nothing. This game like many of Turgut's others excell all world champions and computer software (deep! or not) . Most moves like Nb1, the pawn sacrifice on e3 and the quality sacrifice on f5 are non-computer moves which lead to a win unphantomable by chess software.

 I still cannot comprehend how Turgut won against Tiemann.  In the ICCF forum which is now discontinued Turgut claims that in the final position, if the pawn is on h6 White wins, and if it is on h7 Black wins. These are positional comments which have a deep base which I cannot grasp at my present level. If you understand how the final win came pls feel free to comment!

Novak-Turgut game is an example of how Turgut fares under attack, creating an unbalanced position by returning a quality sacrifice to quell a Knight sacrifice which he had to accept.The game is also a good example of the Tourton theme at this level.

Turgut-Jacquin game is an example of how he exploits the slightest advantage (the passed g pawn and a rook against bishop and Knight pair in this case) and converts it slowly to a win.

A pawn sacrifice in the opening and a game forcing the opponent to defend the weaknesses created by the extra pawn tells the story of Turgut-Sabaev game. Black tries to smother White's intentions by landing a Knight on d3 where it is immediately annihilated by a quality sacrifice which leads to a winning kingside attack.


I finnish my article with Turgut-Semrl game which ends with a rook sacrifice forcing a perpetual check draw, which both sides seemed to be happy about.

24th ICCF World Championship Final Standings










2/26/2012

Is there a definite refutation of the Sokolsky Opening- II



 The second myth about the so called refutation of the Sokolsky opening is based on the advance of the c pawn (of course to c5). I remember about 25-30 years ago Cem Karadag (then the Turkish Junior Champion and an avid Sokolsky player) holding the top of the c pawn upside down and saying regretfully  that  if it wasn't for this pawn he would preferably play the opening throughout his carrier. However as you will see below White still has excellent chances after a c5 at a given moment.
  After the exchange of the Black's final  central pawn (the d pawn) Black can only hold on to the center with c5 and f5.



After c5 White can sometimes play d5 with the idea of e4 (first f3 and then e4 if necessary). As a precaution f5 comes in handy at these times.



    If after c5 White doesn't or can't respond with d5, Black has the option of exchanging one of the center pawns back with cxd4. Responding with exd4 leaves White's d4 pawn weak and a strong game can be initiated using the weakness of this pawn.We can see an example in the  Urzica-Adorjan  game which was played in 1969 in World Junior Championship. Karpov won the tournament. Urzica had he won this game would have had sole second place. However after this loss they tied for second.  In the game Adorjan first retreats the Black Bishop to e7 (instead of a5 pinning the d pawn ) and then attacks the center with c5. Adorjan tries the same manouver againt Smyslov 1971/2 Hastings. Pls note that together with c5 this Bishop exchange manouver on f6 is very strong and effective. Smyslov-Adorjan.   Muri-Stankevicius  Volke-Schaefer
As these above 2400 rating games show so far we don't have a refutation. White still has excellent chances.
  The Oldekop Variation
We can of course play c5 without retreating the Bishop to e7 and maintaining the pin on d2. In this variation c5 control is used in collaboration with the pin on b4 and also Black's white Bishop is placed on f5 to apply more pressure on White's camp. Nekashkevic-Oldekop  Treskunov-Oldekop Shustef-Oldekop Rudenkov-Oldekop Prosvirin-Oldekop
 Mr. Oldekop who ever he may be seems to have had a field day in this variation which looks like a bizarre refutation. But not so. After c5 an early Qc2! tips the tables for White giving excellent chances on both the kingside and the queenside.  Katalymov-Giterman Muri-Ponelis Kural-Jonsson. I salute the Kazakh player for his deep insight of the position and  for coming up with a beautiful solution to the c5+Bf5 problem.

  Now I know a sneaky thought is coming to your mind. What if we play Bf5 first at move number 6 and play c5 a move later to force an Oldekop variation. It has been tried before : Kural-Osipov

This, in my opinion a highly professional analysis of possible refutations of the Sokolsky Opening yields one result: there is no refutation. In most games both sides have excellent chances with reciprocative possibilities.

2/17/2012

The TURK

Is there a definite refutation of the Sokolsky opening? - I



There is a definite answer to this question; and it is: no! The myth of Sokolsky's refutation is based on two pillars and of course they both belong to the exchange variation : 2 ... Bxb4!.
1) A certain Rook sacrifice on e3.
2) The advance of Black's c pawn to c5 to stop the advance of White's central pawn majority which is usually with d4.
Tha latter of these two pillars of refutation pertain to more advanced players.
But let's take the first one and examine it carefully.


 An early Re8 in the exchange variation with the pin of the Bishop on b4 and the collaboration of a Knight on d5 causes extreme pressure on e3. White does not have time to castle and hence comes the Rook sacrifice on e3. But is it sound?  The game Lapshun-Sinn  demonstrates this very well. The Queen escapes to b3 and the King retreats to d1. Black must develop his Queen side pieces in order to attack. Be6 is met by Queen exchange offer on d3 and swiftly the Rook gets to g1 and commences operations. White is not better because he is a whole Rook up but because he has active play.
Please check our annotated selection of strong games for a personal opinion:
Durka-Drvota
Muri-Van der Kooij
Muri- Bjorn
Torassa-Gross

The second pillar of refutation is based on the advance of the c pawn in the exchange variation.
I will soon continue with this subject which must be dealt in detail.