The joy of hacking – Chessbase News

11/1/2020 Former world number 4 and long-standing columnist Jon Speelman shares one of the most complicated games he has ever played a win he got over Britains first grandmaster Tony Miles when he was 19 years old. How did he do it? Speelman concludes his analysis: Theres no point in looking for consolidation when the board is awash with lava. | Pictured: Tony Miles (sitting) and Michael Stean at the Zonal Tournament 1978 in Amsterdam | Photo: Dutch National Archive

Komodo Chess 14

Last year Komodo won the world championship title on two occasions and can call itself "2019 World Computer Chess Champion" and "2019 World Chess Software Champion". And the current Komodo 14 has been clearly improved over its predecessor!

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[Note that Jon Speelman also looks at the content of the article in video format, here embedded at the end of the article.]

Its generally agreed that with perfect play a game of chess ought to end in a draw. A White win seems very unlikely, and a Black one the initial position being decisive zugzwang almost inconceivable if not proven mathematically.

The margin of error actually seems to be fairly large, and so for a strong player to lose he or she has to be put under considerable pressure. This can be done quietly through long positional manoeuvring and determined endgame play Magnus Carlsen's schtick most of the time or by more violent means: hacking.

Scratch almost any strong player and beneath a possibly placid exterior you will find a sleeping hacker: a player revelling in violent tactical battles (especially if they are on the right side of them). And today we celebrate the joy of hackery with one of the most complicated games Ive ever played.

Master Class Vol.13 - Tigran Petrosian

Considered a master of prophylaxis, Petrosian sensed dangers long before they actually became acute on the board. In his prime, Petrosian was almost invincible. Let our authors introduce you into the world of Tigran Petrosian.

This was in the 1975 British Championship in Morecambe. When I was still 19 and not yet even an IM. It was, apparently (I consulted John Saunders Britbase), in the ninth of the eleven rounds that I played White against Tony Miles, who the next year would become Britains first grandmaster. Tony wound me up in the opening and becoming nervous about what was in reality a perfectly playable position by normal means, I began to hack and continued in a game which became ever more complex and hysterical.

I first annotated it around 1975 for The Chess Player, a now defunct periodical and had another look for my Best Games book about 1997, when availablechess engines were beginning to make a difference. Ive had another look with today's crop and made some more alterations.

The most important point about the game is not the exact variations which you might or, more likely, might not find during a game, but the mindset you require once things really kick off.Theres a point of no return beyond which the initiative is king and formal material balance of only limited importance. You must calculate as much as you can, try to stay reasonably calm, and above all fight!

Well continue in a fortnight with some recent examples of extreme violence at the board.

[Pictured: Magnus Carlsen | Photo:Andreas Kontokanis]

To compliment my madness, a nicely hackety game I saw last night as I write.

Since I spend some time streaming, I sometimes watch how other people do it and I happened to drop into part of a simul that Dutch GM Benjamin Bok was giving on another server. Most of the games were pretty straightforward but in one of them his opponent really went for him as you should in a simul. Bok knew that the sacrifice wasn't supposed to work since hed had a previous game in the line. But of course he couldnt remember the exact details in these circumstances and at one moment his opponent missed a very pretty mate.

Master Class Vol.2: Mihail Tal

On this DVD Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh and Karsten Mller present the 8. World Chess Champion in video lessons: his openings, his understanding of chess strategy, his artful endgame play, and finally his immortal combinations.

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The joy of hacking - Chessbase News