Leiden 2013

ChessEval Journal
About Dedicated Chess Computers

The XXVII User Tournament – Leiden, 2013 and the Release of the ADINFER-ChessEval V10 (66 MHz)

Written by Hans van Mierlo
First edited | 01/26/2014 | by MMO
Last edited | 10/20/2015 |
Additional Information: mierlo@chesseval.com
Reference to cite: Mierlo H, The XXVII User Tournaments – Leiden, 2013 and the Release of the ADINFER-ChessEval V10 (66 MHz), ChessEval Journal, 5, February 2014, ChessEval.com

Introduction

Without National false modesty, it is very well known the Netherlands is one of the first countries in the World for Chess Computers!
A large part of the History of Chess Computers finds its roots in the Netherlands:
- the chess programs by people like Johan de Koning (King), Ed Schroder (Rebel), Frans Morsch (Fritz), Eric van Riep Paap, Dap Hartmann H.G Muller, Vincent Diepeveen(Diep), Noomen,
- the work of Jan Louwman and Tom Furstenberg for Fidelity,
and so many others who have highly contributed to this fame and legend...

The Leiden Tournament started in 1981.
It is still ongoing every year.
For the past years, we have even played 2 times a year with our old Dedicated Chess Computers: at the PC Programmer Dutch Championship and at the Open Chess Championship.
Consequently, I had the opportunity to meet almost all of the most famous chess programmers and I had nice and interesting conversations with them.

Anecdote

When I was operator and bookmaker for Glaurung, I got the latest version of Glaurung.
Unfortunately, it was not working on a PC.
I was spending many hours on its book testing it.
Nevertheless, the game versus Rykba was curious.
Hans van der Zijden was operator.
Glaurung had the white pieces.
The match started and just after the opening ended... it was a phone call…
It was Jeroen Noomen!
Hans van der Zijden told me that Jeroen was addressing his compliments to me for the good opening.
Glaurung was performing way better than expected. However, Rykba had a better engine and Glaurung lost…
Glaurung also played against Zappa.
Erdugan Gunus was the operator/Bookmaker. Zappa used a French opening and after the opening, Glaurung was showing a score of 1.7 +.
Here again, the same story: Zappa had a better Engine and Glaurung lost again.
After the game the Bookmaker of Zappa was blocking the line it just played. It was a big satisfaction for me.
Against Hiarcs, Glaurung played draw... If only I had Glaurung 2, then…

The User Tournament of Leiden, 2013, XXVIIth Edition

During the last years, we only played on Saturday.
Earlier on, our Tournaments were going on 2 consecutive days (Saturday and Sunday) and as a consequence, we were able to play more rounds. In my opinion, it gives a better view of the results: with for example 10 to 14 chess computers, you play now on a Saturday 5 or maximum 6 rounds, and then it's closed. Winning is becoming a question of luck!
The day of the Tournament, I stayed in Leiden because driving back home is taking me one hour and fifteen minutes: to be there the next day early is taking too much energy! During this Tournament, we played with 12 chess computers.
The maximum elo was set at 1700 ELO, according to the list of www.schachcomputer.info (http://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php/Wiki-Elo-Liste), and then we take the Active listing. This list is based on 30 seconds a move.
I started with the Prestige 1; this is a pre-Budapest program. It is therefore, an earlier version of the later released Budapest.
In the past, people could change their pre-Budapest to a Budapest program for a relatively low fee. Many did it. As a result, Pre-Budapest chess computers are difficult to find today.
The Pre-Budapest was not fully rated, an elo of 1700 is given in http://www.schach-computer.info/wiki/index.php/Fidelity_Prestige
Most of the time, I bring 2 chess computers with me: I brought also the Novag Constellation 2 MHz, but the field was even. Therefore, there was no need to play with 2 chess computers.

Hardware	Operator	Location
Novag Constellation & Fidelity Prestige (Budapest)	Hans van Mierlo
Super 9	Hein Veldhuis	Tilburg
Sargon 4.0	Luuk Hofman
CXG Super Enterprise	Peter Schimmelpenninck	Amsterdam
SciCys Astral	Ries van Leeuwen	Nieuwegein
Excalibur Phanton Force	Rob van Son	Amsterdam
Novag Robot Adversary	Ruud Martin	Roosendaal
SciCys Superstar 36k	Peter Haupert	Duitsland
CXG 3000	Geert Roelof van der Ploeg	Driebergen
SciCys Leonardo	Tobias Gora	Duitsland
Novag Robot Adversey	Henk van Weersel	Bergen op Zoom
CXG Professor	Roland Hoepelman

Excalibur Alexandra	Olaf Janβen	Duitsland

Ranking after round 5

Rank	Name	Flags	Score	Fed.	M/F	Rating	TPR	W-We	BH	SB	1	2	3	4	5
1	Prestige 1		4.5		M	0	0	0	14.5	12.75	1	½	1	1	1
2	Phantom Force		3.5		M	0	0	0	13.5	8.25	1	½	½	1	½
3	CXG Enterprise		3.5		M	0	0	0	13.5	7.25	1	1	0	1	½
4	CXG 3000		3.0		M	0	0	0	12.0	6.0	½	½	1	0	1
5	SciSys Superstar 36K		3.0		M	0	0	0	11.0	3.5	0	1	0	1	1
6	Super 9		2.5		M	0	0	0	15.5	6.5	½	1	½	0	½
7	CXG Professor		2.5		M	0	0	0	11.5	5.75	½	½	0	1	½
8	Sargon 4		2.0		M	0	0	0	16.0	4.5	1	0	1	0	0
9	Astral		2.0		M	0	0	0	11.0	3.25	½	0	½	1	0
10	SciSys Turbo S-24K		2.0		M	0	0	0	8.0	2.0	0	1	½	0	½
11	Excalibur Alexandra		1.0		M	0	0	0	11.0	1.25	0	0	½	0	½
12	Novag Robot Adversary		0.5		M	0	0	0	12.5	0.5	0	0	½	0	0

Pairings round 1 (Saturday, 30 November 2013)

Table	White	Flags	Score	Fed.	Rating	Black	Flags	Score	Fed.	Rating	Result
1	CXG Enterprise		0.0		0	Novag Robot Adversary		0.0		0	1-0
2	SciSys Superstar 36K		0.0		0	Prestige 1		0.0		0	0-1
3	Super 9		0.0		0	CXG 3000		0.0		0	½-½
4	SciSys Turbo S-24K		0.0		0	Sargon 4		0.0		0	0-1
5	CXG Professor		0.0		0	Astral		0.0		0	½-½
6	Phantom Force		0.0		0	Excalibur Alexandra		0.0		0	1-0

Pairings round 2 (Saturday, 30 November 2013)

Table	White	Flags	Score	Fed.	Rating	Black	Flags	Score	Fed.	Rating	Result
1	Sargon 4		1.0		0	CXG Enterprise		1.0		0	0-1
2	Prestige 1		1.0		0	Phantom Force		1.0		0	½-½
3	Astral		0.5		0	Super 9		0.5		0	0-1
4	CXG 3000		0.5		0	CXG Professor		0.5		0	½-½
5	Excalibur Alexandra		0.0		0	SciSys Superstar 36K		0.0		0	0-1
6	Novag Robot Adversary		0.0		0	SciSys Turbo S-24K		0.0		0	0-1

Pairings round 3 (Saturday, 30 November 2013)

Table	White	Flags	Score	Fed.	Rating	Black	Flags	Score	Fed.	Rating	Result
1	CXG Enterprise		2.0		0	Prestige 1		1.5		0	0-1
2	Super 9		1.5		0	Phantom Force		1.5		0	½-½
3	CXG Professor		1.0		0	Sargon 4		1.0		0	0-1
4	SciSys Superstar 36K		1.0		0	CXG 3000		1.0		0	0-1
5	SciSys Turbo S-24K		1.0		0	Astral		0.5		0	½-½
6	Novag Robot Adversary		0.0		0	Excalibur Alexandra		0.0		0	½-½

Pairings round 4 (Saturday, 30 November 2013)

Table	White	Flags	Score	Fed.	Rating	Black	Flags	Score	Fed.	Rating	Result
1	Prestige 1		2.5		0	Super 9		2.0		0	1-0
2	CXG 3000		2.0		0	CXG Enterprise		2.0		0	0-1
3	Phantom Force		2.0		0	Sargon 4		2.0		0	1-0
4	CXG Professor		1.0		0	SciSys Turbo S-24K		1.5		0	1-0
5	SciSys Superstar 36K		1.0		0	Novag Robot Adversary		0.5		0	1-0
6	Astral		1.0		0	Excalibur Alexandra		0.5		0	1-

Pairings round 5 (Saturday, 30 November 2013)

Table	White	Flags	Score	Fed.	Rating	Black	Flags	Score	Fed.	Rating	Result
1	Sargon 4		2.0		0	Prestige 1		3.5		0	0-1
2	CXG Enterprise		3.0		0	Phantom Force		3.0		0	½-½
3	Super 9		2.0		0	CXG Professor		2.0		0	½-½
4	Astral		2.0		0	SciSys Superstar 36K		2.0		0	0-1
5	Novag Robot Adversary		0.5		0	CXG 3000		2.0		0	0-1
6	Excalibur Alexandra		0.5		0	SciSys Turbo S-24K		1.5		0	½-½

For pictures and more results: http://www.csvnsupplementsite.nl/paginastart.html

The Prestige played very well and had attractive attacking games.
It was not in trouble for even one game, so the winning price was due...

We had several operators from Germany.
My friend from Hungary is coming usually, but he was not there for this tournament.

The competition is not tense. Competing is more important than to win for Coubertin…It's also our opinion...
Moreover, the exchanges and stories of other collectors are always interesting and of course, the real meet and greet.

In Germany, two times a year, there is a User tournament in Klingenberg and Kaufbeuren, I visited them and played there also.
Unfortunately, in the last years due to work and private issues, I was unable to attend.
I also visited 2 times the Saints Tournament in France nearby Paris.
All the information concerning these Tournaments can be found on schachcomputer.info

Some Games

Round 1: CXG Chess Professor - SciCys Astral

1.d4 Pf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Lg2 dxc4
5.Da4+ Pbd7 6.Pf3 a6 7.Pc3 c5 8.Lf4 Db6
9.0-0-0 Db4 10.Dxb4 cxb4 11.Pa4 Pe4 12.Thf1 b5
13.Pg5 Lb7 14.Pxe4 bxa4 15.Pf6+ gxf6 16.Lxb7 Ta7
17.Lc6 a3 18.Lb8 axb2+ 19.Kxb2 c3+ 20.Ka1 Tb7
21.Lxb7 Pxb8 22.Td3 Lh6 23.a3 c2 24.Kb2 c1(D)+
25.Txc1 Lxc1+ 26.Kxc1 a5 27.axb4 axb4 28.Tb3 0-0
29.Txb4 Td8 30.Kd2 Pd7 31.Lg2 Tb8 32.Txb8 Pxb8
33.Ke3 Pa6 34.h3 Pb4 35.Ke4 Pd5 36.Kd3 Pb6
1/2-1/2

Round 4: SciCys Astral - Excalibur Alexandra

1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Dxd5 4.d4 e6
5.Pf3 Pf6 6.Lb5+ Ld7 7.c4 De4+ 8.Le3 cxd4
9.Dxd4 Lb4+ 10.Pc3 Lxb5 11.cxb5 Dxd4 12.Lxd4 0-0
13.Lxf6 gxf6 14.0-0 Tc8 15.Tac1 Pd716.Tfd1 Tcd8
17.Td4 Lc5 18.Tc4 Kf8 19.Pe4 Le7 20.Tc7 b6
21.Pd4 f5 22.Pc3 Ld6 23.Tc4 Pe5 24.Ta4 Pd3
25.Tc2 Ke8 26.Pc6 Td7 27.Td4 Lf4 28.Txd7 Kxd7
29.Pe2 Lg5 30.Ped4 Kd6 31.Kf1 Kd5 32.Pf3 Lf6
33.b4 a6 34.bxa6 Txa6 35.b5 Ta3 36.Pe1 Pc5
37.Pb4+ Ke5 38.Pf3+ Kf4 39.Tc4+ Pe4 40.Tc7 Pd6
41.Tc6 Le7 42.Txb6 Pc4 43.Tc6 Pa5 44.Pc2 Txa2
45.Tc7 Ld6 46.Td7 Txc2 47.Txd6 Tc1 48.Ke2 Tc2
49.Kd3 Tc4 50.Td4 Txd4 51.Kxd4 Pb3+ 52.Kc4 Pa5+
53.Kb4 Pb7 54.b6 Pd6 55.Pd4 e5 56.Pb5 Pb7
57.Kc4 h6 58.Kd5 d4 59.Pd4 h5 60.h4 Kg4
61.Kc6 Pd8+ 62.Kc7 e3 63.fxe3 Pb7 64.Kxb7 f4
65.Kc6 fxe3 66.b7 Kg3 67.b8(D)+

1-0.

In the future, other Tournaments in Leiden will be posted here, and will be also announced

The Release of ADINFER-ChessEVAL

Leiden 2013 was also the “release” date of a Self-Made Chess Computer, done by Maurice:

The ADINFER-ChessEVAL V10, 66MHz

First, many thanks to the creator of this wonderful machine.
Maurice is very passionate about chess computers, and since 2 years, he was designing and building his own ones for the pleasure of the Hobby.

1) ADINFER-ChessEval version Sargon 4.0, 20MHz

The first one was using the concept of the ARB (Auto Responsive Board), but 21 inch big!
So, 3 inches more every side than a normal ARB.
The board has 64 leds of 1mm diameter!
This is all handwork for the drilling: one mistake and you can throw away the board.
The functions, and a nightmare work for the lettering are also challenges to consider.
The PCB is a Sargon 4.0, 20 MHz from our mutual friend from the United Kingdom, Steve Braid.
This Number 1 worked beautifully.

ADINFER-ChessEval version Sargon 4.0, 20MHz

However, Maurice was not satisfied completely of the result. From there he asked what could be improved.
For sure, I had ideas... and so...

2) ADINFER-ChessEval V9 (33 MHZ)

The Number 2 had the same board, but in 23 inches, two displays,81 LEDs, better function buttons, lettering andPCBPCBV9 done by Steve Braid....
I had the privilege to test it.

ADINFER-ChessEval V9 (33 MHZ)

The computer was shipped and it arrived, but.... Customs were passing by there....
I leave that out of the story, but we were not happy at all..

However, I managed to solve the problems, and it worked.
Maurice and I discussed and... He decided to go for a Number 3!!

3) ADINFER-ChessEval V10, 66MHz

The number 3 was coming with dual display, board 23 inches, 81 LEDs, new PCB for the communication between the displays, control buttons and board, PCBBV10 done by Steve Braid..
Maurice send it to me. However, again, Dutch customs were opening the computer...screws were loose; PCB was loose; the wood on the side was loose..I fixed that quickly..
In conclusion, I was happy to receive it a few days before the Tournament in Leiden: boy, how much I was happy... I was announcing this computer to the participants of the Leiden Meeting and more, that I will show it!!
Leiden Meeting day arrived and I left the World to see and admire the Number 3.

ADINFER-ChessEvalV10, 66MHz

4) Around the Adinfer/ChessEval V10 at Leiden 2013

The reactions were overwhelming and, of course, everyone asked me how to buy one....
This is not the end of the ADINFER-ChessEval Series!

New ideas and prototypes are coming... Wait and see!

Around the Adinfer/ChessEval V10 at Leiden 2013