Completed Events: Rybka, Van Wely Win
But not the same event, of course. The brand-new Rybka 4 won a very strong computer tournament in Leiden (not that location matters a whit when we're talking about chess engines) with 8/9. Deep Sjeng took second with 7 points and was the only program to score against Rybka, defeating it in round 6. (Allegedly a bug was at least partially to blame; if that's true, I hope the Rybka team will send a free software patch to its customers, if the bug is in the particular sub-version they have.) More info here.
Meanwhile, here in the U.S., Loek van Wely came in clear first in the Chicago Open with 7.5/9. He entered the round tied with IM Sam Shankland and GM Varuzhan Akobian, half a point ahead of a group that included no less a player than Mickey Adams. Shankland had enjoyed a spectacular tournament up to that point, but even so the last round pairings were a dream for van Wely: he had White against Shankland, while Akobian had Black against Adams. Both games were won pretty easily by White, leaving van Wely half a point ahead of Adams, Najer, Mikhalevski and Stocek and $10200 richer (pre-tax and expenses). More here, including an interview with van Wely.
Reader Comments (4)
With regard to the computer tournament, a number of strong engines were noticeable by their absence: Fritz 12, Rybka 3, Robbolito and Fire. In my own, rather unscientific, tests, both Rybka 3 and Robbolito outperform Rybka 4. The cynic in me wonders if the tournament was arranged to give Rybka 4 some publicity before being released.
For van Wely, this may be some sort of higher justice (if this is a term making sense): Last year he finished 1/2 point behind the winner in three consecutive American opens (Foxwood, Chicago and National Open Las Vegas). Due to the prize structure in US events - a rather steep pyramid compared to European ones - he just about got his travel expenses back. But he probably earned some extra money by writing about it in NewinChess.
Stephen:
1. Rybka 4 has been released.
2. No one is going to allow the IPPOLIT family of engines into a tournament as long as the cloud of suspicion hangs over their heads.
3. I've seen online reports that Rybka 4 has outperformed Rybka 3, but in any case there's no reason why Rajlich would enter Rybka 3 - he has nothing to gain (it's not as if he's going to keep selling Rybka 3) and something to lose.
4. It would also be a dubious business decision for ChessBase to register Deep Fritz 12. Because the Fritz name has been famous for so long they have a great market share, so why would they risk it in a tournament only a few hundred, or maybe a few thousand people care about? Of course they want their engine to be competent and to stay near the top, but the primary thing is for "Fritz" to be like "Xerox".
5. It would have been nice to have Stockfish in it - that's a great program, and it's available for free and without any questions about its legitimacy.
By the way, your cynicism is odd. Why not turn it upside down: Rajlich tried to time the release in time for the tournament! That makes much more sense, and doesn't require any conspiracy theories.