BBC Computer Chess Radio Programme

[Harvey Williamson]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009jfpg

Chess is an ancient game that has been widely popular for centuries – but how is it faring in modern times?

Simon Terrington, a self-confessed chess fanatic, explores the game in today's world.

Is modern technology changing it and how it's played? In a world where there are more and more calls upon our time, do people still wish to devote hours to mastering it?

Simon reaffirms his love for chess by absorbing the passion it generates, from grandmasters to community club players; from the World Chess Championship to the chess boards of a Bulgarian park.

These programmes build a new picture of a game: a game with a wealth of beneficial attributes, but also one with a pugilistic, addictive hook that keeps players coming back to the board, again and again.

In part one, Simon assesses how computer technology has affected the game at the highest level and what this means for its future.

He looks at the moment when chess champion Garry Kasparov was beaten by the IBM computer Deep Blue and hears from experts about the impact that event had across the game.

[mackgra]

Thanks for the link Harvey, interesting programme!

Some interesting points raised, especially near the end where the comment that 'some openings will stop being played' as the computer will show them to be incorrect.

I guess certain lines are refuted and better lines are being played all the time. While i think chess is some way off to being solved, the two ends of chess (being the endgame and opening) are getting deeper all the time. Will they eventually meet in the middle? Will some lines be shown to be losing or have a bad evaluation at ply 45 or something? Time will tell.

One thing that is certain though is that Hiarcs with the constantly updated opening book will have the opening refutations first

Cheers!

[Harvey Williamson]

Thanks for the link Harvey, interesting programme!

Some interesting points raised, especially near the end where the comment that 'some openings will stop being played' as the computer will show them to be incorrect.

I guess certain lines are refuted and better lines are being played all the time. While i think chess is some way off to being solved, the two ends of chess (being the endgame and opening) are getting deeper all the time. Will they eventually meet in the middle? Will some lines be shown to be losing or have a bad evaluation at ply 45 or something? Time will tell.

One thing that is certain though is that Hiarcs with the constantly updated opening book will have the opening refutations first

Cheers!

I guess for a general audience the programme was quite interesting. However for those of us 'in the know' it was a bit superficial. The choice of interviewees was a bit out of date in my opinion. Someone stated that all 5 man positions are solved and a few 6 man. 6 man are all solved and have been for some time

[mackgra]

The comment on the 6 piece tablebases wasn't entirely accurate as the 7 men tablebases are now being generated I believe. I think I'm right in saying that these will take a massive amount of memory to store, beyond most storage capabilities available.
Some interesting little factoids however on chess as a psychological game and the role computers play in this.
My favourate fact though has to be the comment made about korchnoi when he was playing karpov for the championship when he believed Karpov was recieving coded messages through the flavour of yogurt he was eating!!

Strawberry = play a sharp sicillian, Peach = Play it safe!! lol