Is de Koning still tweaking the Chessmaster engine? How old is he now? The Chessmaster now on a dual core has been tested to be 2825. I don't mind if there won't be another Chessmaster, I'm just wondering if there has been any progress since CMXI was released.

I must confess that my knowledge about de Koning is a bit out of date; however, I do know that he regularly uses TheKing in computer chess tournaments, which leads me to believe that he still works on it.

I don't know how old he is, but here's a photo of him (albeit slightly out of focus) from the International Computer Chess Tournament in Leiden last year. He looks to be in good health...



http://www.csvn.nl/index.php?o...m_frontpage&Itemid=1

Geez, de Koning must be a smart guy. What is he, master? International master? Grandmaster even? I know that the Chessmaster program started playing at grandmaster strength with Chessmaster 8000. I know the guy who made Rybka is one of the best programmers in the world. But he falls short of grandmaster in chess itself.

There is a very weak correlation between being smart and being a grandmaster.

I don't think Johann Koning has a title or even a rating. Most chess engine developers have no titles and play at strength of an average hobby player like you and me.


P.S.: Vasik Rajlich is not one of the best programmers on the world. He admited by himself that he doesn't know all that much about programming in general.

quote:

Originally posted by ebutaljib:
There is a very weak correlation between being smart and being a grandmaster.

I don't think Johann Koning has a title or even a rating. Most chess engine developers have no titles and play at strength of an average hobby player like you and me.


P.S.: Vasik Rajlich is not one of the best programmers on the world. He admited by himself that he doesn't know all that much about programming in general.

I disagree with you, chess is just about the most intellectual game there is. I think people who are good at recognizing patterns are good at it. But grandmasters have to be exceptional at this and this requires a higher IQ. Who's smart then? Your limiting intelligence to the highest elite or maybe not even. Would you dare to even say that there is a weak correlation between being a string theorist and being smart?

I don't think anyone is saying that chess isn't an intellectual game.

However, I think that intelligence comes in many forms. While grandmasters may be able to recognize patterns, they may not fully understand programming. And while software developers may be able to write great programs, they may not be good chess players, either.

Keep in mind that while developing a chess engine, a developer has access to all sorts of reference material. This is not the case for a grandmaster playing a tournament -- if he gets in a quandry, he can't open a book and study on what his next move should be...

Hi all !

Vasik Rajlich is a MIT graduate !
Weak programmer ? I don't think so !
The Rybka team:
-Vasik Rajlich-IM
-Lary Kaufman-IGM ()worked also in many chess projects-Socrates.......)
-Iweta Rajlich-WGM

Conclusion: strong programmers,strong players,strong engine !

But.....I like a lot ChessMaster series.Rybka is just an engine, ChessMaster a true universe: tutorials, personalities, a long history,graphics,features....and much more !

Silvian1952