The Chess Thread! (not the record label!!!)

[T.D.]

I've gradually come to believe that computers have killed chess.

Here's an interesting item: Google's "DeepMind" AlphaZero, after minimal preparation, thrashed Stockfish, which is universally highly ranked on the short list of strongest computer programs. [Added: computer programs such as Stockfish are so strong that "man vs. machine" matches such as Kasparov used to play are practically extinct; when they do occur, the computer has to give the Grandmasters odds (material plus moves)!]

Some games here

[Added -2-] More details here: DeepMind’s AlphaZero crushes chess

Blurb:

Google-funded DeepMind has now shown that their AlphaZero algorithm can't just be used to beat Go but can outplay the best existing chess engines at chess and shogi. Their algorithm took a mere 4 hours of playing games against itself to teach itself to play chess at a level superior to Stockfish 8! In 100 games AlphaZero scored 25 wins and 25 draws with White, while with Black it scored 3 wins and 47 draws. It didn't lose a game, with the final score 64:36. Here you can replay 10 example games by our new computer overlord. Read the DeepMind paper (pdf): arxiv.org/pdf/1712.01815.pdf

Edited December 6, 2017 by T.D.

[T.D.]

Topic of little/no interest, but I just saw something funny which will be my final post on the subject:

The site linked to below runs daily tactical puzzles, which increase in difficulty from Monday through Sunday. The underlying games are often given funny names.

Today's puzzle features a very clever pun.