Computer Chess News From Italy


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12/20/2001 Andrea Gatti close his "Pentagon" project and Quit from CC

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12/18/2001 Carmelo "ciccio" Calzerano Release "Leila 0.41i"

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12/18/2001 Nicola Rizzuti Release "Gargamella 0.0.1"

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12/9/2001 Start the "Second Italian Engine Contest (SIEC)"

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11/30/2001 (Survey N.5) LEILA'S REVENGE

             NewElo OldElo diff   RD     win  loss  draw total best

Leila(C)      2339  2129  +210    32.4   3852  2422  703 6977  2419 (06-Aug-2001)
ESC(C)        2231  2231   ---   72.7    671   359   93  1123  2231 (19-Sep-2001)
POWERHOUSE(C) 2135  2247  -112   47.8   3047  1481  289  4817  2303 (07-Nov-2001)
Delfi(C)      2138  2111  + 27   51.5    116   116   30   262  2138 (24-Nov-2001)
xaldebaran(C) 1983  1983   ---   96.9     53     8    8    69  2014 (23-Jul-2001)
Cyberpagno(C) 2093  2068  + 25   29.5   1973   721  362  3056  2115 (06-Oct-2001)
ChessGolem(C) 2034  2043  - 10   64.2    744   497  129  1370  2043 (25-Sep-2001)
LarsenVB(C)   1853  1853   ---  111.2    578   254   88   920  1853 (21-Jul-2001)
Rinko(C)      1914  1835  + 79   47.3    168    42   27   237  1914 (30-Nov-2001)
Pentagon(C)   1710  1710   ---   87.7    186   144   68   398  1835 (06-Jul-2001)
Raffaela      1795  1795   ---  129.5     79    40    6   125  1825 (25-Nov-2000)
Mjoelner(C)   1527  1603  - 66   63.5     84    52   10   146  1671 (06-Jul-2001)
maronti(C)    1965  ----   new  199.4      4     0    0     4

Leila is back in quite good shape and regained the top of the list (note "she" is
still more than 80 under is best!!). This time is POWERHOUSE that is not in his 
good period and loose 112 points. Little improvments by Cyberpagno and Delfi, but
Rinko (+79) show his power gaining his best rating and from the history seems
he continue his rush. (I wonder what would be Rinko rating if runned on "state
of the art" PC). Golem played few games (-10) and Mjolner seems in experimenting
phase (-66). Welcome to Maronti and I hope Carlo's LordKing will join soon.


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11/14/2001 LordKing jumps on League D at Lyapko Tournaments

Italian Wintage at Lyapko site continues!
LordKing just succeded in promoting in league D with 21 points
in 26 game. Well done Carlo. All my compliments.

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11/9/2001 (Survey N.4) Changing Of the Guard (on first Place)

             NewElo OldElo diff   RD     win  loss  draw total best
POWERHOUSE(C) 2247   2118  129   66.9   3032  1446   280  4758 2303 (07-Nov-2001)
ESC(C)        2231   2231  ---   65.0    671   359    93  1123 2231 (19-Sep-2001)
Leila(C)      2129   2253 -124   38.1   3754  2352   647  6753 2419 (06-Aug-2001)
Delfi(C)      2111   2045   66   43.8    113   115    27   255 2111 (05-Nov-2001)
Cyberpagno(C) 2068   2029   39   39.4   1813   658   341  2812 2115 (06-Oct-2001)
ChessGolem(C) 2043   2043  ---   56.5    744   496   129  1369 2043 (25-Sep-2001)
xaldebaran(C) 1983   1934   49   91.3     53     8     8    69 2014 (23-Jul-2001)
LarsenVB(C)   1853   1853  ---  106.3    578   254    88   920 1853 (21-Jul-2001)
Rinko(C)      1835   1835  ---  101.1    103    29    10   142 1835 (09-Jul-2001)
Raffaela(C)   1795   1795  ---  125.3     79    40     6   125 1825 (25-Nov-2000)
Pentagon(C)   1710   1789  -79   81.4    186   144    68   398 1835 (06-Jul-2001)
Mjoelner(C)   1603   1615  -12   74.0     75    43    10   128 1671 (06-Jul-2001)

Leila is falling down ... hey "ciccio" what's up?
Fortress at the first place .. seems Alessandro is back!!!

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11/9/2001 Italian engines on Lyapko Tournaments

Several Italian engines are playin main roles on the tournament at Lyapko's site.
In league G Raffaela had 14.5 on 22 games (place 4), just a place higher
and it would have climbed in League F.
Tamerlane had only 1 point on 22 games.
On League F there was 5 Italian Engines.
the 2 qualifier for league E were both italian (Delfi and Aldebaran),
unfortunatly the last two (LarsenVb and Pentagon, that drop in league G)
are both italian too!
Golem gained the right to stay on league F
The league running now is League E and we have only LordKing there but it
is doing well and I hope it can jump on league D.
On the upper leagues he have (ready to start) Esc (League D) and 
Fortress (League C).

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10/1/2001 (Survey N.3) GOLEM +168!!
              
             NewElo OldElo          RD   win loss draw  best
Leila         2253   2333  -80    34.5 3624 2112  587  2419 (06-Aug-2001)
ESC           2231   2184  +47    47.7  671  359   93  2231 (19-Sep-2001)
POWERHOUSE    2118   2118  ===   123.9 3009 1439  277  2199 (10-Oct-1999)
Delfi         2045   2010  +35    41.0   74   74   20  2045 (24-Sep-2001)
xaldebaran    1934   1934  ===    89.5   50    8    7  2014 (23-Jul-2001)
Cyberpagno    2029   1903 +126    27.6 1702  629  333  2102 (19-Aug-2001)
ChessGolem    2043   1875 +168    35.2  744  496  129  2043 (25-Sep-2001)
LarsenVB      1853   1853  ===    96.7  578  254   88  1853 (21-Jul-2001)
Rinko         1835   1835  ===    90.9  103   29   10  1835 (09-Jul-2001)
Pentagon      1789   1809  -20    74.9  185  141   68  1835 (06-Jul-2001)
Raffaela      1795   1795  ===   117.3   79   40    6  1825 (25-Nov-2000)
Mjoelner      1615   1615  ===    77.6   66   38   10  1671 (06-Jul-2001)
                    
Nice jump by Golem this time: +168 from the last survey!!!!
3 progs (Esc, Delfi, Golem) are at their best: GOOD!!
Leila loose a lot (-80, ciccio stop testing! ;-)
Esc gain quite a bit (+47). Will be a new first next mounth?
Pentagon loose a little bit .. No games for all the other Engines.

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9/12/2001 ABOUT THE IMPRESIVE JOB BY FABIO CAVICCHIO

I just realized that this ticker missed several Delfi release
I try to fix this  cut-and-pasting the release history in 
delfi home page:

2001/07/31 1.00 The first release.
2001/08/06 1.03 Most bugs corrected.
2001/08/11 1.10 Major upgrade, many optimizations.
2001/08/17 1.12 Fixed a draw problem in the KR vs K endgame.
2001/08/20 1.20 More speed, fixed a problem in the input thread.
2001/08/22 1.30 Major upgrade, stronger play.
2001/08/27 1.40 Added a small opening book and Show Thinking.
2001/09/03 1.41 Added 50 Moves draw and minor optimizations.
2001/09/12 1.51 Improved speed and positional play.

As you can see Fabio released almost weekly!
I may add delfi is getting stroger and stronger...
its about 2050 on fics now ... really not bad ;-)
my compliments.

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9/6/2001   RELEASED PENTAGON 1.3 BY ANDREA GATTI

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9/5/2001   RELEASED LORDKING III BY CARLO PIVOTTO

Carlo said that in this version there are:
 --- Some bug fixed.
 --- Possibility to configure Hash Table size.
 --- Different personality (Chessmaster-Like)
 If you want to know more and you understand italian you 
 can take a look this g6-forum post.
 
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9/4/2001   FICS SURVEY N.2


          rating diff   RD      win    loss    draw   total   best
Leila      2333  -24   24.4    3500    1951     551    6002   2419 (06-Aug-2001)
ESC        2184 +107   40.8     628     354      88    1070   2206 (04-Jul-2001)
POWERHOUSE 2118  ===  118.3    3009    1439     277    4725   2199 (10-Oct-1999)
Delfi      2010 +118   65.2      21      12       4      37   2017 (03-Sep-2001)
xaldebaran 1934  ===   81.5      50       8       7      65   2014 (23-Jul-2001)
Cyberpagno 1903 -124   30.8    1309     490     266    2065   2102 (19-Aug-2001)
ChessGolem 1875  -26   27.6     646     431     112    1189   1926 (04-Sep-2001)
LarsenVB   1853  ===   89.4     578     254      88     920   1853 (21-Jul-2001)
Rinko      1835  ===   83.1     103      29      10     142   1835 (09-Jul-2001)
Pentagon   1809  ===   67.2     184     139      68     391   1835 (06-Jul-2001)
Raffaela   1795  ===  111.3      79      40       6     125   1825 (25-Nov-2000)
Mjoelner   1615  ===   68.2      66      38      10     114   1671 (06-Jul-2001)

Big Plus For Delfi and ESC, Compliments!!
Little Minus for Golem and Leila (within the RD).
-124 for cyberpagno that has its record at 2102 
but nowadays is about 200 point less.(Marco what's up!?)
All the other engines was no active in the last 15 days.

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8/31/2001   IT IS BORN A NEW ITALIAN PROGRAM: "SOLDAT" 
            By MARCO GIUSFREDI

It use only material and mobility, no book, no hash
table. Not released yet.

here there is "his" first game where for a bug let tscp 
draw a hopeless final:

[Event "Computer chess game"]
[Site "OEMCOMPUTER"]
[Date "2001.08.31"]
[Round "-"]
[White "soldat"]
[Black "tscp"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[TimeControl "40/300"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 e6 4. a3 Nf6 5. h4 Be7 6. g3 O-O 7. Bd2 Bd7 8.
e3 Bd6 9. Nb5 Qe7 10. Bd3 e5 11. Be2 e4 12. Ng5 a6 13. Nxd6 Qxd6 14. Nh3
Bxh3 15. Rxh3 a5 16. Rh1 h6 17. c4 dxc4 18. Bxc4 Rfd8 19. Qb3 Qd7 20. a4
Ra7 21. Kd1 Ne5 22. Bb5 Qg4+ 23. Kc2 Nf3 24. Bc3 Qh5 25. Bc4 Ng4 26. Rhf1
Nfh2 27. Rh1 Qf5 28. Be1 Nf3 29. Bc3 Nxf2 30. Rhf1 Ng4 31. Bd2 Rxd4 32.
exd4 Nxd4+ 33. Kc3 Nxb3 34. Rxf5 Nxa1 35. Be2 Nf6 36. b3 Kh7 37. Kb2 Nxb3
38. Kxb3 Kg6 39. Rxa5 Rxa5 40. Bxa5 b6 41. Bd2 c5 42. Kc4 Kf5 43. Kb5 Nd5
44. Bc4 e3 45. Be1 Ke5 46. Kc6 Nf6 47. Bc3+ Ke4 48. Kxb6 Nd5+ 49. Bxd5+
Kxd5 50. a5 Kc4 51. Be1 Kd3 52. a6 Ke2 53. Ba5 c4 54. a7 Kf2 55. a8=Q Kxg3
56. Qf8 Kxh4 57. Qxg7 Kh5 58. Qxf7+ Kg5 59. Qxc4 h5 60. Bc3 h4 61. Qe4 e2
62. Bd2+ Kf6 63. Qxh4+ Ke5 64. Qh2+ Kd5 65. Qxe2 Kd4 66. Kc6
{Stalemate} 1/2-1/2

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8/24/2001
End of the World Micro Computer Chess Championship. The program
Shredder with an Italian Book (by Sandro Necchi), Is the "Single CPU" World 
Champion!
Here there is a CutAndPaste of the Comments Sandro gave about his book
on the newsgroup It.Hobby.Scacchi.
"Il mio libro d'apertura si è comportato abbastanza bene perché solo su 2
partite non andava bene. Nella seconda partita, anche se l'abbiamo vinta,
dopo 23. Ad3 il bianco sta un po' meglio e il programma non sa cosa fare.
La terza partita è stata persa a causa del libro d'apertura che ha dato al
nero la partita vinta. Questa variante è molto rischiosa, ma avevamo sempre
vinto le partite di prova e quindi non ci siamo accorti che dopo 25.h4! È il
nero che vince.
Per cercare di vincere il più possibile occorre anche rischiare, ma qui
abbiamo rischiato un po' troppo. Nelle altre partite il libro d'apertura
andava bene e solo imprecisioni del programma nella partita 1 e 7 hanno
impedito di fare in queste partite il punto pieno."

the English is not my strong point but I'll try to translate it:
"My book was quite good, infact had problem only in 2 games. In the second game,
even if we won that game, after 23.Bd3 white is better and the program don't
know what to do. The third game was lose by the book that gave to black a won
game. That is a very risky variant, but the program won any test game and so 
we did not reilze that after 25.h4 the black wins.
If you want to win you must to take some risks but we took too much risks here.
In the other games teh book was ok and only some doubius move in game 1 and 7
by the program, prevented us to win that two games."

In any case my compliment to the shredder team for the title and many thanks
to Sandro to keep the "Italian Flag" high at the world championship.


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8/20/2001
Situation of the italian engine on fics:
       BlitzRating   RD      win    loss    draw   total   best
Leila      2357     22.5    3405    1869     528    5802   2419 (06-Aug-2001)
POWERHOUSE 2118    115.5    3009    1439     277    4725   2199 (10-Oct-1999)
ESC        2077     46.9     574     346      87    1007   2206 (04-Jul-2001)
Cyberpagno 2027     30.8    1256     462     258    1976   2102 (19-Aug-2001)
xaldebaran 1934     77.4      50       8       7      65   2014 (23-Jul-2001)
ChessGolem 1901     61.8     565     346      90    1001   1924 (02-Jul-2001)
Delfi      1892     93.6       8       6       2      16
LarsenVB   1853     85.6     578     254      88     920   1853 (21-Jul-2001)
Rinko      1835     79.0     103      29      10     142   1835 (09-Jul-2001)
Pentagon   1809     67.7     183     136      67     386   1835 (06-Jul-2001)
Raffaela   1795    108.3      79      40       6     125   1825 (25-Nov-2000)
Mjoelner   1615     63.3      66      38      10     114   1671 (06-Jul-2001)
maronti    ----    350.0       0       0       0       0

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8/20/2001
On Thomas Mayer NewsTicker I saw that Fabio Cavicchio has released Delfi - v1.20
hum... Delfi is moving forward very fast :-)
this version “Fixed a draw problem in the KR vs. K endgame. More speed, fixed a problem in the input thread.”
delfi download at http://www.sira.it/msb/delfi.htm
 
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8/11/2001
Fabio Cavicchio Releases Delfi 1.10.
Fixed a Castling Problem a added "null moves" and "iterative deepening" .
Fabio reports on g6 forum the new delfi is quite stronger than the older one.
It goes one more ply deep (using the same time) than the previous version.
delfi download at http://www.sira.it/msb/delfi.htm

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8/6/2001
the Carmelo Calzerano Program "Leila" jumped over the 2400 wall on Fics.
My compliments to Carmelo.

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8/4/2001 
Cut and paste from a Ciro Vignotto post on g6 Forum (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/g_6)
about a big tourney Ciro had on his PC
the games were 5/0 (g-elo standard time on Ciro's PC)

Subject:  Torneo-test
                     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  
1   Leila_035b       ** 01 10 11 11 11 11 11 1½ 11 11 11 11 11 11 11  27.5/30
2   Fortress_162     10 ** 11 11 11 ½1 11 1½ 1  11 11 11 10 11 11 11  26.0/29
3   Esc_031          01 00 ** 10 1½ 01 ½0 10 11 10 11 11 11 11 11 11  21.0/30
4   Aldebaran 0.7.0  00 00 01 ** 11 01 11 11 0  01 01 1½ 11 01 11 1½  18.0/29 
5   Tamerlane_002    00 00 0½ 00 ** 11 00 10 10 11 11 11 ½1 11 11 11  18.0/30 
6   LordKing_29D     00 ½0 10 10 00 ** 0½ ½1 10 1½ 01 11 11 11 01 11  17.0/30
7   CyberPagno_06    00 00 ½1 00 11 1½ ** 10 10 ½0 11 0½ ½1 ½½ 01 11  15.5/30
8   LordKing_29      00 0½ 01 00 01 ½0 01 ** 11 01 00 ½1 10 11 11 ½1  15.0/30
9   Rinko_105b_01    0½ 0  00 1  01 01 01 00 ** 0  11 1½ 1½ ½  11 11  14.0/26
10  Maronti 0.0.5    00 00 01 10 00 0½ ½1 10 1  ** 10 1  1½ 10 10 11  13.5/28 
11  pcchess4mb_IIc   00 00 00 10 00 10 00 11 00 01 ** 11 11 11 10 1½  13.5/30 
12  Golem_04         00 00 00 0½ 00 00 1½ ½0 0½ 0  00 ** 11 ½1 01 11   9.5/29
13  Delfi 1.01       00 01 00 00 ½0 00 ½0 01 0½ 0½ 00 00 ** 11 10 01   8.0/30 
14  LarsenVB_04      00 00 00 10 00 00 ½½ 00 ½  01 00 ½0 00 ** 11 11   8.0/29 
15  Raffaela_005     00 00 00 00 00 10 10 00 00 01 01 10 01 00 ** 00   6.0/30
16  Pentagon 1.2     00 00 00 0½ 00 00 00 ½0 00 00 0½ 00 10 00 11 **   4.5/30

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8/3/2001
Cut and paste from a Leo Dijksman post 
on g6 Forum (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/g_6)
the games were 40/40.

Subject:  Crosstable "Italian" part of WB-Ridderkerk.

Italian part of the 4e_5eDivision  2001
                          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 
1   Esc 1.02              * 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 1   8.0/9
2   LordKingV 2.9         0 * 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1   6.5/9
3   LarsenVB 0.4.07       0 1 * ½ 1 1 0 ½ 1 1   6.0/9  23.50
4   Rinko 1.06b           ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1   6.0/9  23.00
5   Aldebaran 0.70        ½ 0 0 ½ * 1 ½ ½ 1 1   5.0/9
6   CyberPagno 0.6b/0.7b  0 0 0 ½ 0 * 1 ½ ½ 1   3.5/9
7   Pentagon 1.2          0 0 1 ½ ½ 0 * 0 0 1   3.0/9  13.00
8   Tamerlane 0.2         0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 * 0 ½   3.0/9  11.00
9   Golem 0.4             0 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 1 * 0   2.5/9
10  Raffaela 0.05         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 *   1.5/9

Tournament pages: http://home.hccnet.nl/leo.dijksman/index.html

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8/1/2001
Fabio Cavicchio Released his engine "Delfi"
Its italian engine N.16 :-)

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