Thinking Illustrated

Visit & Play with The Thinking Machine 4

I must share this. I recently came across this experimental chess engine with a twist, by Martin Wattenberg & Marek Walczak of mw2mw.com.

The website offers a chess engine which challenges a game of chess with you, and provides visual information on where 'the eyes' (or the mind) of this chess engine is looking on the chessboard, during the engine's turn to play.

Apparently being experimental, there is no option of playing black against the computer. In any case, it is generally agreed that white has the inherent first mover advantage, so you shouldn't complain :)

According to the creators behind it, the "Thinking Machine 4 explores the invisible, elusive nature of thought. Play chess against a transparent intelligence, its evolving thought process visible on the board before you." These guys seem pretty passionate in data, interactive and process visualization.

Understandably the algorithm is relatively outdated and there is a lack of an opening repertoire to assist the engine, the thinking machine is at least still pretty interesting to play with.

Just for the record, I managed to come back from a minor piece down, to get a passed pawn and two queens in the end. Seems that the algorithm is great in tactics but not in strategy (the difference of which is a topic for another day/post.)

In any case it is still intriguing to me that the engine is nested within a javascript as it interacts with you. Have fun!

Belgian Battlefield

Think Belgium... and Brussels, as well as Belgian Chocolates come to mind. My opponent is from this country also known as the battlefield of Europe due to the many battles waged there in both WW1 and WW2. As a side note, famous export of Belgium included Arthur Grumiaux, Eugène Ysaÿe, The Smurfs, and Chocolate and Pralines brands such as Côte d'Or, Leonidas, Guylian and Godiva.

Anyway... as we were closely matched, we were just wearing each other out through the middle game... until all the minor and major pieces were all slaughtered. Near the end of the game I thought it was a close case of zugzwang (pronounced tsook-tsvung), which is a situation where one player is put at a disadvantage because he has to make a move, and in making any of the available moves, compromises his game.

I got lucky by the endgame as he was left with a Bad Bishop... a bad bishop on belgian battlefield... OK, that's lame. Anyway this is a classic example of how a bad bishop can screw you up.

Play online chess!

Mexican Memories

I played this game last night with this Mexican, who beat me 4 times before I finally won him. I kept making outright silly mistakes, but in this game I maintained status quo for a long time before I finally turned the table on him. Thought it was surprising how easily the mate in the end came about. I will remember to also save and post lost games in which there are decent lessons to be learned. Not to be forgotten, we are all here to learn.

Play chess online!

Winning Eleven

This is one incredibly short game I had recently. Opponent was a very friendly Englishman from London. And since our rating were similar, we had a go at it. The game turned out to be a quick one. You can try to think of the finishing move at move 9... it's straight forward enough, even though i took more than 10 seconds to see it.

Play chess online!

I Dreamed a Dream

Something away from the chessboard... here's lyrics (in both English and Chinese) of the above-titled from my favorite musical. A soliloquy of Fontaine, mom of Cosette. I'm posting it because of the Chinese translation. Reads pretty well translated and it actually adds to the understanding of the story and song.

I dreamed a dream in time gone by... When hope was high, And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die... I dreamed that God would be forgiving
時光苒荏 夢境又來，希望滿懷 生命澎湃。
在我夢裡 真愛不渝；在我夢裡 主愛無限。

Then I was young and unafraid... And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid... No song unsung, no wine untasted
夢裡的我 年輕無懼，夢想荒唐 姿意浪擲，
夢裡的我 錢若輕煙；無歌不唱 無酒不歡。

But the tigers come at night... With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart... And they turn your dream to shame
遠方戰火 低沈如雷；憂心恐懼 如夜掩至
希望與期待 已被現實撕裂 夢想的實踐 如同笑話幻滅

And still I dream he'll come to me... That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be... And there are storms we cannot weather
然而 我仍企盼 情人歸來，與我共渡 美好餘生。
只是 總有美夢 無法成真，總有風暴 無法掌控，

I had a dream my life would be... So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed... Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.
夢想生活 應是盡美盡善，回到現實 卻如焦土地獄
差距之大 讓我無法想像，我的美夢 已被現實扼殺

Immortal Beloved

The Immortal Game is perhaps the most famous in chess literature. It was played between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky at a London chess Salon, 1851. It was a casual encounter, but the legacy was lasting. Thanks to this beautiful applet by gameknot.com.

Play chess online!