en computerschaak
Unfortunately, I have no more than a very short video recording of this event. In its place, I am happy to provide a somewhat longer description of this duel. Fortunately, Ries van Leeuwen has commented on the duel on his website and I have taken the liberty of copying his text as I see fit and with some additions of my own.
This time we played in the historic Agnietenkapel in the center of Gouda. An ancient building and as you can see with very thick walls. It was steaming hot that day! According to CSVN member Ries van Leeuwen it was 26 degrees, but the wind chill in the chapel was well over 30 degrees. You never forget a duel under such conditions. The refreshments were free so that sufficient liquid (no alcohol) could be poured inside.
Organizer Henk de Kleijnen of Messemaker 1847 and team captain Jan Louwman had organized a mutual duel eight times before. Pioneer and expert Jan Louwman passed away on December 4, 2002. Despite Jan's passing, a 9th meeting between the two associations was arranged on Saturday, May 31, 2003. Messemaker 1847's 1st team was not complete because three regular players had gone on vacation, after the team narrowly missed promotion to the first division of the KNSB a few weeks back. The computers were given 90 minutes and the players 120 minutes for the entire game, as the computers were on average slightly stronger than the club chess players. With organ music in the background and free passage for visitors from the center, the players went to battle against the brutal computing violence.
There was a first as Ruud Martin participated for the first time as a member of the CSVN. And as we can see, DGT's digital clock is making its appearance. It took a long time before the first game came to an end. The home club got the lead through R.J. (first name?) van Wijk. He managed to play apart the defense of Rob van Son's Mephisto Berlin Pro. With a closing mat he could receive the congratulations under applause. Shortly thereafter, the score was tied again. The Mephisto Atlanta (also from Rob van Son) combined Leslie Tjoo off the board in 28 moves. On board one, Hans van der Zijden played with his Pocket Fritz2 (Shredder) against Gert Jan Ludden. In a balanced game, a draw was decided after forty moves. Messemaker team captain Henk de Kleijnen had a beautiful attack on the enemy position and it seemed to succeed until he made his well-known mistake. After an exchange he lost a piece and the position then fell apart. Ruud Martin's RISC 2500 completely outplayed Henk with his active play and was able to register the full point for the computer team. Jan Louwman would have said: “Henk lost? ... he never learns!”
On board ten, Ries van Leeuwen (as a substitute for John Dijkstra) played a cautious game with his Mephisto Berlin Pro 68020 against Henk van der Wösten. The Berlin was waiting for a mistake that would come. Due to time pressure and a passive position, Henk took too much risk and was then played away without a chance. Kees Sio operated the Mephisto Montreux. “He does weird moves” said Kees to operator Ries van Leeuwen. After Ries reassured him that the Montreux always does, he sat back down quietly and gradually saw Remco Hylkema's attack come to a dead end. Time pressure started to play a word here as well. With twenty minutes left for the Montreux and two for Remco, the player started making mistakes and was then completely outplayed.
Jan Krabbenbos with his Pocket Chess Tiger had a tough opponent in Michiel Blok. Tiger was a pawn behind but managed to hold on and peace was signed. Arnold Heesbeen operated the Mephisto Magellan. At one point the computer appeared to have twenty minutes more thinking time. So Ries van Leeuwen did not need to make any changes to the time settings given the preponderance of the position. When he went to check a short time later, Arnold appeared to have twenty-two minutes less on the match clock than on the computer's internal clock. Just goes to show that one should not forget to keep a close eye on the match clock! Fortunately, the score was such that Mark van Putten could still give up.
Hein Veldhuis was still hoping to play with the new Novag Star Diamond. Unfortunately this new chess computer was again delayed in delivery by a few weeks, so Hein had the standard Novag Diamond played against Arjan van der Leij. In a close game the Diamond lost in a pawn endgame. Last in line was Louis van Bever. The TASC R30 was not having an easy time. Ries had already warned Louis not to play with the same level for too long. But with two minutes left on the clock he only switched back! His opponent Ed Roering also had only two minutes left and sportingly offered a draw. TASC, by the way, was in a slightly better position with a free pawn. The final score was therefore 3½ - 6½. A solid victory for the CSVN team and all in all a very successful and well organized afternoon by Messemaker 1847!
Messemaker 1847 - CSVN chess computer team
1. Ludden (2288) - Pocket Fritz 2 (2350) + Hans van der Zijde ½ - ½ 2. Blok (2018) - Pocket Chess Tiger (2100) + Jan Krabbenbos ½ - ½ 3. Roering (2115) - Tasc R30 (2350) + Louis van Bever ½ - ½ 4. Van Wijk (2087) - Mephisto Berlin Pro (2265) + Peter Schimmelpennink 1 - 0 5. Hylkema (1950) - Mephisto Montreux (2270) + Kees Sio 0 - 1 6. Van der Leij (1918) - Novag Diamond (2000) + Hein Veldhuis 1 - 0 7. Van Putten (1920) - Mephisto Magellan (2240) + Arnold Heesbeen 0 - 1 8. De Kleijnen (1834) - Saitek Risc 2500 (2240) + Ruud Martin 0 - 1 9. Tjoo (1826) - Mephisto Atlanta (2070) + Rob van Son 0 - 1 10. Van der Wösten (1857) - Mephisto Berlin Pro (2265) + Ries van Leeuwen 0 - 1
Total: 3½ - 6½
External weblinks
CSVNP1
Rob van Son, Jan Louwman - The father of computer chess tells his story
In conclusion: So we as CSVN were once guests of Discendo Discimus and Messemaker 1847. Both claim to be the oldest chess association in the Netherlands. But who is really the oldest chess association?
The answer can be found here:
Schaken in Nederland in de 19e eeuw
With best regards from Hein Veldhuis, dated December 11, 2024