In probably the most thrilling finish in this contest's history, our final round saw 2 shared golds and close standings all over the place. Early leader <wordfunph> got his groove back on at the end of the tournament, unlike that sorry loser <OhioChessFan> and ended up with two gold medals. <chessmoron> and <CountWedgemore> shared the Bonus Ranker gold. <WinKing> took home the highly coveted gold in Moves+Bonus Ranker, and <amw> took a shared gold in #1 Ranker.

Accepting his gold medal, <WinKing> said "Nothing comes easy in this contest. I just wouldn't be denied because I kept my nose to the grindstone and overcame a ton of adversity. On paper, I knew I didn't have much of a chance, but you have to keep believing in yourself. You know what they say, winning isn't everything, it's the only thing. I just laid it all on the line, a real flood of blood, sweat and tears. I gave it my all, 110%, survive and advance, one round at a time, not looking back. This is for all the underdogs, all the little guys who went up against Goliath. I share this victory with all those people who believe in themselves, who know if they only believe, their dreams can come true. I know it was a tough fight, but when the bell rang, I answered the call. You learn a lot about yourself in times like this, real gut check time. There is no i in individual."

<Penguincw> asked, "Will this guy ever shut up?"

<Winky> continued, "I knew this would be no cakewalk and managed to eke out a win. I just really brought my A game today. I knew what I had to do and went out and did it. I mean, it wasn't pretty, but a win is a win."

<chessmoron> impatiently waiting to accept his gold medal walked up to <Winky> and glared at him, menacingly.

<Winky> continued, "I'm going to use this as a building block, a real stepping stone on the pathway to success. I mean, I finally got the monkey off my back. Everyone counted me out before the final round but I believed in myself."

<chessmoron> glared even more meancingly.

<WinKing> continued, "I made my own breaks out there. I have learned that the better I get, the luckier I get. I played my heart out there today."

<chessmoron> growls at <Winky>.

<Winky> continued, "I wasn't going to just roll over and die. I think I showed a lot of character today and I'm going to savor this victory forever. It hasn't sunk in yet."

<<chessmoron> stands up to his full 7' 6" and stares daggers at Winky>>

<Winky> continues, "Ididitforallmyfans.WinonefortheGipper!"

<chessmoron> accepting his gold said "Thank you."

Thank you so much for that!

http://www.grenkechessclassic.de/en...

Players include: Carlsen, Aronian, Caruana, Vachier-Lagrave, Anand, Vitiugov, Naiditsch, Hou Yifan, Meier & Bluebaum.

Carlsen 2843
Caruana 2804
Vachier-Lagrave 2791
Anand 2775
Aronian 2775
Vitiugov 2735
Naiditsch 2703
Hou Yifan 2657
Meier 2648
Bluebaum 2631

I'm posting here because a good selection of former team-mates from completed team games visit here.

My 12 year-old laptop was dying, so I replaced it with a Dell Inspiron all-in-one with an AMD Ryzen 1700 cpu and 16 gigs of RAM.

I loaded up my old Shredder system and Houdini 1.5a, only to find that Houdini would only use half of the machine's potential. So, I purchased Houdini 6 pro to be able to maximize the potential of the system.

Then I took it for a spin on a game which I understood: the World vs GM Akobian.

Here are the (very impressive) results.

Two hours, 36 ply and 129 Bn nodes to find 19. h3

click for larger view

36 118:13 +1.06 19.Qe2 fxg4 20.Bxg6+ Qxg6 21.Rxg4 Qf5 22.Ng3 Qf7 23.h4 Rg8 24.Qd3+ Kh8 25.h5 c5 26.f5 Rac8 27.Be3 cxd4 28.cxd4 exf5 29.Qxf5 Rgf8 30.Qxf7 Rxf7 31.a6 bxa6 32.Rxa6 (129.279.826.378) 18224

36 118:13 +1.00 19.Ne3 fxg4 20.Rxg4 Bxd3 21.Qxd3+ g6 22.Bd2 h5 23.Rg3 Rg8 24.Rag1 Rad8 25.b4 a6 26.Be1 Rde8 27.Rh3 Kh8 28.Ng2 Nf8 29.Rf3 Nh7 30.Bh4 Ref8 31.Rff1 Qe8 32.Bxe7 (129.279.826.378) 18224

35 118:13 +0.93 19.gxf5 Bxf5 20.Ne3 Bxd3 21.Qxd3+ g6 22.Bd2 h5 23.Rg3 Rg8 24.Rf1 Kh8 25.Rfg1 Kh7 26.b4 a6 27.Rh3 Kh8 28.Qe2 Rg7 29.Rf1 Nf8 30.Be1 Nh7 31.Bh4 Bxh4 32.Rxh4 (129.279.826.378) 18224

-----

36 127:10 +1.06 19.Qe2 fxg4 20.Bxg6+ Qxg6 21.Rxg4 Qf5 22.Ng3 Qf7 23.h4 Rg8 24.Qd3+ Kh8 25.h5 c5 26.f5 Rac8 27.Be3 cxd4 28.cxd4 exf5 29.Qxf5 Rgf8 30.Qxf7 Rxf7 31.a6 bxa6 32.Rxa6 (139.141.560.492) 18234

36 127:10 +1.07++ 19.h3 (139.141.560.492) 18234

35 127:10 +0.93 19.gxf5 Bxf5 20.Ne3 Bxd3 21.Qxd3+ g6 22.Bd2 h5 23.Rg3 Rg8 24.Rf1 Kh8 25.Rfg1 Kh7 26.b4 a6 27.Rh3 Kh8 28.Qe2 Rg7 29.Rf1 Nf8 30.Be1 Nh7 31.Bh4 Bxh4 32.Rxh4 (139.141.560.492) 18234 -----

39 772:06 +1.19 19.h3 c5 20.Ne3 fxg4 21.hxg4 Bxd3 22.Qxd3+ Qg6 23.f5 exf5 24.Nxf5 Bg5 25.Rg2 Bxc1 26.Rxc1 b6 27.Rf1 Rae8 28.axb6 axb6 29.Kh2 Qg5 30.Nd6+ Qg6 31.Qxg6+ Kxg6 32.Rf5 (863.833.938.765) 18646

39 772:06 +1.02 19.Qe2 fxg4 20.Bxg6+ Qxg6 21.Rxg4 Qf5 22.Ng3 Qf7 23.h4 Rg8 24.Qd3+ Kh8 25.h5 Nf8 26.f5 exf5 27.Qxf5 Qe8 28.Be3 Nh7 29.Rg6 Rf8 30.Qg4 Qc8 31.e6 Rf6 32.Rg1 (863.833.938.765) 18646

39 772:06 +0.98-- 19.Ne3 fxg4 20.Rxg4 Bxd3 21.Qxd3+ g6 22.Bd2 h5 23.Rg3 Rg8 24.c4 Rg7 25.cxd5 cxd5 26.Rc1 a6 27.Rc7 Bd8 28.Rxb7 Rb8 29.Rxb8 Nxb8 30.Rh3 Kg8 31.b4 Qb7 32.Rg3 (863.833.938.765) 18646 -----

40 799:36 +1.26++ 19.h3 (895.009.222.609) 18655

39 799:36 +1.02 19.Qe2 fxg4 20.Bxg6+ Qxg6 21.Rxg4 Qf5 22.Ng3 Qf7 23.h4 Rg8 24.Qd3+ Kh8 25.h5 Nf8 26.f5 exf5 27.Qxf5 Qe8 28.Be3 Nh7 29.Rg6 Rf8 30.Qg4 Qc8 31.e6 Rf6 32.Rg1 (895.009.222.609) 18655

39 799:36 +0.98 19.Ne3 fxg4 20.Rxg4 Bxd3 21.Qxd3+ g6 22.Bd2 h5 23.Rg3 Rg8 24.c4 Rg7 25.cxd5 cxd5 26.Rc1 a6 27.Rc7 Bd8 28.Rxb7 Rb8 29.Rxb8 Nxb8 30.Rh3 Kg8 31.b4 Qb7 32.Rg3 (895.009.222.609) 18655 -----

40 915:33 +1.33++ 19.h3 (1026.779.624.586) 18691 39 915:33 +1.02 19.Qe2 fxg4 20.Bxg6+ Qxg6 21.Rxg4 Qf5 22.Ng3 Qf7 23.h4 Rg8 24.Qd3+ Kh8 25.h5 Nf8 26.f5 exf5 27.Qxf5 Qe8 28.Be3 Nh7 29.Rg6 Rf8 30.Qg4 Qc8 31.e6 Rf6 32.Rg1 (1026.779.624.586) 18691

39 915:33 +0.99 19.gxf5 Bxf5 (1026.779.624.586) 18691 -----

40 994:58 +1.26-- 19.h3 c5 (1115.451.861.806) 18684

39 994:58 +1.02 19.Qe2 fxg4 20.Bxg6+ Qxg6 21.Rxg4 Qf5 22.Ng3 Qf7 23.h4 Rg8 24.Qd3+ Kh8 25.h5 Nf8 26.f5 exf5 27.Qxf5 Qe8 28.Be3 Nh7 29.Rg6 Rf8 30.Qg4 Qc8 31.e6 Rf6 32.Rg1 (1115.451.861.806) 18684

39 994:58 +0.99 19.gxf5 Bxf5 (1115.451.861.806) 18684

So, in about 16 hours, it hit 40 ply, over a trillion nodes and a very sensible set of pv's.

More later

Cheers,

click for larger view

33 35:25 +1.53 21.hxg4 Bxd3 22.Qxd3+ Qg6 23.f5 exf5 24.Nxf5 Bg5 25.Rg3 Bxc1 26.Rxc1 Rae8 27.Rh3 a6 28.b4 Nxe5 29.dxe5 Rxe5 30.Rg1 Re4 31.Qf3 Qg5 32.Rh5 Qg6 33.Kh2 Rfe8 34.Rg2 (39.874.099.877) 18762

33 35:25 +1.26 21.Bd2 Bxd3 22.Qxd3+ Qg6 23.Qxg6+ Kxg6 24.Rxg4+ Kh7 25.Rag1 Rg8 26.f5 Rae8 27.h4 h5 28.R4g2 Bd8 29.Kh2 g6 30.Rxg6 Rxg6 31.fxg6+ Kg7 32.Ng2 Kxg6 33.Nf4+ Kh7 34.Nxh5 (39.874.099.877) 18762

32 35:25 +1.05 21.b4 g3 22.Rxg3 Bxd3 23.Qxd3+ Kh8 24.Bd2 g5 25.fxg5 hxg5 26.Qe2 Rg8 27.Ng4 Qh5 28.Rag1 Rg7 29.R1g2 Rag8 30.Nh2 Qxe2 31.Rxe2 Nf8 32.Rf2 Rh7 33.Ng4 Nd7 34.Rfg2 (39.874.099.877) 18762 -----

33 35:25 +1.53 21.hxg4 Bxd3 22.Qxd3+ Qg6 23.f5 exf5 24.Nxf5 Bg5 25.Rg3 Bxc1 26.Rxc1 Rae8 27.Rh3 a6 28.b4 Nxe5 29.dxe5 Rxe5 30.Rg1 Re4 31.Qf3 Qg5 32.Rh5 Qg6 33.Kh2 Rfe8 34.Rg2 (39.883.633.178) 18762

33 35:25 +1.26 21.Bd2 Bxd3 22.Qxd3+ Qg6 23.Qxg6+ Kxg6 24.Rxg4+ Kh7 25.Rag1 Rg8 26.f5 Rae8 27.h4 h5 28.R4g2 Bd8 29.Kh2 g6 30.Rxg6 Rxg6 31.fxg6+ Kg7 32.Ng2 Kxg6 33.Nf4+ Kh7 34.Nxh5 (39.883.633.178) 18762

33 35:25 +0.98-- 21.b4 g3 (39.883.633.178) 18762 -----

33 35:39 +1.53 21.hxg4 Bxd3 22.Qxd3+ Qg6 23.f5 exf5 24.Nxf5 Bg5 25.Rg3 Bxc1 26.Rxc1 Rae8 27.Rh3 a6 28.b4 Nxe5 29.dxe5 Rxe5 30.Rg1 Re4 31.Qf3 Qg5 32.Rh5 Qg6 33.Kh2 Rfe8 34.Rg2 (40.150.425.291) 18766

33 35:39 +1.26 21.Bd2 Bxd3 22.Qxd3+ Qg6 23.Qxg6+ Kxg6 24.Rxg4+ Kh7 25.Rag1 Rg8 26.f5 Rae8 27.h4 h5 28.R4g2 Bd8 29.Kh2 g6 30.Rxg6 Rxg6 31.fxg6+ Kg7 32.Ng2 Kxg6 33.Nf4+ Kh7 34.Nxh5 (40.150.425.291) 18766

33 35:39 +0.91-- 21.b4 g3 (40.150.425.291) 18766 -----

33 36:41 +1.53 21.hxg4 Bxd3 22.Qxd3+ Qg6 23.f5 exf5 24.Nxf5 Bg5 25.Rg3 Bxc1 26.Rxc1 Rae8 27.Rh3 a6 28.b4 Nxe5 29.dxe5 Rxe5 30.Rg1 Re4 31.Qf3 Qg5 32.Rh5 Qg6 33.Kh2 Rfe8 34.Rg2 (41.345.521.645) 18776

33 36:41 +1.26 21.Bd2 Bxd3 22.Qxd3+ Qg6 23.Qxg6+ Kxg6 24.Rxg4+ Kh7 25.Rag1 Rg8 26.f5 Rae8 27.h4 h5 28.R4g2 Bd8 29.Kh2 g6 30.Rxg6 Rxg6 31.fxg6+ Kg7 32.Ng2 Kxg6 33.Nf4+ Kh7 34.Nxh5 (41.345.521.645) 18776

33 36:41 +0.98++ 21.b4 (41.345.521.645) 18776

Another impressive result.

Cheers,

click for larger view

32 79:05 +3.65 26.Ng2 Bd8 27.Raf2 Qe8 28.f5 Rf7 29.Nf4 Nf8 30.Rh2 Raa7 31.Nh5 Rab7 32.Qh3 g5 33.Qd3 Rh7 34.Ng3 Qf7 35.Kg1 Qe8 36.Rh5 Qf7 37.Kg2 Qe8 38.Rfh1 Rbg7 39.Kf2 (87.770.557.993) 18494

32 79:05 +3.60 26.Re2 Ra7 27.Ng2 Bd8 28.f5 g5 29.Kg1 Qe8 30.Ne3 Rf7 31.Rh2 Nf8 32.Rh5 Rh7 33.Rf3 Rag7 34.Rfh3 Qd7 35.Qc2 Qf7 36.Kg2 Qe8 37.Kh2 Qf7 38.Kg1 Nd7 39.Kh1 (87.770.557.993) 18494

32 79:05 +3.56 26.Rf3 Bg5 27.Raf2 Bd8 28.Rh2 Rc8 29.Rhh3 Qe8 30.g5 Bxg5 31.fxg5 Rxf3 32.Rxf3 Qh5+ 33.Kg2 Rf8 34.Rg3 hxg5 35.Qd1 Qh4 36.Ng4 Qh5 37.Qe2 Rf5 38.Be3 Rf7 39.Qd1 (87.770.557.993) 18494

This programme would be tough to beat!

Cheers,

Less than 2 days to go!

Countdown to Grenke 2018:

https://www.timeanddate.com/countdo...

♘Baden♘Grenke Chess Classic2018♗Baden♗

http://www.grenkechessclassic.de/en/

This tournament will run from Mar. 31st thru Apr. 9th 2018. (9 Rounds)

Participants include: Carlsen, Aronian, Caruana, Vachier-Lagrave, Anand, Vitiugov, Naiditsch, Hou Yifan, Meier & Bluebaum.

Average rating: 2736 (as of 3/28/18) - Category XX

*****
*****

<<>Grenke Chess Classic 2018<>>

Schedule -

Round 1 is Saturday March 31st & it starts @ 15:00hrs(3pm) Baden-Baden time(9am chessgames time). All games for the 9 rounds are @ 15:00 hrs.

<***The only Prediction game that has confirmed they will be up & running is <Golden Executive>'s 'The Game Prediction Contest'. This may change though so stay tuned.***>

< 3 Prediction Contests: (Win virtual medals - Gold, Silver & Bronze) >

*** User: lostemperor (FINAL STANDINGS PREDICTIONS) - Predict the order the players will finish. Run & hosted by <lostemperor>. (3 categories to medal in) ***

**User: Golden Executive - (The Game Prediction Contest) - Predict the result 1-0, 1/2, or 0-1. Run & hosted by <Golden Executive>. (3 categories to medal in)

This year will be the 11th Anniversary for this contest! (from 2007 to 2018 - 11 years running)**

*User: OhioChessFan (Moves Prediction Contest) - Predict the result 1-0, 1/2, or 0-1 & the number of moves. (4 categories to medal in). This contest is run by <chessmoron> & hosted by <OhioChessFan>.*

*****
*****

Also, don't forget about <chessgames> ChessBookie game for this event. She can't wait to take some or all of your chessbucks. ;)

ChessBookie Game

Don't miss out on the fun for this Super Event!!!

Welcome to the Grenke 2018 Moves Prediction Contest. This contest involves picking a game result (1-0 1/2 or 0-1) and the number of moves in the game. As an example, if in the first round game you think Anand with White will draw Hou in 40 moves, your entry would say:

Anand - Hou 1/2 40

While it is a bit more complicated than the game prediction contest hosted by <GoldenExecutive> it isn't <that> much more complicated. I think my profile as written by <chessmoron> does a pretty good job explaining how things work.