OIC…hey, want to play a game? 
I’m glad I finally got around to stopping in and looking at the forum. There is a book that I remember very well as mostly an enjoyable bedtime (or fireside) read. And I don’t know what has become of it … therefore … I will get it replaced.
The book?
The Fireside Book of Chess
by Irving Chernev, Fred Reinfeld
It was written in 1949…so it’s woefully out of date now. Even so, it’s full of very enjoyable reading and even some interesting games. It’s got comics, anecdotes, positions, games and more. You can get it through Amazon, although only in used condition.
P.S. While looking up this book, I set up the above condition and let Toga II dig into it. More in the next post.
In the above position … Toga II 1.2.1a (there is a newer version freely available) … found Bf6 within a few seconds.
I had thought something along the lines of 1. Ne7 threatening 2. Qxg6 mate, but realized that wouldn’t work with 1. … Nf3+ 2. … Nxh4 giving Black a huge edge. Finally I gave it up and tried my engine.
However, there is also a SECOND line that it found that is as good.
Okay, so I’m probably gonna beat a dead horse (or to expound upon something that everyone here already knows … but just in that off the wall chance) …
Chess engines normally work by determining the strength of a position in discrete values. Pieces have the usual value that we use everyday … Rook = 5 pawns, Queen = 9 pawns etc. The engines however work in values of centi-pawns, or 1/100th of a pawn.
Here’s part of the second line:
- Kg2 bxc4 2.Bf6 c5 3. Bxd4 Bxd4 4. Re6 Rg7 5. f5 gxf5 etc.
Both lines that Toga came up with gave 1.59 to White. That is to say, White will be ahead by about 1 1/2 pawns by playing either 1. Bf6 or 1. Kg2. At this level of play, that should be enough to win.
Notice also that BOTH lines have Bf6 though. So it is STILL the key move to the position.
There is only one chess engine available for the PC that is stronger than Toga II, that’s Rybka. By about 40 or 50 ELO. But Rybka is not free and Toga is. In any case, Toga II is a world class GM strength engine and is what I use to get the “final” word about any position. Well, except for endgame positions when I need the huge endgame database to work with the engine and nearly any engine will do in that case.
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I do not understand why “Toga 1.3 X4” would be available for free download only in compressed file format (.rar) that requires the purchase of a special decompression program.
There is also a concern that the Toga 1.3X4 download is in technical violation of the GNU license (makefile not provided).
http://arctrix.com/nas/fruit/
With out-of-the-box Windows I can decompress .zip files.
“Toga 1.2.1a” is available for free download as a .zip.
Toga was derived from the Fruit engine.
What about Zappa? 
Didn’t Zappa just whoop on Rybka in Mexico City?
I’m always reading chess books in bed. I think one that might be good for reading in bed would be the Oxford Companion to Chess.
There is a freeware program ICEOWS with Built-in decompression for ICE,ARJ, ZIP, GZIP, TAR, MS-CAB, RAR, ACE, etc
iceows.com/HomePageUS.html
It looks a little on the oldish side but it might be worth a try.
Well, it gets a little fuzzy at the very top for engines.
When I said Rybka … I should have specified a single cpu (or dual core cpu), not multiple cpu machines. There are 2 other chess engines that are better than Rybka … but apparently only in multiple cpu machines.
Naum & Zappa Mexico
Naum is available up to 4 cpu commercially and by request, the 8 cpu product is available. Zappa is barely stronger than Naum in 8 cpu systems.
So, since most folks have single (or dual core) cpu’s, I just kinda ignored these two engines.
In any case, these engines … Toga, Rybka, Zappa Mexico & Naum … are all rated in the 2995 to 3105 elo area.
Doesn’t surprise me if Zappa whooped all over Rybka. It appears that the “absolute” strongest engine at the moment would be Zappa. But then, you would need a well above average machine to get it’s fullest capabilities.
But, I don’t believe anything is stronger than Rybka given a “level playing field”, i.e., single cpu computer, identical opening books, etc.
The argument about needing a “special decompression program” that is not free is … specious. You have to also purchase a computer or rent one, to pay for internet access, etc. WinRar is indeed a commercial program as is WinZip. In either case, though, you can use them without purchasing them. And yes, the newest versions of Windows have the “unzip” capability built-in and you don’t need WinZip.
Neil Schemenauer is the only one that I know of that has said anything in this regard. Neither Thomas Gaksch nor Fabien Letouzey have said anything in this regard. They are the developers of Toga and Fruit respectively.
Toga 1.3X4 was actually a beta engine and not fully developed. The newest versions are 1.3.1 (in a couple of slightly different versions that are optimized for slightly different conditions) and 1.3.4 modified that is likewise designed for a specific use. http://www.superchessengine.com/toga_ii.htm
Fabien Latouzey quit working on Fruit some years ago. The latest version is Fruit 2.3.1 from Ryan Benitez, only available for Windows. Most of the changes since November 2005 are done by Ryan with permission of Fabien along with some review of code and discussion of ideas. I haven’t seen any testing and don’t know how well it works or it’s strength. http://www.fruitchess.com/purchase.htm
Once again though, I want to reiterate, that at this rarefied level of chess engine ability, things change rather often as well as having a lot to do with opening books used, computer (number of cpu’s) and some other factors as to which is truly the strongest.
It’s my belief that Rybka and Toga are the most powerful engines available for the average computer user. Only if you have an extraordinary computer (4 or more cpu’s), will you find that Naum or Zappa Mexico are the stronger.
So … in conclusion … you can have a 3000 elo chess engine for free … a gui such as Arena http://www.playwitharena.com/ for free and free opening books to use with it. One of the most extensive and complete books is ParadiGm by Dr. Wael Deeb, available at http://www.superchessengine.com.
One last word about these super duper engines, they are VERY poor in endgame play. So … you need to get a set of endgame databases to complete them. These are also free.
To my mind, I can’t understand anyone with a computer and internet access not having a free set of programs that can help you analyze your games on par with a Kasparov or Anand or any of the super GMs.
The book didn’t take long to get here and I’m very happy to have it again. Although, it does have a lot more complete games than I remembered it having.
I enjoy books on the World Championship matches… I also enjoy endgame books. The Dvoretsky endgame book is amazing. The more one reads it, the more one realizes how little one knows about the endgame!
My fav all-time book was about the World Champions by Fred Rhienfeld. I don’t remember the title. The book that made me into a tournament player was “Point Count Chess” by Horowitz.
THE GREAT CHESS MASTERS AND THEIR GAMES by Fred Reinfeld
also known as
THE HUMAN SIDE OF CHESS by Fred Reinfeld
New Book Just Out: Elista Diaries, updated to include games from the 2007 World Chess Championship
This classic work, considered to be one of the best match chess books ever written, has been expanded to 414 pages to include an in depth analysis of all the games from the Anand-Karpov Match and four of the games that carried Anand to the World Chess Championship in Mexico City in September 2007.
Elista Diaries by Anatoly Karpov and GM Ron Henley provides a brief biography and a deep analysis of at least two games played by every player ever to win the World Chess Championship: Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky, Fischer, Karpov and Kasparov. It also analyzes all the games played by Kamsky and Karpov leading up to their world championship match and then it analyzes the games of that match, the Anand-Karpov match and four of the games from Mexico City 2007.
Elista Diaries is reviewed by Jeremy Silman on his website:
“This is one of the best three match books I’ve ever seen (Tal’s book on his 1960 match with Botvinnik is the best, Yasser’s wonderful account of the Fischer-Spassky rematch has dropped to third behind this Karpov masterpiece); it gives more than full value for those who wish to analyze chess games, and it gives more than full value to those who simply wish to read about chess history (past and present). I loved it and I think that you will too. Give it a try and let me know what you think!”
This is one of my favorites also.
My bedtime reading usually only consists of tactics solving. I especially like GM Alburt’s Chess Training Pocketbook: 300 Most Important Positions. It is part of his Comprehensive Chess Course series.
I like a book called “A First Book of Morphy”, by Frisco Del Rosario.
It illustrates Reuben Fine’s 30 chess principles using the games of
Paul Morphy.
The target audience for this is (I would say) players up to class B.
I read it when I was a class C player, and I found it helped me a lot.
I had read some theoretical books, like “My System” and “Modern
Ideas in Chess” when I was younger, and I never could understand
why I would get good positions and still end up losing.
Frisco lectures at our local chess club, and listening to his talks and
reading the book helped me to understand more about the nature
of chess and where I was going wrong.
The book has lots of diagrams and extensive commentary on the
games (which are mostly short), so it’s the kind of book you can
read without having a chess board.
Jim
First chess book I ever bought, and one of the best chess books for beginners is “Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess”, a suprisingly well done book that you don’t need a chess board to use.
I’d say my all time favorite chess book, just from the standpoint of increasing my ablity to play chess is “Reasses Your Chess” by Jeremy Silman. I"m almost certain to go through the book a 2nd time in the near future. Takes dedication to use though. I ended up going to the library in order to find a setting that I found relaxing. ( and my mom couldn’t inturrept me! )
I also have “Point Count Chess” and think that it is one of the better books for learning to count the values of pieces with respect to different positions. It is probably hard to find now but it would be worth getting if you could find it on Ebay or somewhere like that.
And of course, you can’t go wrong with Fischer’s “My 60 Memorable Games” or “Logical Chess: Move by Move.”