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| AI artwork generated by MidJourney |
Even though I have a vast library of PC games from which to choose, the only gaming constant in my life is chess. Mind you, this is not some new-found enthusiasm as I've been playing chess for some twenty-odd years now! And while I suffer from burnout from time to time, as sure as the setting sun will rise again, I know that I will eventually come groveling back to beloved Caissa in due course.
There are many reasons why this is so. Perhaps the most influential is the realization that any game that involves tactics and strategy, particularly turn-based games, are just chess with a bunch of bells and whistles on top. To be fair, this is a complex topic that deserves a separate post all its own (I recommend reading Peter Perla's The Art of Wargaming for an in-depth discussion of this topic), but it is something that I have found to be true. One strategy game might have complex terrain to chess's featureless board, another will have stochastic combat results as opposed to the Royal Game's deterministic outcomes, but fundamentally the former are just mimicking the latter's core game concepts just with a ton of fluff on top. (To be clear, I am not dismissing this "fluff" as gratuitous because it can be important, especially when attempting to better simulate a realistic situation, as is the case with many wargames.) How many times have you heard a game described as "like chess but with..." See my point?
Be that as it may, chess is my go-to game. Other games comes and go but chess endures.
Now, why am I blogging about chess here on this science fiction-themed blog? Well, chess is also one of the few games to very science fiction-y in a real way. Since the dawn of the computer era in the 20th Century, chess and AI has had a very close relationship. Going all the way to 1945, Alan Turing, now considered the father of machine intelligence, was the first to create a chess program that he christened, "Turbochamp." Since those early days, chess and computer learning have only become more intertwined, to the extent that today commercially-available chess programs are unbeatable by the strongest chessmaster. As with the classic '80s sci-fi flick, "Terminator," man had succeeded in creating a machine foe that soon beat him at his own game. Literally.
Of course, before there were Cameron's Terminators, there were Fred Saberhagen's feared Berserkers. These automated killing machines, the result of an alien arms race that would succeed in exterminating both sides of the conflict, soon discovered mankind and resumed their, er...original programming. I am often reminded of Saberhagen's terrible machines when matching wits against the many chess-playing bots that are now freely available to fight against. One such bot is "Paolo" over at Chess.com.
Ostensibly, Paolo is rated at 1600 ELO, but I have found this devious device to be stronger than his rating suggests. Prior to the following game, I was 0-6 when meeting this bot on the field of battle. But, at long last, I managed to stop this Berserker. Here is how I did it:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4
I had White. I decided to go with Philidor Defense: Philidor Gambit. Since this bot had been cleaning my clock regularly, I gambled a bit with this dance of an opening.
3...Bd7 4. dxe5 dxe5
I like this position as it seems safe to me. But where do I go from here? I decide to play it safe with:
5.Nc3
As Chess.com's analysis is quick to point out, this is a missed opportunity to win material with 5.Nxe5. I saw that move but decided to play it safe by developing more pieces rather than grabbing material. Again, I made this decision because I have learned from past experience that Paolo likes to lure you out and then beat you about the head!
5...Bb4 6. Bd2
Analysis considers both these moves to be blunders, but they make sense to me.
6...Nc6 7. Be2 Nf6
The forces have been deployed on both sides of the battlefield. Now it is time to get the kings to safety before shots start being exchanged. Having said that, I put off castling to bring my white bishop up to defend the threatened e4 pawn.
8.Bd3 O-O 9. O-O Bg4 10. a3
Fire at will! Time to start making, and receiving, threats!
10...Bxc3 11. Bxc3 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 Nd4 13. Bxd4 Qxd4
And a bunch of pieces fall! So far, I am happy with how my plan is working. Paolo hasn't been able to capitalize on any missteps so far. And by brining his queen out to make a capture, I can now threaten it with:
14. c3 Qd7
By forcing Paolo to retreat his queen, the initiative now passes to me:
15. Rad1 Rad8 16. Bc2
I make another assault on his queen by unmasking my rook. If he wants to trade my rook for his queen, I will be happy to oblige him. I retain the initiative with this move.
16...Qe6
I didn't think he would.
I was starting to get optimistic here as my army remained on the offensive while the evil bot could only react.
17. b3 Kh8 18. Rfe1 Rxd1 19. Rxd1
The silicon beast decides to trade rooks. I consider this a misstep as it leaves my last rook in control of the file.
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I changed my chessboard theme since I last worked on this entry!
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19...Qa6
It looks to snap up a pawn.
20. a4
Nope. I see what you are up to!
20...a5
It insists.
21. Qe2
Now if the black pawn takes my a-pawn, I grab his queen. The analysis engine is right to point out that it would have been better to use my lower value bishop.
21...Rb8
I felt a bit more confident in the outcome here because Paolo seemed to be just pushing wood, as they say. This last move of his was not the best. It seemed like it was just temporizing.
22. Bd3
Now I bring my bishop in to reinforce my queen's attack. Unfortunately, though, this blocks my rook's line of fire up the d-file.
It looks like the on-board action has shifted to the left flank of the chessboard! That is one of the things I love about chess: like a real battle, events transpire that can shift the battle from spot to spot.
22...Qe6
The bot shifts to targeting my b-pawn. This fluidity of strategy is one of the things I find makes Paolo such a challenging opponent.
23. Qc2
I shift my queen to defend the b-pawn.
23...bxa4 24. bxa4
The pawn exchange finally transpires.
24...Kg8 25. f3 Qb6+
Paolo gives check. Because it can.
26. Qf2
I offer to trade queens. I feel better when killer AIs lose their most powerful weapon.
26...Qxf2
He agrees! So much the better for me.
27. Kxf2
My king swings his mighty sword, ending the threat of the queen's attack.
27...Rb2+
I got a bit nervous here, thinking I might have missed a vulnerability.
28. Kg1
The analysis engine suggests 28. Be2 as the better blocking move.
28...Kf8
The bot protects itself from a back-rank mate.
According to the analysis engine, Paolo was enjoying a minor .4 advantage here.
29. Bb5 Rc2 30. c4
The AI is going after another pawn. It is trying to beat me by sheer attrition of minor pieces.
The analysis engine suggest 30. Rd8+ as a superior movie - a good offense is the best defense, and all that. I prefer to keep things simpler.
The analysis engine says I equalized the game here.
30...c6
Paolo gets rattled and hangs a pawn!
31. Bxc6
My bishop strikes it down. I did fear I was missing something, but...no. Just a blunder. Now I was feeling really confident!
31...Ke7 32. Bb5
My bishop goes back on guard duty. A minor piece should guard a major piece and not vice versa, as here, but sometimes you do what you have to do to keep a situation stable.
32...h6 33. h4 g5
The carnage complete on the left flank, the action now switches to the king-side of the board.
34. hxg5 hxg5 35.Kh2
I can tell that I am going to need all my forces working together to win this new struggle, so I start moving my king forward. Now that the enemy queen and a rook is off the board, it is safe to bring my HQ out to play.
Despite me enjoying a single pawn advantage, positionally, the analysis engine considers it a dead-even game.
35...g4 36. Kg3
The bot wants to breakup my pawn structure by offering a pawn exchange. I refuse to take the bait. Instead, I defend the attacked pawn.
36...Ke6 37. a5 Ke7 38. a6
Both sides make cautious "small moves." But Paolo eventually gets impatient.
38...gxf3
39. gxf3 Ke6 40. Rh1
I see an opening to use the h-file to launch an attack with my rook.
I can already tell this is going to be a meticulous endgame battle!
40...Rc3
Here, the position has swung drastically in my favor with the analysis engine giving me a 2.2 advantage.
41.Rh8
And here I gave it all up with a blunder that led to me losing a pawn! Paolo saw my mistake and seized upon it to even up the material balance. The game is now even again.
41...Nxe4+
42. Kg2 Nc5 43. Ra8
And the battle swings back to the queen-side of the board. Here, I want to take the black a-pawn, so as to open the way for my white a-pawn to advance and promote itself to a queen.
43...e4 44. fxe4 f5 45. exf5+ Kxf5
Paolo decides to remove all pawns on the right flank. I suspect he wanted to simplify the position so he could focus all his energy on stopping my pawn advance.
Positionally, I enjoy a .6 advantage.
46. Rxa7
I got it! The way is open!
46...Rc2+
The analysis engine considers this a blunder on the part of Paolo and gives me a 3.4 point advantage.
47. Kf3 Rc3+ 48. Ke2
The analysis engine considers my king advancing a "great" move.
48... Rc2+ 49. Kd1 Ra2 50. Ra8
I blunder again! And with a near identical move to my previous blunder!
I was trying to mak room for my pawn to advance. The analysis engine recommends that I should have advanced my king towards his rook instead. My move allows 50...Nxa6 51. BxN RxB, and a more difficult endgame for me to win.
50...Ke5 51. Rd8
I use my rook to cut-off the black king, preventing him from coming to the aid of his pieces that are desperately trying to stop my pawn from advancing.
51...Ne4
Now the AI blunders by not taking my a6 pawn.
52. Kc1
I make that king move the analysis engine wanted me to make back at move 50.
52...Nc3 53. Rd2
And I blunder for a third time! The analysis engine suggests 53. Rd3. I might have thrown away a victory here as now the position leads to a king and bishop versus king endgame, which results in a stalemate. The agony of chess!
53...Ne2+ 54. Kd1 Nc3+ 55. Kc1 Ne2+ 56. Rxe2+ Rxe2
I need to find a way to advance my pawn despite the black rook being the dominant piece on the board. The stalemate looms closer.
57. Kb1 Kd6
And now Paolo blunders again, and throws the advantage back to me! The drawn endgame is no longer a forgone conclusion!
58. a7 Re1+ 59. Kb2 Re2+ 60. Kb3 Kc5 61. a8=Q
I got my promotion. My lowly pawn is now an elite pawn. The Chess.com analysis engine now gives me an overwhelming advantage.
61...Kd4 62. Qd5+ Ke3 63. Qe5+ Kf2 64. Qxe2+ Kxe2
Well, my newly-minted queen didn't last long, but did do tremendous damage to the Berserker's strategic situation. The enemy king is now alone. It is only a matter of time until I checkmate it as there is nothing he can do to stop my last pawn from also promoting.
65. c5+ Ke3 66. c6 Kd4 67. c7 Kc5 68. Be8 Kd4 69. c8=Q
And it gets it's promotion, sealing the fate of Paolo.
It's a mate in 11 now.
69...Ke5 70. Qd8 Kf4 71. Qe7 Kg3 72. Kc3 Kh2 73. Qf7 Kg1 74. Kd3 Kg2 75. Ke3 Kh2 76. Kf3 Kh1 77. Kf2 Kh2 78. Qh5# 1-0
That was a long game, not just in total number of moves, but in the sheer number of days it took me to complete it! From the time I started to completion, it probably was two weeks! That is the great thing about playing against bots: they are infinitely patient. Chess is the ideal game for those with busy schedules.
Another great thing about chess: being able to easily replay a game to see what went right and wrong. Think about it: unless a modern video game offers a replay function, the best you can do it take a huge amount of screenshots to chronicle the events of a game, assuming that gameplay allows sufficient time to do so, that is. As every chess game can be recorded in Portable Game Notation, aka "PGN", you will always have a record of the action. Not only is this helpful for improving your game, but you can also have a chess engine analysis it to assist you in improving! Lastly, it just can be nice to have a permanent record of a special game, such as this one where I feel especially proud of besting a silicon monster that has been tormenting me for weeks.
It might not conjure up images of killer robots and sci-fi futures, but chess, despite its ancient analog roots, is a game that has embraced the future unlike any other board game I can think of. Just ask HAL.
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