チェスの世界の高速道路
NYT 1/13/05 Chess Players Give 'Check' a New Meaning By DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN, Online databases of millions of chess matches make it easier than ever for players to study up on their opponents, taking some of the fun out of the game.
Chess Players Give 'Check' a New Meaning - The New York Times
JAY BONIN, an international chess master who lives in New York, is one of the busiest players in the country. He takes part in face-to-face tournament matches every week and also regularly participates in games of speed chess at chessclub.com, the Internet Chess Club. He estimated that he has played more than 20,000 games online in the last three or four years.
これが「将棋倶楽部24」のチェス版だな。3-4年で20,000局以上。つまり1日平均20局。そうやって対局数を増やすことが強さを維持する秘訣だと思っていたが、やればやるほどデータが残っていき研究されてしまう。
Mr. Bonin said that he recently lost a tournament game to a weaker player who had not competed in years, but who had sprung a surprise move on him in one of Mr. Bonin's favorite openings.
"The line he played reeked of preparation," he said.
それで弱い相手に負けてしまうこともある。
Game databases, many of which are online, give players information about what opening strategies their opponents use. And rapidly improving chess computer programs can analyze games and make suggestions about what to play. In many cases, electronic game collections are replacing books as chess players' primary source of information.
Using computers and databases during tournament matches is not allowed, and most players say that cheating is rare. But using such systems to help prepare has become ubiquitous.
定跡がデータベース化されているのは将棋も同じだが、将棋よりも定跡が体系化されたチェスの世界では問題はより深刻なのだろう。
Mr. Shahade said that he did not think that he had ever lost a game because an opponent prepared a special opening, but that he felt computers and databases have made chess more predictable and probably less fun. "It seems there is less creativity now," he said.
それによって、チェスは面白くなくなり、創造的でなくなったと考えるプレイヤーもいる。
It certainly has made things more difficult for the more innovative players. Before people started using databases, a player who came up with a new move in an opening might be able to use it several times before enough people found out about it to start preparing for it. Now innovations are known almost as soon as they are played. "The profit maybe is very small," Mr. Kasparov said. "You can only use it one game."
新手は一回しか使えない、有効でない、という話も将棋と同じである。
Mr. Kasparov was enthusiastic about the resulting program and when Mr. Wullenweber started selling it, Mr. Kasparov gave it an endorsement sure to catch the attention of other players. "It's the greatest development for chess since the invention of the printing press," Mr. Kasparov said.
http://chessbase.com/
というDBサイト(ドイツ)があるが、これはKasparovの肝いりで作られた。今は300万局以上がデータベース化され、毎週更新されている。
Mr. Schulz said that many of the new games are supplied by tournament directors who collect them from the players. Most of the games are in the public domain, so there is no cost to acquire them. The games are entered using notation that has a designation for each piece and each square.
棋譜はトーナメント開催者からこのサイトの主催者に送られ、ほとんどがパブリック・ドメイン。ここは将棋と大きく違う。
Many games are from elite players - including some played hundreds of years ago - but there are also a great many games from average players. That way, Mr. Schulz said, it is possible to look up games played by your next opponent.
将棋倶楽部24の24万局集をも包括したようなものみたい。だから誰と戦う前でも相手の棋譜を研究することができる。
For the last three years, Mr. Shahade has organized a tournament, the New York Masters, every Tuesday night at the Marshall Chess Club in the West Village in Lower Manhattan. One game from each round can be seen live on the Internet Chess Club. Mr. Shahade said one prominent player, whom he did not identify, had complained because he did not want people seeing what he plays.
トーナメントのインターネット中継を嫌がるプレイヤーもいるらしい。またネットでは匿名で指してデータを残したくないと考えるプレイヤーもいる。このあたり動機は違うかもしれないが、ネット上匿名は将棋の世界もそうだ。
Although no one knows how often that happens, Nigel Short, a British grandmaster, wrote in an article several years ago that he was certain that a guest he played at the site was the former world champion Bobby Fischer.
「ネットの向こうにボビー・フィッシャーが」というのは将棋倶楽部24で羽生さんが匿名で指しているのと同じ。
Alexander Shabalov, 37, a grandmaster, said he had noticed that players ages 15 to 25 play differently than older players because they have spent so much time going up against computers. Because computers are so good at tactics, younger players are more tactical, Mr. Shabalov said, and more willing to take risks.
15歳から25歳のチェスの指し方はぜんぜん違う。高速道路のおかげ。これも羽生さんが言っていた話と同じ。ただ「コンピュータは戦術レベルに強いから、若いプレイヤーも戦術的」というのが将棋の世界と同じかどうかはよくわからない。
あと「強いプレイヤーは厖大な情報から価値ある情報を選べるからいいが、弱いプレイヤーは情報洪水の中で強くなるのが遅れる」と考えるプレイヤーもいるようだ。
Mr. Ehlvest added that in any case he did not believe that computers made people better than they otherwise would be. Instead, they can help them reach their potential sooner.
"Now you see 14-year-old grandmasters because they accumulate information much faster than in my day," he said.
これが最後の文章。羽生さんの高速道路論の結論と全く同じである。
