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ROUND 1
MATCH SCHEDULE
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001
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SciSys Rapier
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1 - 0
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Fidelity Chess Challenger 1
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002
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Saitek Mk 12 Trainer
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1/2 - 1/2
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Fidelity Marauder
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003
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Excalibur Saber IV
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1 - 0
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Saitek Alchemist
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004
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Excalibur E-chess
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1 - 0
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Fidelity Mini C C
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B Y E - Fidelity C C Sensory Voice
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MATCH REPORTS
Game 1:
Not surprising that Rapier and CC1 played an unconventional opening. Both do not have an opening book at their disposal. The advantage seesawed right from the start. 8 moves into the game and Rapier is in a commanding lead but messes up with the very next move.
Now it is CC1’s turn to have the advantage after 9 moves. In the very next move the game is even again. On the very next play CC1, long castles straight into a checkmate. Game over in 12 moves.
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CC1 PLAYS 11. ... 0-0-0??
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Game 2:
Both machines played the opening quite well in this Caro Kann Defense. The game was evenly balanced for the first 17 moves. Then Mk 12 decides to start wandering with the King and lets Marauder take a commanding advantage with a series of attacks on the white King.
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POSITION AFTER 21. ... Rab8+
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Marauder cannot sustain the initiative and after a few sloppy moves Mk 12’s advanced King begins to threaten Black’s queen side position. Marauder at this point decides to go for a draw by repetition after 30 moves.
Game 3:
Saber IV had the better of the opening exchanges in this Dutch Defense game and continued to steadily improve it’s position. Alchemist struggled to stay in touch.
On move 18 Saber IV played a very nice Bishop sacrifice resulting in a King check and Queen and Rook fork on move 20. The game was over. Saber IV checkmates Alchemist on move 23.
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SABER IV PREPARES TO PLAY 18. Bxg6!
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Game 4:
Three moves into the game and already E-chess had a good advantage in this Queen’s Fianchetto/Nimzowitsch Defense. By move 12, a piece down and with black’s King threatened in the center it seemed just a question of how long Mini CC would last in this game.
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POSITION AFTER 12. ... Bd7
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Mini CC ended up lasting 53 moves before being checkmated. The final score was never really in doubt.
ROUND 1 TABLE
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POS
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CONTESTANT
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GAMES
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POINTS
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1
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Excalibur Saber IV
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1
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1.0
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2
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Excalibur E-chess
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1
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1.0
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3
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SciSys Rapier
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1
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1.0
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4
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Saitek Mk 12 Trainer
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1
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0.5
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5
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Fidelity Marauder
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1
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0.5
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6
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Fidelity Mini C C
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1
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0.0
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7
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Saitek Alchemist
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1
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0.0
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8
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Fidelity Chess Challenger 1
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1
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0.0
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9
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Fidelity C C Sensory Voice
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0
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0.0
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Already the two Excalibur machines head the table.
ROUND 2
MATCH SCHEDULE
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005
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Saitek Alchemist
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0 - 1
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Excalibur E-chess
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006
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Fidelity Marauder
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0 - 1
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Excalibur Saber IV
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007
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Saitek Mk 12 Trainer
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1 - 0
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Fidelity Chess Challenger 1
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008
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Fidelity C C Sensory Voice
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1/2 - 1/2
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SciSys Rapier
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B Y E - Fidelity Mini C C
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MATCH REPORTS
Game 5:
After the way Alchemist got hammered in the first game it seemed unlikely that it would do much better in this game against E-chess. The game lasted longer then anticipated. Alchemist provided a few threats early but could inevitably the mistakes increased as the game progresses.
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ALCHEMIST AHEAD AFTER 13. ... Nxf2
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E-chess always willing to accept an opponents mistakes notched up it’s second win after 50 moves.
Game 6:
I was looking forward to seeing how Marauder would perform in this game against Saber IV, after having observed Marauder play a fairly decent game in game 1 against Mk 12. I was not too disappointed, Marauder came out of this Nimzo-Indian opening with the initiative and managed to sustain the pressure on Saber IV.
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MARAUDER ADVANTAGE AFTER 19. ... exf5
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On move 20 Marauder missed an opportunity for a good advantage by not playing 20. Bf4! After this missed opportunity, slowly the initiative changed in favor of Saber IV. More and more as the moves were played the tables were turned and now Marauder had to fight for his live to survive in this game. After 62 moves with a pawn advantage for Saber IV a draw was still possible.
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DRAW STILL POSSIBLE AFTER 62. ... Kd4
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But then after a couple of more positional errors in a complicated rook and pawn ending, this last opportunity for a draw slipped away. Saber IV also gets a second win and heads the table after two games.
Game 7:
Amazingly after 12 moves CC1 has the advantage but as expected from this father of chess computers it misses the best moves and quickly the position goes from good to bad then back to good again.
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CC 1 AHEAD AND TO PLAY AFTER 25. d6
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Then as in game 1, CC1 on move 25 blunders right into another forced checkmate.
Game 8:
Sensory Voice missed one opportunity after another in this game where a win for Sensory Voice never seemed in doubt.
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31. Rd7+ BIG ADVANTAGE FOR SENSORY VOICE
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Yet surprisingly Sensory Voice struggled to see the opportunities that were tantalizingly dangled in front of it’s nose and ended up accepting a draw through repetition which Rapier very happily accepted.
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ROUND 2 TABLE
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POS
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CONTESTANT
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GAMES
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POINTS
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1
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Excalibur Saber IV
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2
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2.0
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2
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Excalibur E-chess
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2
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2.0
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3
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Saitek Mk 12 Trainer
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2
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1.5
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4
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SciSys Rapier
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2
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1.5
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5
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Fidelity Marauder
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2
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0.5
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6
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Fidelity C C Sensory Voice
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1
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0.5
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7
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Saitek Alchemist
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2
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0.0
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8
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Fidelity Chess Challenger 1
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2
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0.0
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9
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Fidelity Mini C C
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1
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0.0
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No changes in the promotion spots.
ROUND 3
MATCH SCHEDULE
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009
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Saitek Mk 12 Trainer
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1/2 - 1/2
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Fidelity C C Sensory Voice
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010
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Excalibur Saber IV
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1 - 0
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Fidelity Chess Challenger 1
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011
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Excalibur E-chess
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1 - 0
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Fidelity Marauder
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012
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Fidelity Mini C C
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1 - 0
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Saitek Alchemist
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B Y E - SciSys Rapier
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MATCH REPORTS
Game 9:
There were far too many mistakes in this game. Most of the time Mk 12 Trainer had the advantage with some big favorable lead evaluations which it failed to capitalize on. Then every so often Mk 12 would blunder and the lead would go to Sensory Voice. But, this machine missed seeing these opportunities and return the favor right back to Mk 12 with it’s own blunders. After another major mistake on move 42 from a drawn position, Sensory Voice is given a checkmate in 8 opportunity.
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42. Kb3? CHECKMATE IN 8
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Of course typical for this game so far Sensory Voice generously plays the wrong move sequences and this match finally ends up in a draw through repetition.
Game 10:
This time it is Saber IV’s turn to take on the oldest machine in this tournament. Made in 1977, CC 1 is one of the hardest machines to play because of it’s board notation reversal. This makes the move key entry quite complicated, especially when you are playing against another computer whose key entry is standard chess notation. The game itself did not last long.
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ALL IS LOST FOR CC 1
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Saber IV as expected immediately pressed forward in this game and checkmated poor old CC 1 quickly and efficiently.
Game 11:
E-chess came out attacking and quickly chased Marauder’s king out of it’s defense into a corner of the board. Missing one opportunity after another allowed Marauder to settle a little and to improve it’s position. With advantage in favor of E-chess throughout the game Marauder did recover from the early scares and started to play some good defense narrowly missing towards the end opportunities to even salvage a draw.
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AFTER 39. Ng2 BLACK STILL IN THE GAME
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As in game 2 Marauder finally gets beaten after a long tough struggle by another Excalibur machine.
Game 12:
Alchemist for reasons only known to itself started wandering about the board with it’s Queen with move 4.
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BLACK’S QUEEN GETS CHASED
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This allowed Mini CC to attack black’s Queen while at the same time develop it’s pieces in this Dutch Defense. It did not take long for Alchemist to be in deep trouble.
ROUND 3 TABLE
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POS
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CONTESTANT
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GAMES
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POINTS
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1
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Excalibur E-chess
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3
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3.0
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2
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Excalibur Saber IV
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3
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3.0
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3
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Saitek Mk 12 Trainer
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3
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2.0
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4
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SciSys Rapier
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2
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1.5
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5
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Fidelity C C Sensory Voice
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2
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1.0
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6
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Fidelity Mini C C
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2
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1.0
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7
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Fidelity Marauder
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3
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0.5
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8
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Saitek Alchemist
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3
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0.0
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9
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Fidelity Chess Challenger 1
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3
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0.0
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Still no changes in the top 4 positions.
ROUND 4
MATCH SCHEDULE
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013
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Fidelity Marauder
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1/2 - 1/2
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Fidelity Mini C C
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014
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Excalibur E-chess
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1 - 0
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Fidelity Chess Challenger 1
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015
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Fidelity C C Sensory Voice
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1/2 - 1/2
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Excalibur Saber IV
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016
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SciSys Rapier
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0 - 1
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Saitek Mk 12 Trainer
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B Y E - Saitek Alchemist
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MATCH REPORTS
Game 13:
For the first time in this tournament two Fidelity machines play against each other. Marauder had a fast start and early advantage in this Queens Gambit opening game. Failing to capitalize with Mini CC game totally hopeless Marauder fails to stop one of the few remaining Black pawns from promoting on move 34.
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WHITE ALLOWS BLACK H-PAWN TO QUEEN
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This totally turned the match upside down. From this point onwards Mini CC had a big advantage which fortunately for Marauder it failed to convert into a win. In another very long match Marauder holds out for a draw.
Game 14:
As expected CC 1’s position was destroyed very quickly. CC 1 adds to it’s woes by presenting E-chess a check mate in 1 opportunity on move 15.
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CC 1 PLAYS 15. ... Kxd5?? AND LOSES
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After this win and Saber IV’s draw in the next game, E-chess was now the only chess computer in this tournament with a 100% record.
Game 15:
This Kings Indian Classical game was played with both contestants playing very well. Saber IV however did manage to carve out a pawn advantage in the middle game which was nullified because of the opposite colored Bishop’s that were left at this stage.
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BLACK CANNOT WIN THIS
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In a very long ending the draw in the end was a fair sharing of points. This is the first half point dropped by an Excalibur machine in Group A so far.
Game 16:
It was an even game for the first 26 moves. On move 27 this changed dramatically after Rapier instead of moving it’s King to safety instead played it’s Bishop to block the check.
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WHITE JUST PLAYED 27. Bf4?
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This allowed Mk 12 to instantly attack and win this Bishop with a pawn move to g5. Because this Bishop was lost, Rapier’s game became desperate and Mk 12 quickly won the game. With this win Mk 12 establishes a slight gap between itself and the 4th placed opponent. Mk 12 takes on average 15 seconds to move making it the fastest contestant in this Group. On the other hand Rapier is the slowest. There are times when it seems to take forever for it to move.
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ROUND 4 TABLE
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POS
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CONTESTANT
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GAMES
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POINTS
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1
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Excalibur E-chess
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4
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4.0
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2
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Excalibur Saber IV
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4
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3.5
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3
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Saitek Mk 12 Trainer
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4
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3.0
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4
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Fidelity C C Sensory Voice
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3
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1.5
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5
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Fidelity Mini C C
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3
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1.5
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6
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SciSys Rapier
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3
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1.5
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7
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Fidelity Marauder
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4
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1.0
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8
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Fidelity Chess Challenger 1
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4
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0.0
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9
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Saitek Alchemist
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3
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0.0
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Sensory Voice joins the promotion group.
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