trb@masscomp.UUCP (03/06/84)
Some interesting notes from April Chess Life: The USSR has suspended its unofficial boycott of matches which allow (Soviet defector) Viktor Korchnoi to participate: Sov GM's Beliavsky and Tukmakov went to Wijk an Zee this year, where Korchnoi also played. This probably comes as a result of Korchnoi's refusal to accept victory in FIDE's forfeiture of his candidates match with Kasparov. Btw, Korchnoi shared first at Wijk an Zee with Beliavsky. Kasparov and Smyslov start their candidates match in Vilnius, Lithuania, 10-March, winner to play Karpov later this year. On another front, Ken Thompson and Joe Condon of BTL were awarded the Fredkin Prize by CMU, for designing the first machine to attain Chess Master strength. There are two yet unclaimed parts to this prize, for the first machine to become a Grandmaster, and for the first machine to with the World Championship. Also, on the cover of the February CL, were a Blit (primarily) with Thompson and Condon, and Robert Hyatt and Albert Gower - developers of Cray Blitz (no relationship to Blit). It is especially significant that they had Thompson on the cover, since CL has an unstated policy of never putting bearded men on the cover (check for yourself). Cray Blitz won the recent World Computer Chess Championship in NYC. Belle took her first loss at the hands (?) of a computer (Northwestern University's Nuchess) in over five years (since it has run on special purpose hardware) at this tournament. Andy Tannenbaum Masscomp Inc Westford MA (617) 692-6200 x274