How to Use Computers to Improve your Chess

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How to Use Computers to Improve Your Chess 

Reviewed 09/01/03

Every week I get e-mail, or see some USENET post asking about the use of computers in chess study. This book, published by Gambit publications and authored by Christian Kongsted, attempts to tackle this subject. While this is not the first book on computer chess, it does focus on an area that has been hitherto largely ignored. So instead of concentrating on beating the computer, this book focuses more on understanding the play of the computer, along with some associated techniques for game improvement using this knowledge.

The book is well produced and edited, and is organized into roughly four sections. The first talks about the development of computer chess, and provides some insight into how computers play chess. The author then moves on to discuss methods for beating the computer, and the kinds of weaknesses that chess engines usually exhibit. Mr. Kongsted then talks about the various software programs, and provides some general guidance on which programs to use, and how to use them. The very last section provides some test positions for the reader to play through with the aid of a computer.

If I had to compare this book to the one I wrote on this same topic, I see the following differences. First, the organization in Christian Kongsted's book is different from the Chess Software Sourcebook (it is reversed). Second, Mr. Kongsted's book has quite a bit more material about beating the computer, and typical weaknesses exhibited by engines. And it concentrates less on discussing the various programs that are available.

There are some techniques discussed in the book that require the use of Chessbase software. However, 95% of the material is directly applicable to other programs as well (e.g. Chess Assistant). Any user that has attained a basic level of competence with his (or her) software of choice should have no trouble.

To me, the most valuable part of this book was the section on engine weaknesses, since this is an area that has not been discussed in any other book to date (with the exception of texts specifically written for computer chess programming) . And I think the book does a good job of explaining why the algorithmic approach of the chess engine manifests itself as a particular weakness or blind spot. This is absolutely essential knowledge for people that want to analyze their games with computer assistance, since knowledge of these weaknesses allows the intelligent evaluation of when engine analysis should be trusted, and when not.

I did notice one thing missing from the book, and that was a detailed, systematic discussion of engine handicapping; which is still a useful technique today. The only other controversial item was the discussion of engine opening books. The author makes some generalizations regarding the construction of opening books which are mostly true, but do not apply to certain specific cases. The most specific example I can think of here is Shredder's opening books. The author states that opening books are constructed largely as an afterthought.  If you have ever played Shredder, you will realize that the engine selects some lines that are quite out of the ordinary, and it is difficult to see how they could have resulted from a large database dump.

However, these are pretty minor points overall, and I think I am just nitpicking, since the topic of computer-aided analysis is one that I am very interested in. My overall opinion is that this book is worth the price for its discussion of computer weaknesses, which will provide valuable insight; especially to stronger players. In some respects, I also wish that I had written something like it, which might be the highest compliment of all.