CHESSLETTER December 2016 #25

[Issue #25 December/2016] ChessBase Newsletter // Dear chess friends! Raising the rating by 200 Elo-points – isn’t that a dream of every chessplayer? Robert Houdart managed to achieve that with his new Houdini 5. Okay, Houdini is "only" a program but such an improvement over the previous version is a real leap forward! [New: Houdini 5] How did he do this? With its new version, Houdini 5, the "Magician" among the chess programs again enters the world’s top. By implementing a range of new ideas and techniques Robert Houdart could drastically improve the playing strength of its engine while keeping Houdini’s unique creative playing style: Where other engines see no way to make progress, or head towards a draw, not infrequently, Houdini conjures up hidden and surprising resources! A decisive factor here is the completely redesigned evaluation function, which has been retuned to better take king safety and piece play into account. As opposed to its predecessor, Houdini 5 is more selective when arriving at candidate moves, which enables it to reach higher search depths. This modification pays off in all stages of the game, but particularly so when it comes to the endgame. Houdini 5 is available in two versions: the Houdini 5 Pro Version can support up to 128 cores and 128 GB of RAM. The Standard Version can support a maximum of 6 cores and 4 GM of RAM. The scope of supply contains the latest Fritz 15 program interface, a Premium membership to playchess.com and Premium for your ChessBase Account (6 months) and online access to the world’s largest analysis database „Let’s Check“ with over 200 million deeply analyzed positions (6 months). [Order Houdini 5 Pro...] [Order Houdini 5 Standard...] [read more] // [ChessBase 14 – The Manual] Three weeks ago the new ChessBase 14 program appeared. If you have questions about certain functions or if you want to know all about the „Assisted Analysis“ you should take a look. The ChessBase 14 manual has more than 500 pages and systematically compiles all topics, articles and tips of the online-help. Use the pdf-file, e.g. to search for a keyword (with the shortcut Strg+f). Or print out the manual – complete or selected chapters. [Download the ChessBase 14 manual in the ChessBase Wiki...] [Order ChessBase 14 in the ChessBase shop...] [read more] Next Tuesday (December, 13) we will have a [youtube Q&A session with Matthias Wüllenweber], founder of ChessBase and developer of ChessBase 14. For questions and comments use the youtube chat (account needed) or Twitter (#chessbase14). [The show starts at 5pm CET. Click here.] // NEW [ChessBase Magazine #175] Highlights of the new edition (December 2016/January 2017):: 1. Mini repertoire against the King's Indian: Vladimir Kramnik annotates his surprise coup (with 6.b3) against Daniele Vocaturo 2. A big point for the USA: Olympiad winner Wesley So analyses his victory over Ian Nepomniachtchi. 3. Trends in the Benko Gambit: why does Black often delay the capture on a6? How should White react? GM Stohl brings you up to date! 4. "Premature Resignation": find out together with Oliver Reeh why in Amonatov-Hansen a last check of the position could have paid dividends. 5. 8 out of 10 and gold on board 1: Daniel King demonstrates one of Baadur Jobava's brilliancies from Baku (video). 6. Marches with kings: David Navara again discovers a fantastic king march – this time from g1 to h7 – and wins! 7. The Slav with 4.g3: let GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi explain why big names like Gelfand and Grischuk play this side variation (video) [Order "ChessBase Magazin 175" from the shop...] [read more] // [Mega Database 2017] The "Mega" is the database every serious chessplayer needs. The database contains the complete history of chess, 6.8 million games from 1500 to 2016, in highest quality standard, full of top level analyses and completely classified. Use the Mega Database 2017 for optimum preparation and make the mother of all databases the father of your success! More than 6.8 million games Extensively enlarged historical part (1500-1939) 70,000 annotated games Every week 5,000 new games (until the end of 2017 – only with ChessBase 12/13/14) Up-to-date playerbase (425,000 entries, 35,000 photos) [Order "Mega database 2017" from the shop...] [read more] // You're a subscriber to the ChessBase newsletter. If you no longer want to receive the chessbase newsletter, [click here.] © 2016 ChessBase Schachprogramme Schachdatenbank Verlagsgesellschaft mbH Registered: Osterbekstr. 90a, 22083 Hamburg Telephone: 040-63 90 60 0 - Fax: 040 630 12 82 Directors: Matthias Wüllenweber and Rainer Woisin HR Amtsgericht Hamburg HRB 40336 Value added tax identification number DE 118644875 Local tax office tax number 49/711/00031ChessBase, All rights reserved