Demis Hassabis

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Neville Twitchell
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Demis Hassabis

Post by Neville Twitchell » Sun Dec 06, 2020 11:52 am

Forumites might be interested to learn that Demis Hassabis was the subject of "Profile" on Radio 4 yesterday evening, and was interviewed recently on the Today programme.

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John Upham
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Re: Demis Hassabis

Post by John Upham » Sun Dec 06, 2020 12:09 pm

Neville Twitchell wrote:
Sun Dec 06, 2020 11:52 am
Forumites might be interested to learn that Demis Hassabis was the subject of "Profile" on Radio 4 yesterday evening, and was interviewed recently on the Today programme.
Of potential interest is :


Demis Hassabis, chess prodigy and protein pioneer, your country needs you
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Roger de Coverly
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Re: Demis Hassabis

Post by Roger de Coverly » Sun Dec 06, 2020 12:19 pm

John Upham wrote:
Sun Dec 06, 2020 12:09 pm
Demis Hassabis, chess prodigy and protein pioneer, your country needs you
The author of the piece, Dan Johnson, was a useful player himself as a teenager in the mid 1970s. He played local Congresses and for the Slough club.

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John Upham
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Re: Demis Hassabis

Post by John Upham » Sun Dec 06, 2020 12:25 pm

John Upham wrote:
Sun Dec 06, 2020 12:09 pm
Neville Twitchell wrote:
Sun Dec 06, 2020 11:52 am
Forumites might be interested to learn that Demis Hassabis was the subject of "Profile" on Radio 4 yesterday evening, and was interviewed recently on the Today programme.
Neville,
Could you provide a link to the Profile programme from yesterday please?

Of potential interest is :


Demis Hassabis, chess prodigy and protein pioneer, your country needs you
British Chess News : britishchessnews.com
Twitter: @BritishChess
Facebook: facebook.com/groups/britishchess :D

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John Upham
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Re: Demis Hassabis

Post by John Upham » Sun Dec 06, 2020 12:27 pm

British Chess News : britishchessnews.com
Twitter: @BritishChess
Facebook: facebook.com/groups/britishchess :D

Neville Twitchell
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Re: Demis Hassabis

Post by Neville Twitchell » Sun Dec 06, 2020 12:51 pm

Herewith a link to the programme on BBC Sounds
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000q3nq

Nick Ivell
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Re: Demis Hassabis

Post by Nick Ivell » Sun Dec 06, 2020 1:09 pm

Also an article in the Sunday Times today: 'The kid from the comp'.

I was interested in the importance Demis gives to the difference in the powers of bishop and knight. Is the difference that significant?

Ever since Fischer and Karpov we have known that bishops are stronger than knights, except in certain few prescribed circumstances.

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Re: Demis Hassabis

Post by Stewart Reuben » Mon Dec 07, 2020 2:16 am

It is also known that Q + N is often a stronger force than Q + B or even Q = R.

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Re: Demis Hassabis

Post by NickFaulks » Mon Dec 07, 2020 8:46 am

Nick Ivell wrote:
Sun Dec 06, 2020 1:09 pm
Ever since Fischer and Karpov we have known that bishops are stronger than knights, except in certain few prescribed circumstances.
Yet Fischer himself favoured the Exchange Ruy and did not enjoy facing the Winawer.
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Re: Demis Hassabis

Post by David Sedgwick » Mon Dec 07, 2020 8:52 am

NickFaulks wrote:
Mon Dec 07, 2020 8:46 am
Yet Fischer himself favoured the Exchange Ruy and did not enjoy facing the Winawer.
Is that really true?

"I may yet be forced to admit that the Winawer is sound. But I doubt it! The defense is anti-positional and weakens the K-side."
R.J.Fischer, My 60 Memorable Games

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JustinHorton
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Re: Demis Hassabis

Post by JustinHorton » Mon Dec 07, 2020 8:53 am

The statements aren't contradictory though.
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Demis Hassabis

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Mon Dec 07, 2020 2:43 pm

Indeed, it was largely because he didn't rate it that he didn't score quite so well against it.

(his prejudice against it caused him to lose some of his usual objectivity, in other words)
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Joey Stewart
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Re: Demis Hassabis

Post by Joey Stewart » Mon Dec 07, 2020 5:50 pm

They are quite different games for white, even though they both feature a side giving up the bishop pair for a positional advantage. With the exchange ruy white has a very simple plan to attempt to swap everything off and win the endgame whereas with that French line black has more chances then just the ending and white has to play extremely creatively just to avoid getting squeezed and crushed despite having a supposed advantage of the two bishops
Lose one queen and it is a disaster, Lose 1000 queens and it is just a statistic.

Nick Ivell
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Re: Demis Hassabis

Post by Nick Ivell » Mon Dec 07, 2020 5:52 pm

Both the Exchange and the Winawer are examples of giving up a bishop 'for' something: doubled pawns, to be precise. I don't actually rate either opening and Fischer didn't play the Exchange often. He preferred the Spanish 'torture'.

He wasn't at his best against the Winawer but, in my opinion, the quotation used by David was bang on the money.

Bobby wasn't always so accurate. For example, his contention that 1. e4 is 'best by test' can hardly be called objective truth; and later in his career he was able to demonstrate that other openings can be as good (though I doubt he would have risked 1.b3 against Spassky).

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JustinHorton
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Re: Demis Hassabis

Post by JustinHorton » Mon Dec 07, 2020 6:26 pm

It's very normal for people to play less confidently when meeting an opening they are sure ought to be incorrect but they have difficulty in proving it to be so. I mean this is half the appeal of playing provcative openings and sidelines anyway, no?
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

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