Help with position

Main

Date: 22 Jul 2006 00:05:12
From: John J.
Subject: Help with position

Why is it that my Pocket PC running Pocket Fritz can't solve this mate in 2?
Can you folks try your chess software and let me know the result?

Thanks!

White to move and mate in 2;

White

Ka8,Qb8,Rg8,Ne4

Black

Kh1,Bg1,Pf2

Date: 22 Jul 2006 09:45:25
From: Anders Thulin
Subject: Re: Help with position

John J. wrote:
> Why is it that my Pocket PC running Pocket Fritz can't solve this mate in 2?

Unless it's a bug, it could very well be that Pocket Fritz does not see any
difference between a win in three moves and a win in two moves: a win is a win,
and when it finds the first win that cannot be avoided, it doesn't search further.

--
Anders Thulin ath*algonet.se http://www.algonet.se/~ath

Date: 22 Jul 2006 14:18:28
From: John J.
Subject: Re: Help with position

I understand that. However, Pocket Fritz has been able to solve every other
2 move I've thrown at it, including many that had a 3 move solution too.
Very strange indeed!

"Anders Thulin" <[email protected] > wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> John J. wrote:
>> Why is it that my Pocket PC running Pocket Fritz can't solve this mate in
>> 2?
>
> Unless it's a bug, it could very well be that Pocket Fritz does not see
> any
> difference between a win in three moves and a win in two moves: a win is a
> win,
> and when it finds the first win that cannot be avoided, it doesn't search
> further.
>
> --
> Anders Thulin ath*algonet.se http://www.algonet.se/~ath
>

Date: 22 Jul 2006 17:24:53
From: Dave (from the UK)
Subject: Re: Help with position

John J. wrote:
> I understand that. However, Pocket Fritz has been able to solve every other
> 2 move I've thrown at it, including many that had a 3 move solution too.
> Very strange indeed!
>

It just could be a decision taken to save power. Running the chess
engine longer to look for a better move might not be considered very
efficient use of battery power if a forced win in 3 moves is known. But
it does not make it as useful for analysis if that is the case.

--
Dave K MCSE.

MCSE = Minefield Consultant and Solitaire Expert.

Please note my email address changes periodically to avoid spam.
It is always of the form: month-year@domain. Hitting reply will work
for a couple of months only. Later set it manually.

http://witm.sourceforge.net/ (Web based Mathematica front end)

Date: 22 Jul 2006 10:08:27
From: Dave (from the UK)
Subject: Re: Help with position

John J. wrote:
> Why is it that my Pocket PC running Pocket Fritz can't solve this mate in 2?
> Can you folks try your chess software and let me know the result?
>
> Thanks!
>
> White to move and mate in 2;
>
> White
>
> Ka8,Qb8,Rg8,Ne4
>
> Black
>
> Kh1,Bg1,Pf2
>
>
I tried Pocket Fritz 2 and like you say it can't solve it in 2. It took
3 moves.

Pocket Grandmaster does it in two. I tried 3 engines in Pocket Grandmaster.

Fruit 2.1
Anaconda 2.0.1
Toga II 1.1a

and all 3 found the mate in two moves.

BTW, does the interface to the online chess database work for you in
Pocket Fritz 2? It used to work for me, but now it no longer does. I
have reinstalled the chess program but added in service pack 2 again, so
I'm not sure why it fails to work.

--
Dave K MCSE.

MCSE = Minefield Consultant and Solitaire Expert.

Please note my email address changes periodically to avoid spam.
It is always of the form: month-year@domain. Hitting reply will work
for a couple of months only. Later set it manually.

http://witm.sourceforge.net/ (Web based Mathematica front end)

Date: 22 Jul 2006 14:16:41
From: John J.
Subject: Re: Help with position

Dave:

The interface works for me. I can do a search for games. However, the move
statistics has not worked for me for at least 6 months now. Strange.

Has your membership expired? You only get 1 year with the purchase of Fritz.

Cheers
"Dave (from the UK)" <[email protected] >
wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> John J. wrote:
>> Why is it that my Pocket PC running Pocket Fritz can't solve this mate in
>> 2? Can you folks try your chess software and let me know the result?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> White to move and mate in 2;
>>
>> White
>>
>> Ka8,Qb8,Rg8,Ne4
>>
>> Black
>>
>> Kh1,Bg1,Pf2
> I tried Pocket Fritz 2 and like you say it can't solve it in 2. It took 3
> moves.
>
> Pocket Grandmaster does it in two. I tried 3 engines in Pocket
> Grandmaster.
>
> Fruit 2.1
> Anaconda 2.0.1
> Toga II 1.1a
>
> and all 3 found the mate in two moves.
>
> BTW, does the interface to the online chess database work for you in
> Pocket Fritz 2? It used to work for me, but now it no longer does. I have
> reinstalled the chess program but added in service pack 2 again, so I'm
> not sure why it fails to work.
>
>
> --
> Dave K MCSE.
>
> MCSE = Minefield Consultant and Solitaire Expert.
>
> Please note my email address changes periodically to avoid spam.
> It is always of the form: month-year@domain. Hitting reply will work
> for a couple of months only. Later set it manually.
>
> http://witm.sourceforge.net/ (Web based Mathematica front end)

Date: 22 Jul 2006 17:20:27
From: Dave (from the UK)
Subject: Re: Help with position

John J. wrote:
> Dave:
>
> The interface works for me. I can do a search for games. However, the move
> statistics has not worked for me for at least 6 months now. Strange.
>
> Has your membership expired? You only get 1 year with the purchase of Fritz.

That explains it then. But the implication of that is that anyone can
get access to this information online at

http://www.chesslive.de/

but you can't access the same information from Pocket Fritz 2 even
though you have bought it. Have I misunderstood something?

It would help if the message was a bit clearer - it certainly does not
imply a membership has expired - it only says the position can't be found.

But where on Pocket Fritz 2 can I enter any information that would allow
Chessbase to verify if I had paid for membership? There's nothing I can
see in any of the menus. (Not that I have paid, but if I had, where
could it be verified?).

--
Dave K MCSE.

MCSE = Minefield Consultant and Solitaire Expert.

Please note my email address changes periodically to avoid spam.
It is always of the form: month-year@domain. Hitting reply will work
for a couple of months only. Later set it manually.

http://witm.sourceforge.net/ (Web based Mathematica front end)