Friday, December 27, 2024

Mephisto Polgar


The Mephisto Polgar chess computer (1980s-90s) had a program written by Ed Schroeder. It was one of the strongest 8-bit chess programs available at the time. It played at about a 2200 USCF rating.

However, as we saw in the previous post, it had trouble with the human’s Krejcik Gambit. Like many early chess computers, it tended to grab material, despite the risk (which it may not have seen), and it would occasionally “develop” its King into danger.

It’s “intuition” in taking the e-pawn was correct, as evidenced by the evaluation of the line in the 1982 Batsford Chess Openings (“winning advantage” for Black) and the 1985 Encyclopedia of Chess Openings (“decisive advantage” for Black).

Still, players interested in trying their luck, or in finding a speed surprise, or in simply enjoying the chaos, might check out the YouTube video “Attacking Chess Gambit - 10 (Krejcik Gambit)by GJ_Chess.

By the way, I have found 43 blitz and bullet games played online by Boterhoofd (rated 2000+, mostly 2200+) scoring 66%. Impressive.


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