Difference between revisions of "Vasik Rajlich"

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a Czech-American <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasik_Rajlich Vasik Rajlich from Wikipedia]</ref> computer scientist and [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] graduate <ref>[http://blogs.spectrum.ieee.org/gizmos/2007/06/engineer_shocks_chess_world.htm Engineer Shocks Chess World] from [http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/ IEEE Spectrum online]</ref>, where his thesis advisor was [[David McAllester|McAllester]] in 1993 <ref>[https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=471117 Re: To author of Rybka] by Vasik Rajlich, [[CCC]], December 17, 2005</ref>. Vasik is [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Master International Master] in chess and primary author of [[Fritz|Fritz 15]] <ref>[https://shop.chessbase.com/en/products/fritz_15_english Fritz 15 - English Version], [[ChessBase|ChessBase Shop]]</ref> <ref>[http://en.chessbase.com/post/fritz-15-engine-questions-and-answers Fritz 15 engine - questions and answers] by [[Albert Silver]], [[ChessBase|ChessBase News]], January 04, 2016</ref> and Fritz 16, and before, [[Rybka]] <ref>[http://www.rybkachess.com/index.php Welcome to RybkaChess.com!]</ref>, the former world strongest chess program, which arose that strong end of 2005 <ref>[https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=465686 Rybka 1.0 beta release - need testers] by Vasik Rajlich, [[CCC]], November 30, 2005</ref> <ref>[https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=466792 Rybka 1.0 Announcement] by Vasik Rajlich, [[CCC]], December 05, 2005</ref>. Vasik is married with [[Iweta Rajlich]], a Polish chess [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Master International Master] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman_Grandmaster Woman Grandmaster] <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iweta_Rajlich Iweta Rajlich from Wikipedia]</ref> and main Rybka tester <ref>[http://rybkachess.com.www52.your-server.de/index.php?auswahl=Rybka+team Rybka team]</ref>.  
 
a Czech-American <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasik_Rajlich Vasik Rajlich from Wikipedia]</ref> computer scientist and [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] graduate <ref>[http://blogs.spectrum.ieee.org/gizmos/2007/06/engineer_shocks_chess_world.htm Engineer Shocks Chess World] from [http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/ IEEE Spectrum online]</ref>, where his thesis advisor was [[David McAllester|McAllester]] in 1993 <ref>[https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=471117 Re: To author of Rybka] by Vasik Rajlich, [[CCC]], December 17, 2005</ref>. Vasik is [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Master International Master] in chess and primary author of [[Fritz|Fritz 15]] <ref>[https://shop.chessbase.com/en/products/fritz_15_english Fritz 15 - English Version], [[ChessBase|ChessBase Shop]]</ref> <ref>[http://en.chessbase.com/post/fritz-15-engine-questions-and-answers Fritz 15 engine - questions and answers] by [[Albert Silver]], [[ChessBase|ChessBase News]], January 04, 2016</ref> and Fritz 16, and before, [[Rybka]] <ref>[http://www.rybkachess.com/index.php Welcome to RybkaChess.com!]</ref>, the former world strongest chess program, which arose that strong end of 2005 <ref>[https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=465686 Rybka 1.0 beta release - need testers] by Vasik Rajlich, [[CCC]], November 30, 2005</ref> <ref>[https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=466792 Rybka 1.0 Announcement] by Vasik Rajlich, [[CCC]], December 05, 2005</ref>. Vasik is married with [[Iweta Rajlich]], a Polish chess [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Master International Master] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman_Grandmaster Woman Grandmaster] <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iweta_Rajlich Iweta Rajlich from Wikipedia]</ref> and main Rybka tester <ref>[http://rybkachess.com.www52.your-server.de/index.php?auswahl=Rybka+team Rybka team]</ref>.  
  
Vasik Rajlich's interpretation of [[Node|nodes]] and [[Depth|depth]] <ref>[http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23037 To Jeroen and interested minds, re. Tiger node count] by [[Christophe Théron]], [[CCC]], August 15, 2008</ref> and the [[Strelka]] controversy <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rybka#Strelka_controversy Strelka controversy from Wikipedia]</ref> <ref>[http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=3006 Strelka 2.0] by Vasik Rajlich, January 11, 2008</ref> <ref>[http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37762 Fabien's open letter to the community] by [[Tord Romstad]], [[CCC]], January 23, 2011</ref> <ref>[http://www.open-chess.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1014 Fabien's open letter to the community] by [[Tord Romstad]], [[Computer Chess Forums|OpenChess Forum]], January 23, 2011</ref> raised suspicions about the initial origin of Rybka 1.0 <ref>[http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23118 Rybka 1.0 vs. Strelka] by [[Zach Wegner]], [[CCC]], August 19, 2008</ref> <ref>[http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23249 Questions for Vas] by [[Zach Wegner]], [[CCC]], August 25, 2008</ref>, but Vasik Rajlich categorically denied Rybka 1.0 was based on [[Fruit]] <ref>[http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?pid=19118#pid19118 Is Rybka a derivative of Fruit?], [[Computer Chess Forums|Rybka Forum]], July 14, 2007</ref> <ref>[http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=6772 question to vas on similarity of rybka 1.0 to fruit], [[Computer Chess Forums|Rybka Forum]], August 25, 2008</ref>, as mentioned by [[Chrilly Donninger]] in 2005 <ref>[https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=469209 Rybka uses PVS and not MTD(f). Its no Fruit-Clone] by [[Chrilly Donninger]], [[CCC]], December 12, 2005</ref> after early rumours <ref>[https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=467208 Is Rybka a fruit clone?] by Ziad Haddad, [[CCC]], December 06, 2005</ref> and questions <ref>[https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=469130  Rybka - How much Fruit is inside?] by [[Daniel Mehrmann]], [[CCC]], December 11, 2005</ref> arose, but despite confusing Fruit using [[MTD(f)]], Donninger claimed Rybka was basically Fruit in 2007 <ref>[https://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=398&start=19 Re: I know something of Dr.Donninger] by [[Harvey Williamson]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], October 16, 2007, quoted with the kind permission of [[Chrilly Donninger|Chrilly]] and [[Enrique Irazoqui|Enir]]</ref>. On January 19, 2011 [[ICGA]] president [[David Levy]] broached on [[:Category:Clone|cloning]] issues in a ''ChessVibes'' column, covering the controversies, where Vasik again confirmed Rybka source is original after he was invited to comment on [[Zach Wegner|Zach Wegner’s]] analysis <ref>Rybka/Fruit: evaluation by [[Zach Wegner]], 2010</ref> a few days before Levy wrote his article <ref>Attack of the clones | ChessVibes by [[David Levy]], 19 February, 2011</ref>. In June 2011, the [[ICGA]] has [[World Computer Chess Championship#RybkaDisqualification|disqualified]] and banned [[Rybka]] and its programmer Vasik Rajlich from previous and future World Computer Chess Championships.
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Vasik Rajlich's interpretation of [[Node|nodes]] and [[Depth|depth]] <ref>[http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23037 To Jeroen and interested minds, re. Tiger node count] by [[Christophe Théron]], [[CCC]], August 15, 2008</ref> and the [[Strelka]] controversy <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rybka#Strelka_controversy Strelka controversy from Wikipedia]</ref> <ref>[http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=3006 Strelka 2.0] by Vasik Rajlich, January 11, 2008</ref> <ref>[http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37762 Fabien's open letter to the community] by [[Tord Romstad]], [[CCC]], January 23, 2011</ref> <ref>[http://www.open-chess.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1014 Fabien's open letter to the community] by [[Tord Romstad]], [[Computer Chess Forums|OpenChess Forum]], January 23, 2011</ref> raised suspicions about the initial origin of Rybka 1.0 <ref>[http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23118 Rybka 1.0 vs. Strelka] by [[Zach Wegner]], [[CCC]], August 19, 2008</ref> <ref>[http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23249 Questions for Vas] by [[Zach Wegner]], [[CCC]], August 25, 2008</ref>, but Vasik Rajlich categorically denied Rybka 1.0 was based on [[Fruit]] <ref>[http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?pid=19118#pid19118 Is Rybka a derivative of Fruit?], [[Computer Chess Forums|Rybka Forum]], July 14, 2007</ref> <ref>[http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=6772 question to vas on similarity of rybka 1.0 to fruit], [[Computer Chess Forums|Rybka Forum]], August 25, 2008</ref>, as initially confirmed by [[Chrilly Donninger]] in 2005 <ref>[https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=469209 Rybka uses PVS and not MTD(f). Its no Fruit-Clone] by [[Chrilly Donninger]], [[CCC]], December 12, 2005</ref> after early rumours <ref>[https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=467208 Is Rybka a fruit clone?] by Ziad Haddad, [[CCC]], December 06, 2005</ref> and questions <ref>[https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=469130  Rybka - How much Fruit is inside?] by [[Daniel Mehrmann]], [[CCC]], December 11, 2005</ref> arose, but despite confusing Fruit using [[MTD(f)]], Donninger claimed Rybka was basically Fruit in 2007 <ref>[https://www.hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=398&start=19 Re: I know something of Dr.Donninger] by [[Harvey Williamson]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Hiarcs Forum]], October 16, 2007, quoted with the kind permission of [[Chrilly Donninger|Chrilly]] and [[Enrique Irazoqui|Enir]]</ref>. On January 19, 2011 [[ICGA]] president [[David Levy]] broached on [[:Category:Clone|cloning]] issues in a ''ChessVibes'' column, covering the controversies, where Vasik again confirmed Rybka source is original after he was invited to comment on [[Zach Wegner|Zach Wegner’s]] analysis <ref>Rybka/Fruit: evaluation by [[Zach Wegner]], 2010</ref> a few days before Levy wrote his article <ref>Attack of the clones | ChessVibes by [[David Levy]], 19 February, 2011</ref>. In June 2011, the [[ICGA]] has [[World Computer Chess Championship#RybkaDisqualification|disqualified]] and banned [[Rybka]] and its programmer Vasik Rajlich from previous and future World Computer Chess Championships.
  
 
=Interview=  
 
=Interview=  
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=Forum Posts=
 
=Forum Posts=
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==2004 ...==
 
* [https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=356131 Re: Shredder 8 secret: search depth?] by [[Vasik Rajlich]], [[CCC]], March 23, 2004 » [[Depth]], [[Shredder]], [[Junior]], [[Fritz]]
 
* [https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=356131 Re: Shredder 8 secret: search depth?] by [[Vasik Rajlich]], [[CCC]], March 23, 2004 » [[Depth]], [[Shredder]], [[Junior]], [[Fritz]]
* [https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=465686 Rybka 1.0 beta release - need testers] by Vasik Rajlich, [[CCC]], November 30, 2005
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* [https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=465686 Rybka 1.0 beta release - need testers] by [[Vasik Rajlich]], [[CCC]], November 30, 2005
* [https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=466792 Rybka 1.0 Announcement] by Vasik Rajlich, [[CCC]], December 05, 2005
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* [https://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=466792 Rybka 1.0 Announcement] by [[Vasik Rajlich]], [[CCC]], December 05, 2005
* [http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=5547 Rybka 3 Release Notes] by Vasik Rajlich, [[Computer Chess Forums|Rybka Forum]], August 4, 2008
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* [http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=5547 Rybka 3 Release Notes] by [[Vasik Rajlich]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Rybka Forum]], August 4, 2008
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==2010 ...==
 
* [http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?topic_view=threads&p=379676&t=36941 Vasik's Contribution] by [[Martin Wyngaarden]], [[CCC]], December 04, 2010  
 
* [http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?topic_view=threads&p=379676&t=36941 Vasik's Contribution] by [[Martin Wyngaarden]], [[CCC]], December 04, 2010  
 
* [http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=22679 Apology to Vas] by [[Ed Schroder|Rebel]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Rybka Forum]], August 17, 2011
 
* [http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=22679 Apology to Vas] by [[Ed Schroder|Rebel]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Rybka Forum]], August 17, 2011
 
* [http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=23957 A Big Thanks and a Small Update] by [[Vasik Rajlich]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Rybka Forum]], January 08, 2012
 
* [http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=23957 A Big Thanks and a Small Update] by [[Vasik Rajlich]], [[Computer Chess Forums|Rybka Forum]], January 08, 2012
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==2020 ...==
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* [http://www.talkchess.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=77613 Time to rethink what Vasik Rajlich has done?] by Madeleine Birchfield, [[CCC]], July 03, 2021 » [[Rybka Controversy]]
  
 
=External Links=  
 
=External Links=  

Latest revision as of 21:03, 5 July 2021

Home * People * Vasik Rajlich

Vasik Rajlich [1]

Vasik G. Rajlich, (born 1971 in Cleveland, Ohio)
a Czech-American [2] computer scientist and MIT graduate [3], where his thesis advisor was McAllester in 1993 [4]. Vasik is International Master in chess and primary author of Fritz 15 [5] [6] and Fritz 16, and before, Rybka [7], the former world strongest chess program, which arose that strong end of 2005 [8] [9]. Vasik is married with Iweta Rajlich, a Polish chess International Master and Woman Grandmaster [10] and main Rybka tester [11].

Vasik Rajlich's interpretation of nodes and depth [12] and the Strelka controversy [13] [14] [15] [16] raised suspicions about the initial origin of Rybka 1.0 [17] [18], but Vasik Rajlich categorically denied Rybka 1.0 was based on Fruit [19] [20], as initially confirmed by Chrilly Donninger in 2005 [21] after early rumours [22] and questions [23] arose, but despite confusing Fruit using MTD(f), Donninger claimed Rybka was basically Fruit in 2007 [24]. On January 19, 2011 ICGA president David Levy broached on cloning issues in a ChessVibes column, covering the controversies, where Vasik again confirmed Rybka source is original after he was invited to comment on Zach Wegner’s analysis [25] a few days before Levy wrote his article [26]. In June 2011, the ICGA has disqualified and banned Rybka and its programmer Vasik Rajlich from previous and future World Computer Chess Championships.

Interview

Quotes from an uciengines.de Interview with Vasik Rajlich, December 20, 2005 [27], a new age in Computerchess? Two questions by Alexander Schmidt:

20. Alexander Schmidt: The increase in playing strength of the latest chess engines is unbelieveable. We have since some time with Fruit 2.1 by Fabien Letouzey a very strong open source engine. Do you see a relation between the published sources of such a strong engine and the increase of strength in computer chess in general? How much influence do the ideas of Fruit have on the future of computerchess?

Vasik Rajlich: Yes, the publication of Fruit 2.1 was huge. Look at how many engines took a massive jump in its wake: Rybka, Hiarcs, Fritz, Zappa, Spike, List, and so on. I went through the Fruit 2.1 source code forwards and backwards and took many things.

It is a bit of a pity that Rybka won't make the same contribution to the computer chess community, but at the moment I must also think about protecting my secrets. It's the eternal struggle for a computer chess programmer.

21. Alexander Schmidt: We had our first contact when I had questions about a similarity to Fruit in the search, others found similarities in the evaluation. Some people where a little bit suspicious that Rybka could be a clone of the open source engine. In the meantime it is clear that Rybka is no clone but you used ideas of Fruit (I guess all other serious engine programmers had a look at Fruit too). How strong would Rybka actually be if the Fruit code would have never been published?

Vasik Rajlich: It's a good question. I don't want to get too specific about which ideas from Fruit I think are really useful, but they fall into two categories:

1) Very specific tricks, mostly related to search. 2) Philosophy of the engine (and in particular of the search).

Fruit could really hardly be more useful along both of these dimensions. Fabien is a very good engineer, and also has a very clear and simple conception of how his search should behave.

Anyway, if I really had to give a number - my wild guess is that Rybka would be 20 rating points weaker had Fruit not appeared.

See also

Forum Posts

2004 ...

2010 ...

2020 ...

External Links

Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

References

  1. Vasik Rajlich in 2006, Photo by Iweta Rajlich, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
  2. Vasik Rajlich from Wikipedia
  3. Engineer Shocks Chess World from IEEE Spectrum online
  4. Re: To author of Rybka by Vasik Rajlich, CCC, December 17, 2005
  5. Fritz 15 - English Version, ChessBase Shop
  6. Fritz 15 engine - questions and answers by Albert Silver, ChessBase News, January 04, 2016
  7. Welcome to RybkaChess.com!
  8. Rybka 1.0 beta release - need testers by Vasik Rajlich, CCC, November 30, 2005
  9. Rybka 1.0 Announcement by Vasik Rajlich, CCC, December 05, 2005
  10. Iweta Rajlich from Wikipedia
  11. Rybka team
  12. To Jeroen and interested minds, re. Tiger node count by Christophe Théron, CCC, August 15, 2008
  13. Strelka controversy from Wikipedia
  14. Strelka 2.0 by Vasik Rajlich, January 11, 2008
  15. Fabien's open letter to the community by Tord Romstad, CCC, January 23, 2011
  16. Fabien's open letter to the community by Tord Romstad, OpenChess Forum, January 23, 2011
  17. Rybka 1.0 vs. Strelka by Zach Wegner, CCC, August 19, 2008
  18. Questions for Vas by Zach Wegner, CCC, August 25, 2008
  19. Is Rybka a derivative of Fruit?, Rybka Forum, July 14, 2007
  20. question to vas on similarity of rybka 1.0 to fruit, Rybka Forum, August 25, 2008
  21. Rybka uses PVS and not MTD(f). Its no Fruit-Clone by Chrilly Donninger, CCC, December 12, 2005
  22. Is Rybka a fruit clone? by Ziad Haddad, CCC, December 06, 2005
  23. Rybka - How much Fruit is inside? by Daniel Mehrmann, CCC, December 11, 2005
  24. Re: I know something of Dr.Donninger by Harvey Williamson, Hiarcs Forum, October 16, 2007, quoted with the kind permission of Chrilly and Enir
  25. Rybka/Fruit: evaluation by Zach Wegner, 2010
  26. Attack of the clones | ChessVibes by David Levy, 19 February, 2011
  27. Interview with Vasik Rajlich by Christopher Conkie, Michael Diosi, Frank Quisinsky & Alexander Schmidt, December 20, 2005, hosted by Ed Schröder (Wayback Machine)
  28. Vasik Rajlich responds to his accusers by Nelson Hernandez, Rybka Forum, July 12, 2011
  29. Luke skywalker has done it again by Daniel Shawul, CCC, April 02, 2012
  30. The ChessBase April Fools revisited, ChessBase News, April 10, 2012
  31. April Fools' Day from Wikipedia

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