Robindu Guha (author of Oxygen) and I are planning to organize a computer chess thematic tournament on ICC on an annual basis, open to engine authors and approved operators. The first edition will be held this year in September or October.
The main idea is to pay tribute to a chess champion by starting all the games with one of his favorite openings. For this first edition, we have chosen Robert James Fischer. The 6.Bc4 variation of the Najdorf comes to mind.
The ICC admins agreed to support our project and allot temporary accounts for those who have no permanent ICC account, provided we are able to find at least 20 participants. The ICC server would send the starting position to the engines.
The event would be run during a week end in September or October, for example on September 20th and 21st, that is one week before WCCC.
The rules (swiss or round robin, simple or double round, time control, number of rounds, etc) are still to be decided. We need your feedback to know if there is an interest from engine authors, and to take decisions about the schedule.
Ah yes, and the event needs a name as well
Our thanks to :
- fjaam who started it all by suggesting a tournament to honour Fischer's memory
- Charles Roberson who gave us extended advices, including the idea of a thematic tournament
- The ICC team, who accepted our project