The one with Deep Fritz replies.

Dear Junior,

I read your article in Correspondence Chess News issue 49. I liked it very much! That is because I'm not doing anything unethical. I use Deep Fritz, just like Wim Pommerel - a strong Dutch correspondence player -(and I suppose many others), who wrote about it in an Dutch club magazine, to create ideas, check positions etc. But I decide which move I play. And if I like a variation, I let Deep Fritz check for analytical errors and it finds none, I stick to my variation. Let this be clear from the outset. What's the use for me, as a club player to select moves I don't understand and as you noticed you were sometimes surprised by my choice of moves. That's because I didn't like the idea which Deep Fritz came up.

I've played strong grandmasters (eg Jan Timman, Jeroen Piket) in simultaneous matches. I play Correspondence Chess to become a stronger tournament player and it pays dividends to my chess. It's like having a strong grandmaster as a brother who can advise you during your games. As you can see from my previous games and my selection of openings (with White: the Colle; with Black: the Caro-Kann and Semi-Slav) they are all anti-computer chess openings. This is because I suspect that most of my chess-opponents use chess programs. I've claimed many victims with such an approach but I don't bother any more whether my opponents use chess programs anymore. I play my own game (White: English another anti-chess program opening).

At the moment I'm not even trying to find out whether my opponent might use a chess program and use this information in a way you did. I always dream of meeting my email chess opponents in the flesh and beat them in OTB games!

I use two databases within Deep Fritz; one analytical database and a database without any analysis. The last one I use to recollect the analysis I've done in the former database. I suspect I sent my move from the analytical database instead of the non-analytical database!

By the way my PC configuration is a Laptop Pentium II, 450 Mhz and 128 MB RAM! I've absolutely no hard feelings towards you after reading the article and find it very clever of you. I even might use it myself! But you can convince yourself after reading your analysis, that without your 'method' you also would have won. I sincerely hope to meet you in another tournament and be prepared! I still will use Deep Fritz to assist me!

With best regards, Hans.

(Here is a simultaneous exhibition game which Hans participated in, venturing his beloved Caro Kann Defence against the famous Dutch chess personalyGM Jan Timman. The illustrious former FIDE World Championship finalist could not find a way to prevent van Unen from vacuuming the pieces off the board and had to be satisfied with a draw! .

Remind me not to play the main line against the Classical Caro Kann if I were to get paired against Hans in a future tournament! - Jr Tay)

[RR 17...b5 18.f4 Bd6 19.Nf1 b4 20.Ne3 Rb5 21.N3c4 Rd8 22.Rhf1 (RR 22.Rd3 Bf8 23.Rhd1 Nd5 24.g3 Ne7 25.Nxf7 Rdd5 26.Qxe6+ Kb8 27.Nfd6 1-0 Ye,J-Einwiller,D/Bern op 1995 (27)) 22...Bf8 23.g4 Kb8 24.g5 Nd5 25.g6 f5 26.Nf7 Re8 27.Qf3 Nf6 28.Rfe1 Rd5 29.Re5 b5 30.Ne3 Rd7 31.Qe2 Qa5 32.d5 Gruenfeld,Y-Shamkovich,L/Biel 1980/EXT 99/1-0 (42); RR 17...Rd8 18.Ne4 Nxe4 19.Qxe4 Bd6 20.f4 f5 21.Qe3 Bxe5 22.fxe5 b5 23.Rh3 Rd5 24.Rd3 Rhd8 25.Rg3 Qd7 26.Kc1 1/2-1/2 Prell,D-Butze,R/Karl-Marx-Stadt 1975 (26); 17...c5 18.c3 Bd6 19.f4 Rd8 20.Nf1 cxd4 21.cxd4 Bc5 22.Nf3 Qxf4 23.Rc1 Rxd4 24.Nxd4 Rxd4 25.Rh3 Kb8 26.a3 e5 27.Qc2 Rd7 28.Rc3 Qe4 29.b4 Bd6 30.Rc8+ Ka7 31.Ng3 Qxc2+ 32.R1xc2 e4 33.Nf5 Be5 34.Nxg7 Rd3 35.Nf5 Nd5 36.Nxh6 e3 37.Nxf7 Nc3+ 38.R8xc3 Bxc3 39.Re2 Bd4 40.h6 Rb3+ 41.Ka2 Rd3 42.Kb1 Rb3+ 1/2-1/2 Teran Alvarez,I-Izeta,F/Cala Galdana ESP 1999 (42)]

A slight hesitation by Timman gives van Unen the chance, the latter gladly vacuums all of the pieces off the board! [20.f5!]

since Timman hesitates on the f5 move, Hans decided to pull it on him instead. It looks like a terrible move allowing a protected passed pawn on the sixth rank but Hans had worked out the draw already.

And again! This time, it is to ensure that there is no entry point for the White King

[41...Kg8 Effecting a breakthrough on the Queenside doesn't work because the Black can create his own passed pawn in the centre after 42.a3 bxa3+ 43.Kxa3 e5! 44.Kb2 (44.fxe5?? f4 oops...Black is winning instead) 44...e4=]