Photo courtesy of GM Larry Kaufman
Among his many chess distinctions, GM Larry Kaufman was the 2008 World Senior Chess Champion. He is also quite accomplished as a chess author, and a developer of chess engines. He helped to develop many renowned chess engines over the years, and currently works on Komodo with its co-creator Mark Lefler. When he sits down to write a chess book, GM Kaufman puts his vast knowledge of chess engines to good use. His new work, Kaufman’s New Repertoire for Black and White is filled with fresh opening ideas and its moves have been vetted by multiple 3500+ elo engines.
In addition to discussing chess engines generally, and GM Kaufman’s new book in particular, we had some other fascinating topics to discuss. For one thing, GM Kaufman was the best non-Japanese born Shogi player in the world for many years. For another, his son, Raymond Kaufman has also ascended to the level of International Master. Please sit back and enjoy GM Kaufman talk about his illustrious career and share some great stories. As always, more details and timestamps can be found below the break.
Click here to download the episode.
0:00- We begin by discussing GM Larry Kaufman’s new/forthcoming book, New Repertoire for Black and White. Our conversation starts with GM Kaufman’s providing some details about which engines and computers he used for his research of openings for this book.
Mentioned: LcZero, Komodo MCTS, NM Jeremy Kane, FM Larry Gilden, Chessbase’s Fat Fritz, GM Fabiano Caruana, Keep it Simple 1. e4
16:30- We transition to discussing some of the broader conclusions from GM Kaufman’s engine work. Is White getting an advantage? If so, with which openings, and how big is the edge?
Mentioned: The Grunfeld, The Nimzo-Indian, The Spanish, The Ruy Lopez, The Tarrasch French
27:30- Larry fields a few questions from a Patreon supporter of the podcast, Han Schut, relating to which modern engine is the strongest, and whether his new book will be published on Chessable?
Mentioned: Stockfish, New in Chess Publishing, Sabotage the Grunfeld by GM Larry Kaufman
33:30- Larry explains the nature of the partnership between Komodo and Chess.com
36:00- To check out the World Championship chess mugs, go to Chessmugs.com. If you decide to buy a set of mugs, use the code “perpetualchess” at checkout to save 15%.
37:30- As a 72 year old chess player who has remained active for decades, what advice does Larry have for other adult chess players? How should we be utilizing chess engines? How is Larry’s chess game aging?
47:30- Larry tells some fun stories about some well-known chess players of the past and present. .
Mentioned: Harold Phillips, Wilhelm Steinitz, GM John Fedorwicz, GM Bobby Fischer
57:30- We discuss GM Kaufman’s groundbreaking research on how to assign point values to chess pieces.
Mentioned: IM Erik Kislik, NM Dan Heisman, The Evolution of Material Imbalances (by GM Larry Kaufman). Here are Larry’s more accurate point values for chess pieces: Pawn= 1, Bishop = 3.5 Knight = 3.5, Bishop pair = 7.5, Rook = 5.25, Queen = 10
1:05- Supporter of the podcast Peter Newhall writes in to ask GM Kaufman some salient questions about the differences between shogi and chess.
Mentioned: Toshiyuki Moriuchi, IM Jack Peters, GM Jonathan Rowson’s The Seven Deadly Chess Sins, GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Peter Heine Nielsen, The Art of Shogi by Tony Hosking
1:19- Larry shares his experiences as a chess parent. His son is IM Raymond Kaufman.
Mentioned: GM Arthur Bisguier
1:24- Thanks to Larry for sharing his wisdom and stories. Keep up with him via the Facebook Komodo group or his Chess.com account.
Pre-order his book from Amazon here:
or get it from Forward Chess (available now) here: https://forwardchess.com/product/kaufman's-new-repertoire-for-black-and-white?sscid=91k3_fazxa
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https://www.patreon.com/perpetualchess