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WMCC London diary
| Worldchampionship London 2000 - Day 2 | By Jeroen Noomen |
Round 3
This round saw some interesting pairings, with 4 top contenders playing against each other. REBEL faced JUNIOR with the black pieces. After a very dynamic Sicilian defence JUNIOR started pushing its kingside pawns, leading to a very unusual position. Both programs thought they were better and this remained for a very long time! Unfortunately JUNIOR appeared to have the best evaluation. It pushed back REBEL'S pieces and went on to win. A great struggle. Worldchamp SHREDDER didn't gain much in the opening against FRITZ. Following the game on Kasparov.Com I liked black's position. Still, it was not enough and SHREDDER made a draw. CHESS TIGER only drew against FRANCESCA. I have no information about this game, so I do not know any details about it. After its blunder in the 2nd round NIMZO beat SOS to catch up with REBEL.
Results third round
| Shredder - Fritz | draw |
| Junior - REBEL | 1:0 |
| Nimzo - SOS | 1:0 |
| Crafty - Zchess | 1:0 |
| Insomniac - Xinix | 1:0 |
| Pacque Expert - Diep | 0:1 |
| Francesca - CHESS TIGER | draw |
Round 4
Now the tough guys are starting to meet each other and this gives rise to a lot of excitement. To start with, REBEL surprised SHREDDER with another Belgrade gambit! CHESS TIGER had lost with this line in the second round, but REBEL did a very good job. The worldchampion was completely outplayed right after the opening! REBEL on its way to a surprise, the first defeat for SHREDDER at a WMCCC for a very long time!? No, it didn't work…. SHREDDER is known for its defending capacity, especially in precarious positions. It fought back and in the end a tablebase endgame was reached which was drawn. Very unfortunate for Ed, as REBEL was really winning in this game. FRITZ met JUNIOR and looked better after the opening. But it had no plan and later in the game JUNIOR looked better. Still, it ended all peacefully: a draw. CHESS TIGER beat INSOMNIAC in this round. An even position after the opening was played much better by TIGER, who is now (as REBEL) half a point behind the leaders, remaining all the chances. NIMZO catched up with the leaders by beating CRAFTY. The program of Bob Hyatt doesn't seem very lucky here. A lot of people gave it good chances to win, but after this second defeat it might be all over. DIEP from Vincent Diepenveen had to swallow another upset. A rook was trapped, leading to a win for ZCHESS.
Results fourth round
| Fritz - Junior | draw |
| REBEL - Shredder | draw |
| Crafty - Nimzo | 0:1 |
| CHESS TIGER - Insomniac | 1:0 |
| SOS - Francesca | 1:0 |
| Diep - Zchess | 0:1 |
| Xinix - Paque Expert | 1:0 |
Standings after the fourth round
| 3,0 points: | Fritz, Junior, Shredder, Nimzo |
| 2,5 points: | REBEL, CHESS TIGER |
| 2,0 points: | Crafty, SOS, Zchess |
| 1,5 points: | Insomniac, Francesca |
| 1,0 points: | Diep, Xinix |
| 0,0 points: | Pacque Expert |
All games of WMCC 2000! Download wmcc2000.pgn.
The results and standings from WMCCC 2000