Hans Berliner
Encyclopedia
Hans Jack Berliner a Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, is a former World Correspondence Chess
Champion, from 1965–68. He is a Grandmaster of Correspondence Chess, and an International Master for over-the-board chess. He directed the construction of the chess computer HiTech
. Berliner is also a chess writer.
Berliner is mentioned in "How I Started To Write", an essay by Carlos Fuentes
, where he is described as "an extremely brilliant boy", with "a brilliant mathematical mind". "I shall always remember his face, dark and trembling, his aquiline nose and deep-set, bright eyes with their great sadness, the sensitivity of his hands..."
In 1949, he became a master, won the District of Columbia Championship (the first of five wins of that tournament) and the Southern States Championship, and tied for second place with Larry Evans
at the New York State Championship. He also won the 1953 New York State Championship (the first win by a non-New Yorker), the 1956 Eastern States Open directed by Norman Tweed Whitaker
in Washington, D.C., ahead of William Lombardy
, Nicolas Rossolimo
, Bobby Fischer
(at age 13) and Arthur Feuerstein
, and the 1957 Champion of Champions tournament.
Berliner played for his country's Olympiad team at Helsinki 1952
, drawing his only game on the second reserve board. Berliner played four times in the US Chess Championship. In 1954 at New York, he scored 6.5/13 to tie 8–9th places; Arthur Bisguier
won. The last three times Berliner played in the U.S. Championship, Fischer won the tournament. In 1957–58 at New York, Berliner had his best result, 5th place with 7/13. In 1960–61 at New York, he scored 4.5/11, tying for 8th–10th place. Finally in 1962–63 at New York, he scored 5/11 for a tied 7th–8th place.
Berliner was talented at all aspects of chess. He gave a multi-board blindfold
simultaneous exhibition
at the Washington Chess Divan, winning all six games against top local players.
Berliner's game in which he played the Two Knights Defense
to defeat Yakov Estrin
in the 1965 World Correspondence Chess Championship is one of the most famous and important games in correspondence chess.
As of March 31, 2005, Berliner still had by far the highest International Correspondence Chess Federation
(ICCF) rating of any player in the United States, at 2726, 84 points above the second-highest rated player. Berliner's 2726 rating places him third on the ICCF's world list, behind Joop van Oosterom
(2741) and Ulf Andersson
(2736).
In his 1999 book The System, Berliner claimed that the move 1.d4 gives White a large, and possibly decisive, advantage.
. The result was BKG 9.8, written in the late 1970s on a DEC PDP-10
. Early versions of BKG played badly even against poor players, but Berliner noticed that its critical mistakes were always at transitions. He applied principles of fuzzy logic
to smooth out the transition between phases, and by July 1979, BKG 9.8 was strong enough to play against the ruling world champion Luigi Villa
. It won the match 7–1, becoming the first computer program to defeat a world champion in any game. Berliner states that the victory was largely a matter of luck, as the computer received more favorable dice rolls.
He also developed the B* search algorithm for game tree searching.
Berliner currently lives in Florida
, and has worked to help develop computer chess
programs in his later years.
Correspondence chess
Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, usually through a correspondence chess server, through email or by the postal system; less common methods which have been employed include fax and homing pigeon...
Champion, from 1965–68. He is a Grandmaster of Correspondence Chess, and an International Master for over-the-board chess. He directed the construction of the chess computer HiTech
HiTech
HiTech was a chess machine built at Carnegie Mellon University under the direction of World Correspondence Chess Champion Dr. Hans J. Berliner, by Berliner, Carl Ebeling, Murray Campbell, and Gordon Goetsch....
. Berliner is also a chess writer.
Life and career
Berliner was born in Berlin. When he was eight years old his family moved to America to escape Nazi persecution, taking up residence in Washington, D.C.. He learned chess at age 13, and "it quickly became his main preoccupation."Berliner is mentioned in "How I Started To Write", an essay by Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes Macías is a Mexican writer and one of the best-known living novelists and essayists in the Spanish-speaking world. He has influenced contemporary Latin American literature, and his works have been widely translated into English and other languages.-Biography:Fuentes was born in...
, where he is described as "an extremely brilliant boy", with "a brilliant mathematical mind". "I shall always remember his face, dark and trembling, his aquiline nose and deep-set, bright eyes with their great sadness, the sensitivity of his hands..."
In 1949, he became a master, won the District of Columbia Championship (the first of five wins of that tournament) and the Southern States Championship, and tied for second place with Larry Evans
Larry Evans
For the football player of the same name, see Larry Evans .Larry Melvyn Evans was an American chess grandmaster, author, and journalist. He won or shared the U.S. Chess Championship five times and the U.S. Open Chess Championship four times...
at the New York State Championship. He also won the 1953 New York State Championship (the first win by a non-New Yorker), the 1956 Eastern States Open directed by Norman Tweed Whitaker
Norman Tweed Whitaker
Norman Tweed Whitaker was an International Master of chess. After more than ten years of campaigning, he was awarded the title by FIDE in 1965 , based on his earlier play . He was involved in a confidence trick involving the Lindbergh kidnapping and went to prison several times...
in Washington, D.C., ahead of William Lombardy
William Lombardy
William James Lombardy is an American Grandmaster of chess, writer, teacher, and one-time Catholic priest.- Life and career :...
, Nicolas Rossolimo
Nicolas Rossolimo
Nicolas Rossolimo was an American-French-Russian-Greek chess Grandmaster. He was many times champion of Paris, France, and after relocating to the United States won the 1955 U.S. Open Championship...
, Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
(at age 13) and Arthur Feuerstein
Arthur Feuerstein
Arthur William Feuerstein is an American chess player and winner of the first U.S. Armed Forces Chess Championship. According to the U.S. Chess Federation, Feuerstein is the 8th highest ranked chess player over 65, regardless of country, residence or federation.At age 21, Arthur won the U.S...
, and the 1957 Champion of Champions tournament.
Berliner played for his country's Olympiad team at Helsinki 1952
10th Chess Olympiad
The 10th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between August 9 and August 31, 1952, in Helsinki, Finland.-References:* OlimpBase...
, drawing his only game on the second reserve board. Berliner played four times in the US Chess Championship. In 1954 at New York, he scored 6.5/13 to tie 8–9th places; Arthur Bisguier
Arthur Bisguier
Arthur Bernard Bisguier is an American chess Grandmaster, chess promoter, and writer. Bisguier won two U.S. Junior Championships , three U.S. Open Chess Championship titles , and the 1954 United States Chess Championship title. He played for the United States in five chess Olympiads...
won. The last three times Berliner played in the U.S. Championship, Fischer won the tournament. In 1957–58 at New York, Berliner had his best result, 5th place with 7/13. In 1960–61 at New York, he scored 4.5/11, tying for 8th–10th place. Finally in 1962–63 at New York, he scored 5/11 for a tied 7th–8th place.
Berliner was talented at all aspects of chess. He gave a multi-board blindfold
Blindfold chess
Blindfold chess is a form of chess play wherein the players do not see the positions of the pieces or touch them. This forces players to maintain a mental model of the positions of the pieces...
simultaneous exhibition
Simultaneous exhibition
A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition in which one player plays multiple games at a time with a number of other players. Such an exhibition is often referred to simply as a "simul".In a regular simul, no chess clocks are used...
at the Washington Chess Divan, winning all six games against top local players.
Correspondence play
Berliner is remembered most for his feats in correspondence play, most notably his victory in the 5th World Correspondence Chess Championship in 1965. He won with the extraordinary score of 14/16 (twelve wins, four draws), a margin of victory of three points, thrice that of any other winner in these championships.Berliner's game in which he played the Two Knights Defense
Two Knights Defense
The Two Knights Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves: in the late 16th century, this line of the Italian Game was extensively developed in the 19th century....
to defeat Yakov Estrin
Yakov Estrin
Yakov Borisovich Estrin was a Russian chess International Master, theoretician, and writer.After a brief foray into "over-the-board" play, he turned to correspondence chess in the early 1960s with immediate success Yakov Borisovich Estrin (April 21, 1923 – February 2, 1987) was a Russian chess...
in the 1965 World Correspondence Chess Championship is one of the most famous and important games in correspondence chess.
As of March 31, 2005, Berliner still had by far the highest International Correspondence Chess Federation
International Correspondence Chess Federation
International Correspondence Chess Federation was founded in 1951 as a new appearance of the ICCA , which was founded in 1945, as successor of the IFSB , founded in 1928....
(ICCF) rating of any player in the United States, at 2726, 84 points above the second-highest rated player. Berliner's 2726 rating places him third on the ICCF's world list, behind Joop van Oosterom
Joop van Oosterom
Joop van Oosterom is a Dutch billionaire and chess enthusiast. For many years he has staged the annual Melody Amber tournaments in Monaco, where world-class Grandmasters play rapid and blindfold games....
(2741) and Ulf Andersson
Ulf Andersson
Ulf Andersson is a leading Swedish chess player. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1970 and the Grandmaster title in 1972 .-Career:...
(2736).
In his 1999 book The System, Berliner claimed that the move 1.d4 gives White a large, and possibly decisive, advantage.
Programming
While programming HiTech, Berliner was having trouble implementing board evaluation. He decided that to explore the problem, he should write an evaluation function for another game: backgammonBackgammon
Backgammon is one of the oldest board games for two players. The playing pieces are moved according to the roll of dice, and players win by removing all of their pieces from the board. There are many variants of backgammon, most of which share common traits...
. The result was BKG 9.8, written in the late 1970s on a DEC PDP-10
PDP-10
The PDP-10 was a mainframe computer family manufactured by Digital Equipment Corporation from the late 1960s on; the name stands for "Programmed Data Processor model 10". The first model was delivered in 1966...
. Early versions of BKG played badly even against poor players, but Berliner noticed that its critical mistakes were always at transitions. He applied principles of fuzzy logic
Fuzzy logic
Fuzzy logic is a form of many-valued logic; it deals with reasoning that is approximate rather than fixed and exact. In contrast with traditional logic theory, where binary sets have two-valued logic: true or false, fuzzy logic variables may have a truth value that ranges in degree between 0 and 1...
to smooth out the transition between phases, and by July 1979, BKG 9.8 was strong enough to play against the ruling world champion Luigi Villa
Luigi Villa
Luigi Villa is a backgammon player from Milan, Italy. In 1979, he was the winner of the World Championship held in Monte Carlo.The same year, he was defeated in a 7-point match by Hans Berliner's computer program BKG 9.8, becoming the first world champion in any board game to be defeated by a...
. It won the match 7–1, becoming the first computer program to defeat a world champion in any game. Berliner states that the victory was largely a matter of luck, as the computer received more favorable dice rolls.
He also developed the B* search algorithm for game tree searching.
Berliner currently lives in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, and has worked to help develop computer chess
Computer chess
Computer chess is computer architecture encompassing hardware and software capable of playing chess autonomously without human guidance. Computer chess acts as solo entertainment , as aids to chess analysis, for computer chess competitions, and as research to provide insights into human...
programs in his later years.
See also
- Chess piece relative value Gives Berliner's system
- First-move advantage in chess#White wins with 1.d4 Discusses Berliner's book The System