About "zsoyd"

Date: 15 Feb 2005 23:08:22
From: Antonio Torrecillas
Subject: About "zsoyd"

Hello,

Anyone here knows more about Zsoyd? or about his game in chessworld.net?

or has more Zsoyd games in PGN?

thanks
AT

----------------------------
"Alan OBrien" wrote long ago:

I read this today:
"ChessWorld.net is currently hosting 'Rest of the World' matches against
GM Thaler, IM Basman, and 'Zsoyd' - an anonymous player who has not yet
lost a single game and has broken all Chessworld.net highest rating
records."

Who is Zsoyd?

----------------------------
"mafergut" answered:

That's what his profile in ChessWorld.net says (not much):

### I am from Europe, not from Bhutan ### (that's because he chose the
Bhutan flag to represent him on the site, I suppose because it's a cute
flag and there are not many Bhutan chess players in the site).

chess analyst, hobby corr. chess player, estimated 2500 ICCF ELO,
over-the-board 2000 ELO (tornament games) - 2200 ELO (rapid/lightning
games) - strong opponents preferred - limited number of games - I don't
want to let you wait and will try to move quick - I accept/offer draws
as late as possible - I like complex situations with material imbalances
- endgames are my strength - my white openings: d4, e4, c4 - my black
openings: d4 Nf6, e4 c5, c4 e5, Nf3 c5, b4 c6 - favourite players
(Botvinnik - strongest analyst compared to level of available technical
means - most scientific approach to chess, Cheron - an incredible
lifework!, Karpov/Fischer - excellent technique, Kasparov - maybe the
strongest player/analyst ever - excellent dynamic play,

I have not played against him (I don't like to lose! ;-)), but he
recently was the arbiter in the adjudication of 50 or more unfinished
games on the first round of our "Olympic" tournament on the site. A
superb work of analysis he did! His ChessWorld.net rating is 3168. The
second rated player is 3046, then we have two 2900, seventeen 2800+ and
thirty six 2700+. The top hundred players list ends with a 2616 rated
player. I give this data for what is worth in comparing Zsoyd's
strenght, not more.

For what I know, I would say no Fritz or whatever commercially available
chess program can win him in correspondence chess. In fact, I would say
that any 2700+ player in the site can most of the time win any computer
chess program in c.c. time controls.

So... who is him? I don't know, but I also would like to know. Perhaps
an IM? He states his ELO as estimated so he doesn't have one or he is
concealing the fact that he is a rated player. Recently a Chessworld.net
team, of which Zsoyd was a key member, played to a draw against IM
Jeremy Silman.

Hey, Zsoyd, if you are reading, please, give us a hint :)

Regards,
mafergut
------------------------

Date: 16 Feb 2005 10:54:10
From: Adrian MacNair
Subject: Re: About "zsoyd"

"Antonio Torrecillas" <[email protected] > wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello,
>
> Anyone here knows more about Zsoyd? or about his game in chessworld.net?
>
> or has more Zsoyd games in PGN?

All I know is that he is undefeated and is ranked as an "Internet GM".
Unfortunately Chessworld.net is a sad rip-off for unsubscribers since you
can't access past games or even review your own moves in guest games!! (I
accidently deleted my game in Chessbase database and I did not know my move
history) So we cannot download Zsoyd games unless we have a membership to
the website. I wondered if he was a computer GM as well.

Date: 17 Feb 2005 03:52:23
From: Douglas L Stewart
Subject: Re: About "zsoyd"

Adrian MacNair wrote:
> "Antonio Torrecillas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>Hello,
>>
>>Anyone here knows more about Zsoyd? or about his game in chessworld.net?
>>
>>or has more Zsoyd games in PGN?
>
>
> All I know is that he is undefeated and is ranked as an "Internet GM".
> Unfortunately Chessworld.net is a sad rip-off for unsubscribers since you
> can't access past games or even review your own moves in guest games!! (I
> accidently deleted my game in Chessbase database and I did not know my move
> history) So we cannot download Zsoyd games unless we have a membership to
> the website. I wondered if he was a computer GM as well.

Your comment "sad rip-off for unsubscribers" is funny, because rip-off
typically means you're not receiving good value for your money, but
unsubscriber typically means you don't pay money anymore.

So you are saying that you do not think the services you are getting for
free are worth the money you pay for them?

DISCLAIMER: I am a subscriber on Chessworld.net.

-Douglas

Date: 17 Feb 2005 01:11:47
From: Adrian MacNair
Subject: Re: About "zsoyd"

"Douglas L Stewart" <[email protected] > wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Your comment "sad rip-off for unsubscribers" is funny, because rip-off
> typically means you're not receiving good value for your money, but
> unsubscriber typically means you don't pay money anymore.
>
> So you are saying that you do not think the services you are getting for
> free are worth the money you pay for them?
>
> DISCLAIMER: I am a subscriber on Chessworld.net.

Well Doug, compared to what you get at redhotpawn.com, or itsyourturn.com,
or gameknot.com or many others which let you access other peoples games (or
at the very least your own move history!!!) I would say chessworld.net is
pretty bad unless you subscribe.

Date: 17 Feb 2005 06:52:11
From: Douglas L Stewart
Subject: Re: About "zsoyd"

Adrian MacNair wrote:
> "Douglas L Stewart" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>Your comment "sad rip-off for unsubscribers" is funny, because rip-off
>>typically means you're not receiving good value for your money, but
>>unsubscriber typically means you don't pay money anymore.
>>
>>So you are saying that you do not think the services you are getting for
>>free are worth the money you pay for them?
>>
>>DISCLAIMER: I am a subscriber on Chessworld.net.
>
>
> Well Doug, compared to what you get at redhotpawn.com, or itsyourturn.com,
> or gameknot.com or many others which let you access other peoples games (or
> at the very least your own move history!!!) I would say chessworld.net is
> pretty bad unless you subscribe.

I'm not saying it is the best site out there. I am just saying calling
a free site a rip-off is silly.

One of the biggest frustrations with correspondence chess is people who
abandon games. I've been both an abandoner and an abandonee before, so
I understand this issue from both sides. A site that is mostly people
who spent money to play on there is going to be a less frustrating place
to play. So as a subscriber I'd rather see most other users be sucribers.

-Douglas

Date: 15 Feb 2005 23:13:21
From: Antonio Torrecillas
Subject: Re: About "zsoyd"

En/na Antonio Torrecillas ha escrit:

> Hello,
>
> Anyone here knows more about Zsoyd? or about his game in chessworld.net?
>
> or has more Zsoyd games in PGN?
>
> thanks
> AT
>

I forgot to add:

------------------------------
Couple of things -- (By R.C.)

zsoyd lives in England, not Bhutan. He just likes that country and
'adopted' it for the site. But he is not English. I suspect he is
eastern european immigrant. His ELO, if he has one, is probably
around 2100. He doesn't have an official ICCF rating, but since he is
concentrating on CC games, he would possibly be around 2400-2500.
Needless to say, but ratings at ChessWorld are greatly overblown.

Most games at ChessWorld are cc, usually 10-20 days per move. zsoyd
likes to play relatively fast - about 3 days per move.

My opinion: at 10-20 days per move, proving use of computers by top
players is very difficult. Anyone playing serious chess will make
very few mistakes and they will normally be quite subtle. However,
top players can still have a sense of whether they are playing a
human or a computer because computers don't have plans, only good
moves. I think a good many players at the site use computer
assistance, though few will admit it.
-------------------------------