Hiarcs Saved Anand's Butt

The Times of India today has a very long must-read article on their World Champ, GM Vishy Anand. There are a couple of new tidbits that I hadn't previously known about, but most are the familiar detail.

To counter Team Topalov's Blue Gene/P supercomputer, Team Anand had the decidedly lightweight Hiarcs!

Team Anand may not have been short on money - and that makes a difference to preparation - but there was no way they could match the resources and firepower that such noholds-barred state patronage brings. India, which later celebrated Anand's title win with the usual momentary hysteria, was oblivious to the event, much less the challenges. The best Team Anand could do was to tap into contacts who had developed Hiarcs, a computer chess program that had come second best to Rybka in 2008 World Computer Chess Championship. They now had improved versions of it, and developers of the programme let Team Anand have it along with a powerful computer for the duration of the match.

Read more in Return of the King: Viswanathan Anand.