We had numerous very enlightening conversations.

I soon found myself seeking Yousuf's company – he soon told me to address him by his first name, and fondly called me 'Freddy'. Also an enthusiastic chess player who went to his chess club four times a week to play for a few hours. Al Shirawi was an intellectually vigorous 73-year-old, with a wry sense of humour. In May 2001 I was invited to Manama, the capital of Bahrain, to plan a man vs computer match, by Yousuf Ahmed Al Shirawi, a highly respected former minister in the Bahraini cabinet, who was the initiator and driving force behind the plan.

It is a lengthy description with many pictures (so many memories – I just couldn't resist), but it will hopefully be of interest to readers, some of whom were toddlers when the event took place. Today, slightly asynchronously, I will describe another great adventure we had with our chess playing program, a couple of years earlier, in the Gulf state of Bahrain.

in 2005 Fritz was pitted against FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov.

in 2003 a 3D version of Fritz played a match against Garry Kasparov in New York.

it picked up strength and started challenging the best players in the world.

in November 1991, ChessBase launched its first chess playing program for Pcs, Fritz 1.0.

In the previous birthday articles I described how:

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Memorize it easily move by move by playing against the variation trainer.

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