Friday, December 6, 2024

Season 27 premier division, after RR4

Standings after RR4

Stockfish extended its lead at the top with 5/7 game pair wins and no loss. Leela dropped back after only two game pair wins, also without loss (it lost as black against Obsidian and Caissa). Obsidian is alone on 3rd place after two game pair wins without loss, Obsidian has no game pair losses in the division until now. Berserk with two game pair wins and two losses dropped to 4th place. At the bottom of the table KomodoDragon and Caissa have a small lead over Ethereal in 7th place, in the fight against relegation. 

Interesting games

game 59, Obsidian - Berserk: There were many early exchanges and the game reached a RBB vs RBN position. Evals increased very slowly, Obsidian had a bishop pair advantage but with many pawns on the board the bishops were less effective. It took 35 moves to exchange two pairs of pawns, Berserk had a passer but the white bishops had more space. Obsidian created a passer with another pawn trade, then exchanged rooks. Obsidian captured a pawn and created another passer, Berserk couldn't stop both and started to lose material. The game ended in a tablebase win.

game 65, KomodoDragon - Seer: The center was locked, Seer caputred a pawn and the engines shuffled for a while. Evals slowly increased. KomodoDragon regained the pawn, there was a minor piece exchange and the engines shuffled again. On move 64 KomodoDragon started to open the king side, it captured a rook for a bishop and the game reached a QRR vs QRB position. The black king was under threat, Seer lost more material and was mated.

game 72, KomodoDragon - Obsidian: The center was locked and the engines opened files on the queen side. Obsidian tried to be active on the a file but nothing came out of it, eventually KomodoDragon exchanged a pair of rooks and the focus shifted to the king side. The white king walked to the queen side and evals slowly increased, KomodoDragon captured a pawn and opened the g file. The game reached a QBN vs QBN position, both engines created a passer and queens were exchanged. Obsidian lost material to stop the two white passers while KomodoDragon was on time to block the black passer. The game ended in a tablebase win.

game 73, Obsidian - Seer: Obsidian pushed pawns on the king side, both engines castled long. After a few pawns exchanges on the king side Obsidian started to attack the queen side. After a series of exchanges the game reached a Q vs RR position. Obsidian captured a pawn and created connected passers, and Seer couldn't stop their slow march supported by the king. Obsidian queened and mated.

game 75, Leela - Caissa: Leela castled long and pushed pawns on the king side. The black king was stuck in the center, Caissa pushed pawns on the queen side and evals increased. Leela captured a pawn, Caissa tried to find safety for its king on the queen side surrounded by pieces. Caissa regained the pawn and gave a rook for a knight, the game reached a QRR vs QRB position. Leela traded two rooks for the black queen, then captured two pawns. Caissa lost more material and the game ended in a tablebase win.

game 78, Caissa - Berserk: The engines locked the center, there were no exchanges after the start. There was a pawn exchange on move 36, after move 45 the engines started to exchange pieces and pawns. Caissa was two pawns up, it gave one pawn to create a passer and pushed it to the 7th rank. Berserk captured the passer and gave a rook for a knight, the game reached a RB vs BN position. Each engine had one pawn left, the 8-man endgame was slow but eventually Caissa reduced to a tablebase win.

game 80, Obsidian - Ethereal: Obsidian pushed pawns on the king side and castled long. Ethereal was a pawn up but its king remained uncastled. After exchanging a pair of rooks the engines locked the center. Obsidian regained the pawn, after exchanging queens the engines began to shuffle in a RBB vs RBN position. Obsidian captured a pawn, there were a few pawn exchanges and then the rooks were exchanged, evals started to increase. Obsidian had a blocked passer on the king side, it pushed the a pawn forward, then used the bishops to drive the black king away. Obsidian capture another pawn and the a pawn became an advanced passer. Ethereal lost material and was mated.

game 81, Ethereal - Seer: The center was blocked, the black king moved without castling and Ethereal castled long. Seer tried to develop the king side rook through the h file but it was still confined to the corner area. After a while Seer gave a knight for pawns, a series of exchanges opened the board and queens were exchanged. Ethereal was down to 2 pawns but one was a passer on the queen side. It took Ethereal some time to capture a pawn and then reduce to a RBN vs RB position. With the extra piece Ethereal captured all the black pawns, the game ended in mate.

game 82, Leela - Obsidian: The center was locked and the white queen moved forward on the king side. Obsidian moved its king to the king side without castling, Leela placed the queen on f6 and pushed pawns on the king side. Obsidian drove the queen back, Leela castled late and gave a pawn on the queen side. Obsidian felt danger in the center, the black king walked to the queen side. Leela then cleared all the pawns on the queen side and queens were exchanged. Obsidian had to protect its king, Leela gave a rook for a knight and captured all black pawns. In a RBN vs RRN position Leela had 3 passers, after queening twice the game ended in a tablebase win.

game 83, Berserk - KomodoDragon: The black king remained in the center and the black king side pieces were slow to develop. The queen side was open and KomodoDragon castled short eventually. Berserk threatened mate and KomodoDragon exchanged pieces until only RRB vs RRB remained. The engines traded pawns and Berserk was a pawn up with a passer on the queen side. After exchanging a pair of rooks the white king moved to support the passer. Berserk managed to capture a second pawn and reduce to a rook ending, it queened and mated.

game 84, Stockfish - Caissa: The center was locked and the white queen moved forward on the king side. After the white queen retreated Caissa castled long, the white king stayed in the center and Stockfish pushed pawns on the queen side. The a file opened and Stockfish doubled queen and rook there, then castled short. Caissa gave a rook for a knight and tried to attack the white king, Stockfish gave back the material and kept its king safe. Caissa captured a pawn and moved a passer to the 2nd rank, Stockfish captured the passer and exchanged queens. The game reached a RB vs RB position with white a pawn up, Stockfish captured a second pawn and exchanged rooks. The bishops were of opposite color but Stockfish had an advanced passer that Caissa couldn't stop, the game ended in a tablebase win.

Standings after RR3: Stockfish +7, Leela +5, Obsidian +2, Berserk 0, KomodoDragon -1, Ethereal -2,  Caissa -3, Seer -8. Stockfish still leads but it had just one win in RR3, drawing as white against Obsidian and Leela. Leela only reduced the gap by one win, it had 2 wins and drew as white against Berserk. Obsidian is alone in 3rd place, it won 3 games and lost 2. Berserk dropped to 4th after one win and two losses.

game 86, Stockfish - KomodoDragon: There were only a few pawn exchanges after the start, the engines opened files on the queen side and Stockfish created a passer. KomodoDragon gave a rook for a bishop and captured the passer. The game reached a RRN vs RBB position, after a while the engines exchanged a pair of rooks and cleared the queen side pawns. Evals increased as Stockfish moved its king to the center of the board, it managed to trade knight for bishop. The white king moved forward and the game ended in mate.

game 87, Berserk - Obsidian: The engines opened the d file, Berserk had a protected pawn on e5. In a series of exchanges Obsidian captured the e5 pawn and placed a rook on the d file, while Berserk had a bishop pair advantage. The game reached a RBB vs RNN position, Berserk had a pawn majority on the queen side, it pushed the pawns forward and the black knights moved to block and defend. Berserk exchanged a bishop for a knight, gave a pawn and moved the rook to the 7th rank. Then Berserk captured all black pawns on the king side and created a passer there. After reducing to a rook ending Obsidian couldn't avoid a queening and mate. There were two white wins in this pair.

game 88, Leela - Ethereal: There were no exchanges after the start and the center was locked. A few pawn and minor piece exchanges opened the center and the engines exchanged a pair of rooks. After a while a series of exchanges reduced to a QB vs QB position with white a pawn up. Ethereal had doubled passers on the queen side, Leela captured another pawn and created passers in the center and king side. After exchanging queens Leela captured another pawn, the bishops were of opposite color but Ethereal couldn't stop all the passers. The game ended in mate.

game 89, Leela - Seer: A pawn exchange opened the b file, all pieces were on the board until move 28. Evals were stable for a long time and the engines mostly shuffled. The engines locked the king side and evals started to increase after move 50. All rooks were gone, Leela slowly cleared the queen side and moved its queen and knights there. Seer tried to block, Leela captured a knight for a pawn and the game reached a QBN vs QB position. Seer had passers but they were too slow, it couldn't prevent a queening and mate.

game 92, KomodoDragon - Caissa: KomodoDragon pushed a pawn to h6 and Caissa castled short anyway. KomodoDragon kept its king in the center, a pawn exchange opened the g file and Caissa moved pieces to protect the black king. KomodoDragon captured two pawns on the queen side and created passers, the engines exchanged pieces until reaching a queen ending. Caissa managed to get a pawn back but the engines continued to trade pawns, the game ended in a tablebase win.

game 95, Stockfish - Ethereal: The engines exchanged most minor pieces and castled in opposite directions. All pawns were on the board, the center and queen side were closed and the appeared to be heading for a draw. On move 27 Ethereal made a mistake that allowed Stockfish to open the king side. After a series of exchanges only QR vs QR were left, Ethereal had an advanced passer that was blocked by the white king, Stockfish had two passers. Ethereal's eval started to increase much too late. The black rook blocked a passer, Stockfish opened the queen side and captured 4 pawns. There were no black pawns left, Stockfish attacked the black king, Ethereal lost more material and the game ended in a tablebase win.

game 97, Berserk - Seer: The center was locked, queens were off early and Berserk kept its king in the center. Seer pushed pawns on the queen side, letting a white knight to move to b5. The white king walked to a4 and Berserk doubled rooks on the h file. When it was ready Berserk gave the knight for a pawn, opened the h file and captured two more pawns on the king side. Berserk had two advanced passers and the white king moved to c6 to support one. Seer captured the passers and the white king captured two black pawns on the queen side. The game reached a RB vs RNN position with white 4 pawns up. Berserk slowly pushed a passer, Seer captured the passer but lost material and was mated.

game 100, Obsidian - KomodoDragon: The center was locked, Obsidian pushed pawns on the king side and kept its king uncastled. Pawn exchanges exposed the black king and Obsidian moved a pawn to g6. The pressure increased on the king side, KomodoDragon exchanged pieces and the game reached a RRB vs RBN position with black a pawn up. Evals increased slowly, both engines moved a rook forward and KomodoDragon created a passer. KomodoDragon tried to defend all its pieces and pawns, while slowly pushing the passer forward. Obsidian captured the passer on the 3rd rank, then the black fortress collapsed and Obsidian mated. There were two white wins in this pair.

game 103, Caissa - Leela: Caissa castled long and Leela kept its king uncastled. There were no exchanges after the start, Caissa slowly pushed pawns on the king side. On move 24 the exchanges started on the king side, Caissa captured a pawn and opened the h file. After another series of exchanges the game reached a QRN vs QRN position. Leela had a passer in the center but its king was exposed on the 7th rank. Leela tried to keep the white pieces away, eventually Caissa gave 3 pawns and broke the center. The white pieces moved forward, Leela lost material and only QN vs Q remained. Caissa captured pawns and the game ended in a tablebase win. There were two white wins in this pair.

game 104, Stockfish - Berserk: See featured game below.

game 105, Stockfish - Seer: Stockfish kept its king uncastled, it created a passer in the center after a knight exchange. The queen side was blocked, the white king walked there while Stockfish moved its pieces to the king side. Stockfish pushed pawns on the king side and eventually captured a pawn and created another passer. The game reached a QRB vs QRB position and the engines traded pawns. Seer captured the white passers, but its king was too exposed and the white king was completely safe. Stockfish attacked with queen and rook and managed to capture the black queen for the rook. The game ended in mate.

game 110, Obsidian - Leela: The center was locked and the white queen moved forward on the king side. Leela moved its king without castling, the drove away the white queen. There were a few minor piece exchanges, all pawns were on the board and evals increased very slowly. The first pawn exchange was on move 35, Obsidian opened the center and captured a pawn on the king side. The game reached a QRN vs QRN position, Obsidian was a pawn up with a passer on the king side. Obsidian captured a second pawn and created a passer on the queen side. Leela lost more material and the game ended in a tablebase win. There were two white wins in this pair. 

Featured game: Stockfish - Berserk
game 104

Stockfish castled long and Berserk kept its king uncastled. Berserk pushed the h pawn as well as pawns on the queen side, the black queen moved forward on the queen side. The engines exchanged most minor pieces but there were no pawn exchanges after the start. 

From move 27 evals started to increase, Stockfish drove the black king back, then captured a pawn and opened the d file. The game reached a QR vs QR position, the black king was exposed to attack through the open d file and Stockfish used this to exchange queens. The black king walked to the king side to protect the pawns there.

Stockfish captured a second pawn and created connected passers on the queen side. The black king was too far to help, Berserk regained one pawn and pushed a passer to the 2nd rank but it wasn't enough. Eventually Stockfish lost the rook but queened twice and mated.


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