Friday, December 13, 2024

Season 27 premier division, after RR6

Standings after RR6

Stockfish with another solid DRR with 5 game pair wins including a second win against Leela. Stockfish is still without a game pair loss in the division. Leela is in second place with 5 game pair wins and one loss. Obsidian came close to Leela after RR5, but it dropped back after RR6. It lost twice, to Leela and Caissa, these were its first losses of the division. KomodoDragon improved its score after two wins and one loss. Caissa is now in 7th place, Ethereal is in 6th place with a small gap between them, the relegation race is wide open.

Interesting games

game 114, KomodoDragon - Stockfish: The center was blocked, the engines exchanged all bishops. KomodoDragon kept its king in the center, it created a passer in the center after a pawn exchange. The engines opened the a file, KomodoDragon captured a pawn on the king side and Stockfish didn't take back to keep the files closed. However the f file opened and the white queen moved forward. Stockfish exchanged pieces and the game reached a RN vs RN position. Stockfish had a blocked passer on the 2nd rank, KomodoDragon pushed connected passers in the center. Stockfish couldn't stop the white passers, the game ended in mate.

game 115, Obsidian - Berserk: There were many early exchanges and the game reached a QB vs QN position. Evals were high and increasing despite the material equality and symmetric pawn structure. The black knight moved to the queen side to assist the queen, this left the black king alone and vulnerable. Obsidian managed to capture a pawn and then exposed the black king. It captured a second pawn and created a passer, then pushed it to the 7th rank. Obsidian avoided stalemate traps, Berserk lost more material and the game ended in a tablebase win.

game 117, Seer - Leela: Leela was a pawn up from the start, Seer grabbed a pawn to equalize but it was slow to develop its pieces. Evals jumped on move 21, Seer had a pawn majority on the queen side and it pushed pawns there. Leela captured a pawn after exchanging a pair of rooks. Leela blocked a black passer in the center, it had a strong bishop pair and Seer gave a rook for one of the bishops. The game reached a QB vs QR position, black a pawn up. Leela's passers were faster, Seer lost the queen and was mated.

game 121, KomodoDragon - Seer: The engines locked the center, there was one minor piece exchange and all pawns were on the board. Evals increased slowly, the king side was locked as well and the engines seemed to be shuffling. On move 41 there was another minor piece exchange, KomodoDragon moved a knight forward on the queen side and traded it for a rook. Then KomodoDragon had more pieces available and it captured the a pawn. The game reached a RB vs BN position, Seer moved its pieces to the queen side, the white rook managed to move safely to the 7th rank. After a minor piece exchange KomodoDragon had an advanced passer. Seer was paralyzed, it lost material and was mated.

game 124, Leela - Berserk: The center was locked and the engines opened files on the queen side. Evals were low until move 35, Berserk ignored Leela's double attack and was forced to give a knight for 3 pawns. The engines reduced to a RB vs R position, Leela protected its a pawn and moved the rook forward. Leela captured two pawns and the a pawn became an advanced passer. Berserk delayed but couldn't prevent a queening though Leela lost the rook, the game ended in mate.

game 126, Stockfish - Leela: Stockfish castled long, the engines exchanged most minor pieces on the center. The black king moved forward, the e file opened and all rooks were exchanged. The game reached a QB vs QN position and Leela tried to hold a fortress placing almost all its pawns on squares the white bishop couldn't attack. Stockfish used threats to the black king to slowly improve, after 24 moves it captured a pawn and a few moves later it created a pawn majority on the queen side. Leela's fortress collapsed and the queens were exchanged. Stockfish created a passer on the queen side, the black king stopped it but that left the king side open for the white king. The game ended in a tablebase win. 

game 129, Obsidian - Seer: The center was locked, all pawns were on the board and the engines exchanged a few minor pieces. The white queen moved forward on the king side and Obsidian kept its king in the center. Obsidian pushed pawns on the queen side until the queen side was locked as well and the engines shuffled for a while. The white queen moved back and the white king walked to the queen side. On move 40 Obsidian pushed the f pawn and opened the king side. The engines exchanged pieces, Obsidian gave a pawn and opened the c file as well. The game reached a RB vs RN position, Obsidian regained the pawn and created connected passers in the center. Seer captured the white passers but Obsidian created an unstoppable passer on the queen side. Obsidian queened and mated.

game 130, Ethereal - KomodoDragon: The center was locked, Ethereal gave a pawn on the king side and moved its king without castling. The engines mostly shuffled, a pawn exchange opened the b file, another opened the h file. On move 42 the engines exchanged the first pieces. A few moves later Ethereal regained the pawn and created a passer on the queen side. The engines shuffled for a long time, they exchanged a pair of rooks and queens, and on move 104 the game reached a RBN vs RBN position. After exchanging knights the white rook moved forward, KomodoDragon captured the passer but Ethereal captured the remaining 3 black pawns. KomodoDragon couldn't stop the white passers and the game ended in mate.

game 137, Ethereal - Seer: Ethereal was up a pawn with a queen side passer from the start. Seer attacked the passer and Ethereal gave it away but captured a rook for a knight. The engines exchanged queens and then mostly shuffled for a while. On move 57 Ethereal exchanged pawns on the king side and created a passer. The game reached a RR vs RB position, Seer gradually lost material and the game ended in mate.

game 138, Leela - Obsidian: see featured game below.

game 140, Stockfish - Caissa: The engines locked the center, after a pawn exchange on the queen side Stockfish moved its queen side rook to the king side. Caissa moved a rook forward on the queen side while Stockfish concentrated on the king side. Stockfish gave a knight for a pawn to weaken the black king defenses, all the white major pieces moved to the king side and the black king ran to the center. Stockfish traded RB for Q then moved a rook forward and exchanged rooks, it was two pawns up with 3 passers in the center. Caissa was busy defending its exposed king, the game reached a Q vs RBB position. Caissa lost a bishop for the two passers, then it lost the other bishop. The game ended in a tablebasde win.

Standings after RR5: Stockfish +12, Leela +7, Obsidian +4, KomodoDragon Berserk -1, Ethereal -2, Caissa -4, Seer -15. Stockfish won twice (including against Leela) and lost to KomodoDragon, Leela won 3 games (including against Obsidian) and lost once. As a result Stockfish's lead over Leela decreased a little but it is still significant. Obsidian came close to Leela but its loss to Leela increased the gap again. Berserk dropped after two losses (including against Obsidian). At the bottom Caissa is now 7th after Ethereal had a good RR with 2 wins. 

game 142, Stockfish - KomodoDragon: The center was locked and the engines exchanged all bishops. The engines exchanged pawns and both created a passer in the center. The engines shuffled for a while and closed the queen side, evals increased steadily. The game reached a QRN vs QRN position, on move 55 Stockfish found a way to move its queen through the black pawn line. Stockfish pushed the passer to the 7th rank and KomodoDragon lost a rook for it. KomodoDragon lost more material and the game ended in mate. There were two white wins in this pair. 

game 143, Berserk - Obsidian: There were no exchanges after the start and evals were stable. After move 19 the engines exchanged a pawns and a pair of rooks on the queen side, then a pair of pawns on the king side. Evals started to increase, Berserk captured a pawn and created a passer in the center. The game reached a RBN vs RBN position, Berserk captured a second pawn and created a passer on the queen side. Obsidian captured one passer and the knights were exchanged. The RB vs RB endgame was slow, after 20 moves Berserk captured a pawn, then gave a rook for a bishop. Obsidian couldn't stop a passer and the game ended in a tablebase win. There were two white wins in this pair. 

game 144, Leela - Ethereal: Ethereal captured a pawn and opened the e file early. A black rook moved forward to the h file, then Ethereal gave a bishop for a pawn to expose the white king. Leela protected its king and Ethereal captured a 3rd pawn. Leela exchanged pieces and the game reached a RB vs R position. Ethereal had 3 pawns on the king side and it pushed them slowly with the king supporting. The black rook was in front of the pawns and it got trapped, allowing Leela to capture a pawn and created a passer on the queen side. Leela stopped a black passer on the 2nd rank, the black rook blocked the queen side passer and Leela captured the remaining black pawns. The game ended in a tablebase win. 

game 148, KomodoDragon - Caissa: There was a pawn exchange and a few minor piece exchanges after the start. KomodoDragon captured a pawn in a series of exchanges on the queen side, Caissa pushed a pawn to h3 and the game reached a QBN vs QBN position. More exchanges reduced to a rook ending, the white king moved forward in the center. Caissa traded pawns and the h pawn became a passer. KomodoDragon had a passer on the queen side, after a while both passers were captured and this left two white pawns against one black in the center. The 7-man position was played for another 30 moves before reaching a 6-man tablebase win.

game 150, Caissa - Obsidian: The engines castled in opposite directions, Caissa pushed pawns on the king side and Obsidian locked pawns to keep its king safe. There many exchanges and the game reached a RRB vs RRN position, Obsidian created a passer on the king side and Caissa created a passer in the center. Caissa gave a pawn and connected a second passer, Obsidian captured a second pawn to created 3 connected passers on the king side. The white passers were more dangerous, Obsidian gave a rook to capture them. Caissa captured 2 advanced black passers, then used its piece advantage to attack the black pieces and pawns. Obsidian lost more material and the game ended in a tablebase win.

game 151, Stockfish - Ethereal: There were no exchanges after the start, the engines locked the center, Stockfish castled long and Ethereal kept its king in the center. Ethereal pushed a pawn to a3, on move 26 the engines exchanged minor pieces, then there were several pawn exchanges and Stockfish created a passer in the center. On move 33 evals jumped, Stockfish pushed the passer with the queen supporting and Ethereal gave a rook for a knight to stop the passer. In a QRB vs QBN position Stockfish attacked the black king and exchanged queens. It was a slow endgame, after 40 moves Stockfish was a pawn up with a passer. It gave the rook for a knight to queen the passer, the game ended in mate.

game 153, Berserk - Seer: Berserk castled long and the black king moved without castling. Seer pushed a pawn on the queen side, Berserk gave a pawn and hid its king behind the black pawn on b2. Berserk pushed pawns on the king side and opened the f file, it gave two more pawns and captured a rook for a knight. After opening the d file the black king came under attack, the game reached a RRB vs RBN position and Berserk captured pawns until it was two pawns up. Seer lost more material and was mated.

game 155, Ethereal - Caissa: Ethereal pushed pawns on the king side yet castled short, Caissa kept its king uncastled. The engines exchanged all knights, Ethereal pushed a pawn to f6 and trapped the black king side bishop. Caissa couldn't develop its king side rook and it traded the rook for a bishop. The d file opened and the black king was in danger, Caissa gave its second rook for a bishop as well and closed the d file. In a QRR vs QBB position both kings walked to the queen side, Ethereal exchanged queens and captured a bishop. The game ended in mate.

game 158, KomodoDragon - Ethereal: The engines castled in opposite directions and the center was locked. One pair of pawns and one pair of bishops were exchanged after the start. After exchanging another pair of pawns the engines shuffled for a long time with stable evals. A minor piece exchange extended the shuffle, on move 95 KomodoDragon captured a pawn and evals slowly started to increase. On move 109 KomodoDragon gave a rook for a knight and captured another pawn, then it captured a third pawn and created passers on the queen side. KomodoDragon captured a rook for a knight and the game reached a B vs N position. Ethereal couldn't stop the white passers, it lost material and was mated. There were two white wins in this pair. 

game 160, Stockfish - Berserk: The center was locked and there was one pawn exchange on the king side. After a while Berserk castled short and Stockfish decided to castle long. The engines shuffled with stable evals, after move 40 evals started to increase. Stockfish pushed a pawn to h7, Berserk hid its king behind the pawn to keep the h file closed. Stockfish gave a pawn and opened the queen side, then captured 3 pawns and reduced to a RRN vs RRN position with 3 passers. The engines exchanged a pair of rooks and Berserk captured the h passer. Stockfish gave another passer and pushed a third to the 7th rank. The white king moved forward and Berserk lost a rook, the game ended in mate.

game 161, Stockfish - Seer: The black queen moved forward, Seer captured a pawn and Stockfish captured a rook for a knight. Evals slowly increased, the engines slowly exchanged pawns and pieces and opened files. Seer created a passer in the center and captured another pawn. Then Seer gave a knight for a third pawn and connected a second passer. Seer tried to push the passers forward, Stockfish captured one and then exchanged queens to reach a RBN vs RB position. Stockfish captured the remaining black passer, then used the extra piece to slowly capture more pawns. The game ended in a tablebase win. 

game 163, Leela - KomodoDragon: The engines locked the center, there was one pawn exchange on the king side and a few minor piece exchanges. Evals increased slowly, on move 41 Leela locked the queen side and then KomodoDragon captured a pawn, its a pawn became a passer. The white king walked to the queen side, after a minor piece exchange Leela shifted all its major pieces to the king side. The g file opened and KomodoDragon moved its major pieces to protect its king. Leela captured the black a pawn, the white king moved forward and after a pawn trade the white c pawn became an advanced passer. Leela moved pieces to the opening on the queen side, KomodoDragon captured a pawn but lost a bishop or the white passer. The game reached a QRB vs QR position, KomodoDragon lost more material and the game ended in a tablebase win.

Featured game: Leela - Obsidian
game 138

Leela was up a pawn with a queen side passer from the start, its king moved without castling and found safety on g2. There were many piece exchanges early and the game reached a QRN vs QRN position. 

Evals started to increase after move 25, Leela secured its passer and slowly turned its attention to the king side, pushing its pawns there. On move 52 Leela opened the f file and gave a pawn to open the center. The engines exchanged queens and closed the f file but Leela captured a pawn and created passers on the king side. 

Obsidian captured pawns in the center and had 4 connected passers, but they were too slow and not supported enough. Leela pushed the a pawn to the 7th rank and Obsidian lost its rook for it. The black passers were not fast enough Leela trapped the black king and the game ended in mate.


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