Leela won another game pair, extending its lead to 2. Leela also had a very near miss in a game where both engines were convinced it was going to win. Stockfish finally won a game pair after 35 games without a win, reducing Leela's lead to 1 again.
After many early exchanges in game 51 Stockfish's eval was 0 while Leela's eval was over 1. The game reached a QRN vs QRN position on move 34 and the engines started to shuffle. Leela's eval slowly came down. After exchanging queens the engines started to trade pawns and the game ended in a tablebase draw. In game 52 the pieces stayed longer on the board as well as most pawns. Evals were low when the queen side opened. Stockfish had a passer on the queen side but Leela captured it. Then Stockfish opened the king side and pressed on the g file. Leela blocked with a knight and kept the file closed. A series of exchanges ended the game in a tablebase draw.
Leela started game 53 with an eval over 1. It pushed its king side pawns and opened the black king side. The white king walked to the king side, Leela didn't want to move the rook. Stockfish didn't like either side of the board for its king and didn't castle. The center was blocked, Stockfish played on the queen side and captured a pawn, Leela's eval jumped over 2 as it gave another pawn and opened the king side. After 17 minutes of thinking Stockfish realized it was in trouble.
The engines exchanged queens and traded pawns. Stockfish had connected passers on the queen side, its knight on the sideline. Leela had a bishop pair, it controlled the center and could attack the exposed white king. Leela won a rook for a bishop and evals were over 3.
As we have already seen in other games, Leela does not take the fastest route to finish a game. The material advantage was not overwhelming and Stockfish had a chance of drawing if Leela took a wrong turn. Leela captured the queen side passers and reduced to a RR vs RB ending, with two white pawns and one black. It took 50 moves for Leela to move each pawn one square forward, this was enough for Stockfish to raise its eval above 10 and the game was adjudicated.
In game 54 Leela castled long and found safety for its king. Stockfish went a pawn up but its eval came down towards 0. Leela regained the pawn and the game reached a RRB vs RRB position on move 26. The engines shuffled and exchanged pieces and pawns, the game ended in a tablebase draw. Leela extends its lead to 2 after winning the game pair.
Leela started game 55 with an eval over 1, and it started to increase from move 13. Stockfish moved its pieces to the queen side, the center was blocked and Leela was stronger on the king side where the kings were. Through an exchange Leela managed to get a pawn to f6, the black king was alone defended by a pawn line. Stockfish rushed the queen to help, the game reached a QRB vs QRB position and the engines started to shuffle. Leela's eval was over 3, Leela hesitated more than 30 moves before it attacked the king side with its pawns.The king side opened, the engines exchanged queens and Leela's eval jumped over 7.
Leela pushed the h pawn and allowed the black rook to attack the white king, suddenly Stockfish's eval dropped. Leela couldn't escape the checks without letting the rook attack the white pawns from behind. Leela realized it couldn't win anymore and its eval dropped, but not to 0. The game was adjudicated only on move 264. This really looked like a won game for Leela, a very lucky escape by Stockfish.
In the reverse game 56 evals started around 1. Most pawns remained on the board, Leela concentrated on the queen side, Stockfish was more passive and did not attack the king side. Evals came down, the engines created pawn lines across the board and started to shuffle.This went on for a long while, in the end the engines reduced to a B vs N ending and the game was adjudicated on move 137.
In game 57 Leela's eval jumped over 1 when the engines exchanges queens. The game reached a RRN vs RRN position on move 31 and the engines began shuffling. It took a long time for Leela to lower its eval, the game ended in a tablebase draw on move 140.
In game 58 Stockfish's eval was around 1. Most pawns remained on the board, the engines castled in opposite directions. The black king was a little exposed but it seemed Leela had everything under control. On move 30 Leela completed 3 straight moves with a knight on the king side and Stockfish's eval jumped over 1.5 on the last one. It opened the king side, two rooks on the h file pinned the knight. A few moves later the white queen joined and added pressure, Stockfish's eval over 2.5.
The knight on h7 couldn't move and it needed 3 defenders, causing Leela's king side to freeze. Stockfish needed to unpin its knight on e3 and get the minor pieces involved in the attack. Eventually the engines exchanged all the knights, Stockfish broke through the h file with only QRB vs QRB remaining.
The black king was caught in the crossfire, Stockfish managed to create a queen side passer, exchange pieces and promote the pawn, reaching a QQ vs Q position. The game ended with mate within reach. Stockfish wins the game pair, after 35 games without a win. Leela's lead is back to 1.
Games 59-60 started with a long 31-ply book sequence of the Sicilian Dragon, Yugoslav attack. The position was very double edged, with white threatening to open the king side and attack the black king, and black with attacking potential on the queen side. The outcome however was two very fast draws. In game 59 Stockfish's eval was 0, it opened a file on the queen side and threatened the white king. Leela had no time for its own attack and the engines agreed to a draw on move 31. In game 60 Stockfish opened the king side, Leela reduced to a QR vs QR position and attacked the white king. Stockfish ended the game in a perpetual check on move 41.
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