AllieStein had an outstanding +4 score in RR3 and it leads the table. Leela scored +1 in RR3 with a quality win against Stockfish, Leela and Stockfish are tied in second place. Komodo and Houdini are not too far behind, each has only lost once but they are not winning games fast enough to join the leaders.
At the bottom of the table KomodoMCTS and ScorpioNN continue to be the punching bags of the division.
Stockfish is the source of more drama in the division. It crashed for the second time in this RR, this time against AllieStein. Stockfish is now one crash away from being disqualified, and with 21 games to go after 2 crashes in the first 21 games this is quite likely. The TCEC organizers asked the engine authors whether they agree to let Stockfish fix the faulty binary that is causing these crashes. The vote was anonymous and one author was against, this was considered as a veto and the suggestion fell.
My personal opinion is that Stockfish should not be fixed, these are genuine crashes even if they are not the 'fault' of the authors. Compilation and linking problems are a part of the process, and all engines have to deal with them. It would be disappointing if Stockfish were disqualified, it is doing very well in this division and it is in joint second despite two crashes. If it manages to survive the division it may yet reach the superfinal.
A few interesting games
Stockfish - Stoofvlees: Stockfish gave a rook for a bishop early, yet evals gradually increased. The white pieces were very active and eventually Stockfish captured the other black bishop and the game reached a RBN vs RR position. Stoofvlees had to protect its pawns, Stockfish used the extra piece to capture a pawn and create a passer. Stoofvlees couldn't prevent the pawn from promoting and the game ended with mate on the board.
KomodoMCTS - AllieStein: AllieStein went up a pawn early in the game. KomodoMCTS gave a second pawn and tried to attack, it forced the black king to the center but AllieStein's defense was strong enough. The game reached a RB vs RB position, material was equal but AllieStein had an passer on the 3rd rank. KomodoMCTS had to give the bishop to stop the passer, a win for AllieStein.
Leela - Stockfish: See featured game below.
Stockfish - ScorpioNN: ScorpioNN gave a pawn to create a passer, then pushed the passer to the 3rd rank. After some shuffling ScorpioNN tried to force an attack, it gave a rook and added a second connected passer on the 3rd rank. Stockfish remained calm, it reduced to a RRN vs RB position and captured one passer while the other reached the 2nd rank. The white rooks attacked ScorpioNN's king and soon had it trapped on the back rank. The game ended with mate in the PV.
AllieStein - Stoofvlees: Stoofvlees gave two pieces to push a pawn to the 2nd rank. AllieStein attacked the king side and the position became wild, with pins and threats and pieces offered and not taken. AllieStein gave a knight back, its eval increasing rapidly while the position stabilized. Stoofvlees lost a queen for a rook and bishop, the game reached a QN vs RN position. The queen was too strong despite the black passer still on the 2nd rank, AllieStein soon reduced to a tablebase win.
Houdini - KomodoMCTS: In a closed position Houdini gave a bishop for two pawns and created connected passers on the queen side. It pushed a pawn to the 7th rank and KomodoMCTS could only block it with its queen. It took Houdini a while to set up its pieces, eventually it managed to trap and capture the black queen. KomodoMCTS' defense collapsed and it lost a few moves later.
ScorpioNN - KomodoMCTS: ScorpioNN was a pawn up in a closed position. It seemed to have the advantage and was close to a first win in the division, but it couldn't find a way to improve. The engines exchanged pieces until reaching a tablebase draw.
Komodo - ScorpioNN: The game reached a RBB vs RBN position, Komodo a pawn up. The engines mostly shuffled for a very long time and both played on the increment. Komodo traded a bishop for a knight and then found a way to trap the black king and bishop. ScorpioNN could only watch as Komodo moved its king forward, the game ended in a rook ending tablebase win.
AllieStein - Stockfish: The engines shuffled in a QRB vs QRB position, and with the 50-move counter down to 10 Stockfish crashed.
Leela - KomodoMCTS: The black king was trapped in the corner, KomodoMCTS used this to draw by threatening stalemate. Leela may have had a chance for a moment, but in the end the game ended in a draw after 206 moves.
AllieStein - ScorpioNN: The game reached a RB vs Q position, AllieStein pushed a pawn to the 7th rank and the engines started to shuffle. It took AllieStein a long time to find a way to improve, ScorpioNN moved pawns on the queen side and this let AllieStein create a second passer which won the game.
Featured game: Leela - Stockfish
Premier division, game 64
Link to game on TCEC
Leela started the game with an eval around 1 that increased gradually. Stockfish kept its king in the center, the king side rook and bishop were trapped. There were two open files on the queen side that Stockfish had to watch, its king had no escape if Leela attacked through there.
Leela was very patient, the black pieces were passive and Leela took a long time to arrange its pieces. The black bishop protected the g7 pawn and did not move, the black rook moved a few times so castling was not an option for Stockfish.
On move 53 Leela was ready. It forced a knight for bishop trade and then captured the g7 and a6 pawns. The game reduced to a RB vs RN position, Leela was two pawns up and it had two passers on the queen side.
Leela created a second passer on the king side and adjudication was a matter time. This was Stockfish's first loss in the division which was not a crash.
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