Demolito and Gogobello promote to league 2. Demolito led the table from the start, Gogobello was in the leading group but only in the last few rounds it reached 2nd place after it beat Demolito. Igel started well and was in second place, but only had one win in the second half of the league and lost its place.
Asymptote and Counter relegate back to the qualification league. Asymptote was no match for the engines in this league, Counter had a fighting chance to survive but it failed in the end. Counter is the only engine that did not win a single game in the league, even Asymptote had a win.
The engines to play in league 2:
- Played in league 1 in season 16, missed season 17: Booot, ChessBrain, Chiron
- Played in CPU league 1 in season 17: Vajolet, Pedone, Nemorino, Winter
- Played in league 2 in season 17: Wasp
- Promoted from league 3: Demolito, Gogobello
Notable games
Game 3, iCE -Topple: iCE sacrificed a bishop for pawns to attack the black king, then reduced to a winning QN vs QB endgame.
Game 7, Gogobello - Pirarucu: Gogobello gave a rook for a knight to capture one of two connected black passers, Pirarucu reduced to a RN vs RR ending to win.
Game 10, Demolito - Minic: Demolito developed a strong king side attack that resulted in a QB vs RNN position. Demolito captured 2 pawns and its passers were enough to win.
Game 12, iCE - Demolito: iCE sacrificed a knight for pawns to attack the black king but the attack was too weak. The black king found shelter behind a white pawn, Demolito slowly exchanged pieces and an extra bishop was decisive in the endgame.
Game 22, Igel - Minic: Igel opened the king side and managed to get connected passers facing an exposed black king. Minic lost material to stop the attack and the game ended quickly.
Game 29, Minic - Pirarucu: The black queen moved forward and got trapped on the queen side, Minic opened the king side and moved a passer to the h6. The white king moved in front of the passer and threatened to promote. By the time Pirarucu freed its queen Minic was close to mating.
Game 30, iCE - Igel: iCE created a queen side passer which became more important as the engines exchanged pieces. In a RBN vs RBN position Igel's defense collapsed.
Game 32, Pirarucu - iCE: Pirarucu started a series of exchanges that led to a B vs BB ending with white 3 pawns up. However iCE stopped the white pawns and the bishop pair was enough to win with one black pawn left.
Game 33, Marvin - Minic: The black king moved forward in a closed RR vs RBB position. Minic created a passer and pushed it forward to finish the game.
Game 38, Minic - Gogobello: Gogobello was better in a RRB vs RNN position, with a strong pair of knights and an extra pawn. The black king came forward and Gogobello created connected passers to win.
Game 40, Igel - Pirarucu: When the position opened Igel had a passer on the 6th rank. Igel created a secon passer and reduced to a winning rook ending.
Game 43, Gogobello - iCE: The white queen went forward early, iCE gave a knight and attacked but was not strong enough. Gogobello found shelter for its king and was a rook up when the game ended.
Scores after 9 rounds: Demolito +4, Igel +2, Gogobello iCE +1, Minic Counter 0, Pirarucu Marvin -1, Topple -2, Asymptote -4. Demolito is leading and Asymptote is last, both with a gap of 1 point to the closest engine. Other than that the field is quite close, with only 2 points separating 2nd and 9th place. In the middle of the table there is a contrast between drawish engines like Counter (9 draws) and Marvin (8 draws, 1 loss), and engines with many decisive games like Minic (3 wins, 3 losses) and iCE (3 wins, 2 losses).
Game 48, Topple - iCE: Topple trapped and captured a bishop for pawns, then iCE lost more material and reached a rook for pawns imbalance. The engines exchanged all pieces and the game ended quickly.
Game 53, Igel - Topple: Igel sacrificed a bishop and exposed the black king. Igel chased the black king all over the board, regaining the piece and more, until the game was adjudicated.
Game 54, iCE - Counter: iCE trapped a black bishop in the corner, then slowly exchanged pieces until only BN vs BB were left. In the end Counter gifted the trapped bishop and iCE had enough pawns to win.
Game 57, Demolito - iCE: Demolito traded its queen for two rooks, reaching a RRN vs QN position. Using a mate threat Demolito reduced to a winning knight ending.
Game 59, Topple - Pirarucu: Pirarucu blundered in a RRB vs RRN position. It couldn't stop Topple from promoting a passer, losing a rook and the game.
Game 69, Counter - Marvin: Counter was up a pawn while Marvin had more space and better pieces. The game reached a RN vs RR position, the black king moved forward and Marvin captured the knight. For reasons unknown Marvin shuffled for 30 moves before ending the game in a tablebase win.
Scores after 14 rounds: Demolito +6, Igel +3, Gogobello +2, Marvin +1, iCE Minic 0, Topple -1, Counter Pirarucu -2, Asymptote -7. Demolito is likely to promote, Asymptote likely to relegate. The second promotion and relegation places are still undecided, 4 rounds to go.
Game 71, Topple - Asymptote: Asymptote gave a rook for a bishop and had two advanced passers in a RB vs RR position. It then gave one passer to regain material and reach a winning rook ending. First win for Asymptote in the league.
Game 72, Gogobello - Counter: Counter gave a rook for a knight and created a passer. Evals were low until Gogobello created a passer and started to push it forward. Counter managed to block the passer on the 7th rank, while Gogobello captured the black passer. The game ended in a RR vs RN position before Counter lost more material.
Game 78, Minic - Marvin: Minic was a pawn up in a RRN vs RRN position. Nothing happened for a while, then Minic reduced to a knight ending two pawns up, enough for a win.
Game 79, Demolito - Gogobello: The game reached a R vs NN imbalance early, white two pawns up. Gogobello created a central passer and increased pressure on the king side. Demolito's defense collapsed and it lost a rook and the game. First loss for Demolito in the league.
Scores after 16 rounds: Demolito +5, Gogobello +4, Igel +3, Minic +1, Marvin iCE 0, Topple Pirarucu -2, Counter -3, Asymptote -6. Gogobello jumped to second place with two wins, one of them against Demolito. Igel still has a chance to promote as well. At the bottom Asymptote dragged Topple down with its first win, Pirarucu and Counter are also fighting against relegation.
In round 17 Counter couldn't convert in a Q vs RN endgame against Asymptote, while Topple survived against Demolito. Gogobello and Igel drew their games. No change in the table, one round to go.
Game 90, Demolito - Counter: Demolito opened the king side with its pawns, pushing a passer to h7 while the black king escaped to the center. Counter captured the passer but couldn't stop the white pieces without losing material, the game ended with Demolito 3 pawns up.
Counter had a last chance of catching up with Pirarucu and Topple, it needed a win in its last game but it lost instead. No change in the table.
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