Leela kept its king in the center and pushed pawns on the king side in game 61. Leela had a space advantage, the center was blocked and the black pieces had little room to move. Stockfish moved its queen forward but Leela wouldn't exchange queens. Leela placed a knight on e6 and trapped a black rook, evals were over 2 on move 25.
Stockfish played f6 in an attempt to open some space for its pieces, this opened a path for the white bishop to move behind the pawns via d8 and attack on the queen side. Leela captured a pawn and then found an outpost for the bishop on b6 supported by a pawn. On the king side Leela targeted the g6 pawn.
The engines exchanged queens and Leela went two pawns up, then the game reached a RB vs RB ending. When Leela captured another pawn the game was adjudicated.
There were no castlings in game 62, both kings walked to the king side. All pawns remained on the board until move 23, the engines played behind the pawn lines. Stockfish's eval was over 1 but evals were constant, after locking the king side pawns it seemed the engines shuffled and had no plan.
Around move 45 evals started to increase, Stockfish saw something but it wasn't clear what that was. Stockfish moved pieces to the queen side and targeted the black b6 pawn.
The white bishop interfered with Leela's heavy pieces that tried to protect the b6 pawn. Stockfish shifted to the king side quickly, opened the block with f4 and attacked with its queen. Leela was caught off guard with its heavy pieces too far to help. Stockfish gave a rook for one of the knights, the black king was in serious danger..
Stockfish captured the weak black passer and blocked Leela's queen route to the king side. Only one black rook came to help the king and that wasn't sufficient, the game was adjudicated as Leela lost material and Stockfish saw the mate coming. There were two white wins in this opening, lead is still +5.
The center was blocked in game 63, all pawns and pieces remained on the board in the first 21 moves. Stockfish castled long and it dominated the queen side, while Leela concentrated forces on the king side. There was one minor piece exchange and the engines started to shuffle, evals were around 1.5 and didn't change for a long time. Only on move 63 Leela moved a pawn to open the king side, Stockfish's eval immediately jumped over 3.
The effect of the long shuffle was that the rest of the game was played in blitz. Leela captured the h6 pawn and created a 3 to 1 pawn majority on the king side. Stockfish captured a pawn in the center but it gave a rook to stop all the advancing white pawns. After exchanging queens Stockfish tried to build a fortress for its king.
Leela started to shuffle again, evals increased and the game was adjudicated. We didn't get to see how Leela could win but it was a rook up so there probably was a way.
In game 64 Stockfish opened the king side immediately and forced the black king to move. Stockfish castled long and both kings were on the queen side. On move 23 Leela gave a pawn, leading to a series of exchanges including queens that opened the board. Evals came down and the engines continued to exchange pieces, the game reached a drawn rook ending. Leela wins the game pair, Stockfish's lead is reduced to +4.
Stockfish grabbed a pawn early in game 65, allowing Leela to move a bishop to h6 and trap the king. Stockfish then captured a second pawn, evals were positive though as the white pieces were better developed. On move 20 Stockfish attacked the white queen, and Leela surprised with sacrificing the queen for a knight and a bishop. Leela's eval jumped right away, Stockfish's reacted only two moves later. Leela could have gained some of the material back, but with the black king trapped in the corner Leela preferred to keep its attack going.
The black bishop was pinned and was attacked and defended by 3 pieces. Leela moved its free knight forward, and after a few shuffle moves it captured the e6 pawn. Stockfish captured the knight and lost its bishop, the black king used the opportunity to escape from the corner. However, it only managed to move to a new trap on f6, and Leela used a mate threat to capture the white queen for a rook.
The black king was fully boxed in by its own pawns and the white bishop, knight and pawn. The rook on e6 could not move because of immediate mate. Leela waited a few moves without taking it, Stockfish moved its other rook forward to take the f4 pawn but it lost a rook and the game.
In game 66 Stockfish did not castle and its rook protected the h pawn. The engines exchanged pawns and opened the center, another series of exchanges reduced to a double rook ending on move 29. Stockifsh was a pawn up and evals were close to 0. Leela regained the pawn, the engines exchanged a pair of rooks and the game was adjudicated. Leela wins another game pair and Stockfish's lead is now +3.
Both engines castled long in game 67. The black king was a little more exposed, there were many exchanges on the queen side and on move 26 the game reached a QRR vs QRR position. Stckfish's eval came down to 0, the engines shuffled for 20 moves. After trading several pawns and a pair of rooks shuffling resumed and the game was adjudicated.
The engines again castled long in game 68. There were many early exchanges, mostly on the king side, and the game reached a QRN vs QRN position on move 25. The black king was more exposed, Stockfish's eval slowly increased and it was over 2 when the engines exchanged a pair of pawns on the queen side. Stockfish found a safe square for its king, after another pawn trade Stockfish opened a file on the queen side and its eval went over 4.
The white queen and rook could get from one side of the board to the other side very quickly. They chased the black king to the king side and then back to the center. The net result was a very similar position except that the rook and queen switched places. The eval increase showed that this was significant.
Stockfish continued to chase the black king, this time Leela started to lose material. The game was adjudicated with the white rook as the only piece left on the board. Stockfish wins the game pair and its lead increases to +4.
In game 69 Stockfish sacrificed a knight and bishop for 3 pawns, then moved its 3 heavy pieces to the open e file. Stockfish exchanged its rooks for the white queen on the back rank, the game reached a RRB vs Q position on move 31. Stockfish was 4 pawns up and evals were close to 0. Leela captured a few pawns while the black passers advanced, eventually Leela lost the bishop for a passer and the game was adjudicated. In game 70 Stockfish castled early and Leela pushed a pawn to h3. All pieces remained on the board until move 25 and evals were close to 0. Leela opened the queen side and created a passer, then started a series of exchanges with a knight sacrifice. On move 32 only RR vs RB remained, Stockfish had to be careful not to get mated in the corner and Leela used the time to exchange a pair of rooks and protect its passer with the bishop. The black king moved forward, Stockfish ended the game in a repetition draw to prevent a promotion.
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