Games 71-72 started with the Latvian gambit with a significant advantage for white. In game 71 Leela went a pawn up and queens were off early. Evals increased as the engines developed their pieces, a series of exchanges led to a RRB vs RRB position on move 21.
Leela had a pawn majority on the king side, after exchanging a pair of rooks Leela moved its remaining rook forward to attack the pawns on the queen side. Stockfish tried to defend the pawns and kept the white king away, eventually Leela managed to capture a pawn.
Once the white pawns started to advance the material advantage was enough for a win.
In game 72 Leela castled short despite a hole in the pawn protection. On move 12 Stockfish's eval jumped over 3, it sacrificed a bishop and exposed the black king, attacking with its queen and two knights.
The black king was in danger of being mated, Leela had to give a rook for a knight but still the attack wasn't over. Stockfish created a passer and pushed it forward to the 7th rank.
Leela lost a rook to stop the passer, after exchanging queens the game reached a RR vs BN position. Leela's still had an advanced passer, Stockfish lost some material for it but the R vs N ending was a win. There were two white wins in this opening, Stockfish's lead is still +4.
In game 73 there was a few minor piece and one pair of pawns exchanged after the start, the engines played behind long pawn lines. On move 30 the pawns stopped moving and shuffling began. Evals were over 1, Leela's eval peaked at 2, but there was no progress. Leela reset the 50 move counter on moves 77, 125, 171 and 220, then the position opened up and the engines reduced to a RRB vs RRB position. There were a few more exchanges until the end of the game on move 357, close but not a record length for TCEC. In game 74 again there were a few minor piece exchanges after the start, all pawns were on the board until Leela grabbed a pawn on move 19. The engines shuffled for a while and evals came down. The position opened, the white queen moved forward and Stockfish went a pawn up. Leela countered against the white king and captured a rook for a bishop. After exchanging queens Stockfish ended the game in a repetition.
The engines exchanged most minor pieces early in game 75, evals steadily increased. Leela pushed pawns on the queen side where it had a pawn majority, one pawn made it to the 6th rank. It added a bishop on the 7th rank and Stockfish decided to give a rook and remove both the pawn and the bishop. Only QRR vs QRN were left and evals jumped over 2.5.
Evals continued to increase over 3, but Leela seemed to hesitate and shuffle. The queen side was stable and the focus needed to shift to the king side, however Leela waited for Stockfish to move a pawn and Stockfish wouldn't. The engines entered blitz mode, Leela pushed a pawn to avoid the a 50-move draw. Finally on move 85 Leela threatened mate and forced Stockfish to move the f pawn. After more shuffling Leela's queen moved forward and the white pawns opened the king side. The engines exchanged queens and evals jumped over 6.
The engines traded pawns and Leela created a passer on the queen side. The passer was close to promotion when the game was adjudicated.
In game 76 the engines cleared the center and Leela went a pawn up. Nevertheless Stockfish's eval was over 1 and slowly increasing, the black king was stuck in the center and Leela decided not to castle and to move it to the king side out of the open center files. On move 24 the game reached a QRR vs QRR position.
Stockfish doubled rooks on the 7th rank, it regained the pawn and after exchanging a pair of rooks it went a pawn up. Stockfish's eval continued to increase while Leela thought it was relatively safe. The engines cleared all the queen side pawns, exchanged rooks and Stockfish captured another pawn to go 2 pawns up in a queen ending.
Stockfish already saw the win, Leela was still hopeful. Leela got one pawn back but the white pawns started to advance and Leela's eval increased as well. Both engines raced with their pawns, both were a square away from promotion. Stockfish's queen kept the black king away from both pawns, so it could stop the black pawn and promote its own. Another opening with two white wins, Stockfish's lead is still +4.
Games 77-78 started with a 20-ply book in the English oening, Symmetrical variation where the black queen moved forward and the white king was forced to move. In both games the immediate continuation involved the white knight forcing the black king to move and capturing a rook with a fork.In game 77 Stockfish's eval jumped on move 17, it drove the white king to the queen side edge and a pair of doubled pawns trapped it there, a kind of vertical "back rank". Stockfish did not take back the knight until move 25, its eval was already over (negative) 3.
Leela captured the pinned black knight but it had to be careful not to get mated. The white bishop was close to being trapped and Leela gave a rook for a bishop to let it out. In a QRB vs QR position Stockfish was 3 pawns up, the black rook joined the attack and again Leela king was in danger. Leela lost material to escape, the game reduced to a rook ending.
Stockfish was two pawns up, the king side pawns advanced and Leela couldn't stop them.
Stockfish's eval was 0 from move 15 till the end of game 78. The white king found safety on a2, after Leela took the knight in the corner the engines exchanged most pieces and the game reached a rook ending on move 29. Stockfish pushed a passer to the 7th rank, Leela pushed a passer to the 2nd rank with king support. Both engines could not promote their pawn and they shuffled until Leela lowered its eval for the draw rule on move 78. Stockfish wins the game pair and its lead increases to +5.
There were only a few exchanges after the start of game 79, the center was crowded and Leela tried to push through the queen side. Stockfish placed a knight on e3 that limited the movement of the white pieces. On move 33 a file opened on the queen side and the engines exchanged all rooks throught it, leading to a QB vs QB position. Stockfish's eval came down to 0, Leela had an advanced passer but its exposed king was vulnerable to checks. Leela sacrificed a bishop and went on the attack, after it captured the black bishop Stockfish ended the game in perpetual check. In game 80 Stockfish opened a file on the queen side and moved a rook to the 7th rank .Leela countered on the king side and a series of exchanges reduced to a RB vs RB position on move 29. Stockfish was a pawn up, its eval jumped to 1.5 when it pushed a passer to the 6th rank. It was a false alarm as Leela reduced to an opposite color bishop ending. Stockfish kept the game going until move 121.
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