Season 19 league 1

Final standings

 

Fire and ScorpioNN promote to the premier division. The promotion race was very close and was decided only in the last rounds.

Arasan and Fritz relegate to league 1. Arasan lost half its games and was last throughout the league. Fritz had some hope of survival after it managed to win a game and catch up with Defenchess, but it dropped back down in the last rounds.

SlowChess and Igel made it to league 1 and stopped there. SlowChess started in qualification and promoted 3 times this season. Igel started in league 3 and promoted by tiebreak, then it got a boost by the NNUE technology and was much stronger in league 2. However it was not strong enough for the engines in league 1.

The premier league is the main TCEC event, the best 8 engines playing 3 DRRs with a long time control. Fire and ScorpioNN will join: Stockfish (new version using NNUE), Leela, AllieStein, Stoofvlees, Komodo and Ethereal.

Interesting games

Game 6, RubiChess - ScorpioNN: ScorpioNN was a pawn up with a queen side passer, and it neglected the danger to its king. The black queen was too far to help, RubiChess captured the passer and patienly arranged its pieces for attack. The game ended with mate on the board.

Game 7, Arasan - Xiphos: Arasan had a promising RR vs RB position, then it grabbed a pawn which let Xiphos create connected passers and force a draw.

Game 24, ScorpioNN - SlowChess: SlowChess was passive in a RBN vs RBN position, ScorpioNN opened a file and after some shuffling gave a rook for a knight and pawns to create a passer. The game was adjudicated with a second passer on the 7th rank.

Game 32, Xiphos - Defenchess: Defenchess was outplayed in an opposite color bishop ending, only one pawn down. A combination of a queen side passer and a king side pawn majority gave Xiphos the win.

Game 41, Xiphos - RubiChess: RubiChess pushed pawns on the king side while most of its pieces were on the queen side, its king became vulnerable. Xiphos opened the king side, it gave a rook for a bishop and created a passer. The game was adjudicated before RubiChess lost material.

Scores after 9 rounds: Fire +4, ScorpioNN Xiphos +2, SlowChess Igel +1, RubiChess rofChade Defenchess -1, Fritz -3, Arasan -4. Fire has a 1 point lead over the rest, there are 4 engines in the race for 2nd place. SlowChess and Igel will not easily promote this time. At the bottom Arasan and Fritz, they lost about half of the decisive games.

Game 50, ScorpioNN - Xiphos: ScorpioNN placed a protected bishop on e6 early, then added a rook on c6. Xiphos countered with a passer on the queen side, ScorpioNN stopped it on the 2nd rank. In a RBB vs RBN position ScorpioNN traded a passer for a knight, then reduced to a winning RB vs R ending. First loss for Xiphos in the league.

Game 55, rofChade - Fire: rofChade was a pawn up in a RN vs RB position, with all pawns on the king side. The white rook kept the black king away from the pawns, rofChade pushed its pawns forward slowly with support from its king. At the right moment rofChade exchanged rooks and reduced to a winning ending. First loss for Fire in the league.

Game 62, ScorpioNN - Igel: Igel gave a rook for a knight to stop a dangerous passer. ScorpioNN stopped a black passer on the 2nd rank and reduced to a winning R vs B ending. ScorpioNN takes the lead after round 13.

Game 69, SlowChess - ScorpioNN: ScorpioNN failed to see the danger to its king after the opening, it captured a knight while SlowChess chased the black king. The game ended in mate on move 34. 

Game 75, Fritz - Defenchess: The engines had long shuffle periods, evals started to jump after Fritz opened the king side on move 122. Fritz used the exposed black king to reduce to a winning QR vs QR ending two pawns up. First win for Fritz in the league.

Scores after 15 rounds: ScorpioNN Fire +3, Xiphos SlowChess +2, Igel rofChade RubiChess +0, Defenchess Fritz -2, Arasan -6. Four engines are very close at the top of the table. At the bottom Arasan will be last but the second relegation spot is not decided yet. Only 3 rounds remain.

In round 16 Fire beat Arasan, it is back in the lead. Fritz lost to RubiChess, it is in 9th place.

In round 17 Arasan lost again, the other games were drawn. The scores before the last round are: Fire +4, ScorpioNN +3, Xiphos SlowChess +2, rofChade RubiChess +1, Igel +0, Defenchess -2, Fritz -3, Arasan -8.  

In the last round Defenchess beat Arasan and survived. All other games were drawn, no change at the top, Fire and ScorpioNN promote, Fritz and Arasan relegate.