Final standings
Ethereal and rofChade advance to the premier division. After RR2 Ethereal and rofChade were tied at the top and Igel was 0.5 points behind. Ethereal secured 1st place after it won 5/7 game pairs in the second half of the league and lost only one. This included a rare double win against Defenchess. rofChade had 3 wins and 2 losses while Igel had 3 wins and one loss. As a result their final scores were tied, and their head-to-head score was also a tie. The deciding tiebreak was r-mobility, as in league 2.
Nemorino and Defenchess are relegated to league 2. Defenchess was the weakest engine in the league and there was no doubt it would be last. There were 4 other engines that fought to avoid relegation. SlowChess was 0.5 behind after RR2 but it moved up with 3 wins and 2 losses. RubiChess had one win and one loss, it ended with the same score. Xiphos had 4 losses and 3 wins while Nemorino had 3 losses and 2 wins. Both should have been tied in 7th place, however the decider was that Xiphos beat Nemorino twice. This meant that Xiphos ended in joint 4-6th place and Nemorino was relegated without a tiebreak.
The qualifiers will play in the premier division together with Stockfish, Leela, AllieStein, Stoofvlees, KomodoDragon, ScorpioNN, all of which played in season 19 premier division as well.
KomodoDragon is the new Komodo version that uses NNUE technology. It is expected to be much stronger than Komodo was in recent TCEC seasons.
Interesting games
Games 57+85, Xiphos - SlowChess: In game 57 the engines exchanged pieces and the game reached a RRN vs RRB position. Xiphos gave a rook for a bishop and pawn, then moved its remaining rook to the 7th rank. The game ended in a perpetual check. In game 85 SlowChess went a pawn up while Xiphos had an advanced passer in a BN vs NN position. SlowChess captured the passer and reduced to a knight ending. The extra pawn was enough for a win, though it took SlowChess another 40 moves.
Games 58+86, rofChade - Nemorino: Nemorino seemed to be holding even though it was a pawn down in game 58, evals went below 1 in a mostly closed position. With the king holding the center rofChade found a way to open the queen side and create a passer. Nemorino was busy blocking the passer and rofChade broke through the king side and attacked the black king. The game reached a winning queen ending with white 3 pawns up. Game 86 reached a double rook ending after a series of exchanges. Nemorino was a pawn up while rofChade had a passer on the 2nd rank. Evals came down and the game was adjudicated.
Games 62+90, Igel - Ethereal: In game 62 Igel went a pawn up early, then there were long shuffle periods with a few pawn moves in between. On move 126 the engines started exchanging pawns and pieces and opened the position. Igel captured two more pawns before the game reduced to an opposite color bishop ending. Ethereal got one pawn back but Igel had one passer on the 2nd rank and another advancing quickly. Ethereal lost its bishop and the game. In game 90 material was equal when the engines started to shuffle. Ethereal extended the shuffle once with a pawn move, the second time time it lowered its eval and the game was adjudicated.
Games 64+92, Xiphos - rofChade: Game 64 reached a QB vs QB ending. rofChade had an advanced passer on the 2nd rank, and Xiphos chased the black king around the board while capturing pawns. Xiphos managed to capture the black passer and for a while both engines believed it had a clear advantage with evals over 3. However the game eventually reduced to a drawn opposite color bishops ending. In game 92 rofChade attacked on the queen side, it managed to capture a pawn and reduce to a RN vs RB position. A passer on the 7th rank forced Xiphos to lose its bishop, rofChade had enough pawns left to secure the win.
Games 66+94, RubiChess - Xiphos: In game 66 Xiphos was a pawn up but its king was vulnerable on the back rank. RubiChess moved a rook to the 7th rank and Xiphos had to be careful not to be mated. It traded RB for Q and the game reached a Q vs RN ending. RubiChess captured pawns and created two passers. Xiphos lost its rook but could not prevent a queening, game over. In game 94 material was equal, evals came down after the engines started exchanging pieces and the position opened. The game reached a RRB vs RRN position, both engines managed to created advance passers. However all the passers were stopped and the game ended in a tablebase draw.
Games 67+95, Ethereal - Nemorino: In game 67 the engines reduced to a B vs N ending, white a pawn up. Ethereal sacrificed its bishop and created connected passers in the center that Nemorino could not stop. Ethereal queened a pawn and won. Game 95 went into shuffle mode early, there were no captures until move 84. After the king side opened Ethereal's eval became negative, the engines reduced to a RN vs RN position with black a pawn up. Ethereal had a passer but couldn't move it forward, evals came down and the game was adjudicated.
Games 71+99, Xiphos - Ethereal: Game 71 reached a QBB vs QBN position, Xiphos had connected passers on the queen side. Evals were high for a while but came down after Ethereal exchanged a pair of bishops. Ethereal sacrificed its knight for the two passers and ended the game in perpetual check. In game 99 queens were off early. The engines exchanged pieces until only RR vs RR remained, and Ethereal created connected passers in the center. Xiphos was busy with this threat, it took Ethereal a while but it managed to capture two pawns, enough for a win.
Games 73+101, RubiChess - SlowChess: In game 73 RubiChess gave a rook for a knight and pawn and created connected passers in the center. SlowChess gave a bishop to get rid of the white passers, then RubiChess did the same to capture a black passer. The game reached a RN vs RR ending and was adjudicated a draw. In game 101 SlowChess captured a rook for a bishop and then moved a pawn to the 7th rank. RubiChess managed to block the white passer, and eventually capture it after many exchanges. The R vs N ending was a win for white.
Games 74+102, Ethereal - rofChade:In game 74 Ethereal captured a rook for a bishop and pawn, then reduced to a R vs N ending. A passer on the 7th rank kept the black pieces busy, rofChade managed to capture the passer but Ethereal captured the remaining black pawns. There were enough white pawns left to secure the win. In game 102 rofChade sacrificed a bishop and attacked on the king side. Ethereal protected its king, after exchanging queens rofChade captured a bishop back and remained a pawn up with only rooks an knights left. Evals came down as the engines mostly shuffled until the game was adjudicated..
Games 78+106, Xiphos - Igel: Xiphos exposed the black king in game 78, evals increased as it slowly increased the pressure. Igel tried to counter on the back rank but couldn't break through the white defense, while Xiphos captured pawns. The game reached a RN vs RN position with white 2 pawns up, enough for a win for Xiphos. In game 106 the black king side stayed closed, evals came down as the engines exchanged pieces. The game was adjudicated in a drawn QB vs QB position.
Games 81+109, Ethereal - SlowChess: In game 81 Ethereal reduced to a RN vs RN ending a pawn up. It slowly pushed a passer to the 6th rank, then waited for the right moment to trade its rook for the black knight. SlowChess couldn't prevent a queening and a white win. In game 109 the pieces stayed on the board longer and evals came down to 0. Eventually the engines reduced to a drawn rook ending.
Games 83+111, Igel - rofChade: In game 83 Igel opened the queen side after some preparation and shuffling. The back ranks and black king were vulnerable, Igel slowly captured pawns and opened the king side as well. rofChade was 3 pawns down when Igel captured its bishop, leaving a RN vs R position and a white win. In game 111 there were many early exchanges and the game reached a RBN vs RNN position. Evals came down and the game was adjudicated.
Games 84+112, Nemorino - Xiphos: In game 84 Nemorino opened the queen side with a pawn sacrifice, later it got the pawn back and created connected passers. Xiphos blocked the passers and advanced pawns in the center. Evals became negative after Xiphos lost its center pawns and captured one of the white passers. Xiphos pushed a pawn to g3 and Nemorino moved its king out of the corner. Xiphos continued to threaten the white king, Nemorino abandoned its passer and gave material, the game reached a QN vs QR position with only one pawn left for both engines. The rook was much stronger than the knight in the open board, Xiphos eventually won though the game continued for more than 30 moves. In game 112 queen were exchanged early and Xiphos attacked on the king side. Nemorino gave a rook for a knight to move its king out of the corner. In a RRB vs RNN position Xiphos created a passer on the queen side, Nemorino had to protect its king and stop the passer and it started to lose material. A rare double win for Xiphos.
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